Virgin Trains is coming to the U.S. and eyeing potential rail corridors including Texas
November 22nd, 2018
November 21, 2018 - TRA Newswire / Rail Passengers Association -
Brightline and Virgin Group will form a strategic partnership in an effort to continue to grow privately funded intercity passenger rail. The partnership will allow Brightline to leverage Virgin's industry-leading expertise and customer experience to establish a new brand.
Brightline's current management team will oversee daily operations, engineering, business development and strategy and transition next year from the Brightline brand to Virgin Trains USA.
"Our private sector-led effort to reinvent passenger-rail service in America is taking another leap forward with the addition of the Virgin team," said Wes Edens, chairman of Brightline and co-founder of Fortress Investment Group. "Virgin has built a respected and trusted brand in travel and hospitality. With our shared focus on customer experience, powered by a culture of innovation and disruption, we are well-positioned to build on our success."
Virgin Group has significant experience operating in the United Kingdom's rail sector, including the company's ongoing investment in Virgin Trains, a high-speed intercity passenger-rail system.
Brightline currently operates in Florida and is planning to run service between Las Vegas and Southern California. The company is exploring other potential city pairs on federally identified high-speed rail corridors. Among the prospective routes: Los Angeles-San Diego; Chicago-St. Louis; Houston-Dallas; Houston-San Antonio-Austin; Atlanta-Charlotte; Portland-Seattle-Vancouver; and Washington-New York-Boston.
Jim Mathews, President/CEO of D.C. based Rail Passengers Association said "we at Rail Passengers were excited about Brightline from the beginning. Not as some kind of anti-Amtrak -- indeed, we happen to know top Amtrak executives who are excited to see Brightline succeed -- but as an example of thought leadership and the beginnings of a change in thinking about what rail travel could be in this country." Mathews said "I firmly believe this could be a real shot in the arm for passenger-rail in the United States."
Sir Richard Branson, responsible for launching Virgin Airlines and the U.K. Virgin Trains says he shares a typically modest Branson-eque goal with Brightline: to transform rail transportation in the U.S. "We believe Brightline is at the forefront of this innovation and the ideal partner to work with to alter perceptions and traveling habits across the United States," Sir Richard writes in his own blog.
On the same day, the private train company formerly known as Brightline filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a publicly traded company.
Virgin Trains USA, the name the company said Friday it would formally adopt, filed an S-1 form stating its intent to begin trading its shares on the open market.
“We are the first new major private passenger intercity railroad in the United States in over a century, and we believe our business represents a scalable model for twenty-first century passenger travel in North America,” the company says in the filing. “Our goal is to build railroad systems in North America that connect major metropolitan areas with significant traffic and congestion. We believe that the economics of passenger rail service offer a highly compelling investment opportunity.”
Brightline and Virgin Group will form a strategic partnership in an effort to continue to grow privately funded intercity passenger rail. The partnership will allow Brightline to leverage Virgin's industry-leading expertise and customer experience to establish a new brand.
Brightline's current management team will oversee daily operations, engineering, business development and strategy and transition next year from the Brightline brand to Virgin Trains USA.
"Our private sector-led effort to reinvent passenger-rail service in America is taking another leap forward with the addition of the Virgin team," said Wes Edens, chairman of Brightline and co-founder of Fortress Investment Group. "Virgin has built a respected and trusted brand in travel and hospitality. With our shared focus on customer experience, powered by a culture of innovation and disruption, we are well-positioned to build on our success."
Virgin Group has significant experience operating in the United Kingdom's rail sector, including the company's ongoing investment in Virgin Trains, a high-speed intercity passenger-rail system.
Brightline currently operates in Florida and is planning to run service between Las Vegas and Southern California. The company is exploring other potential city pairs on federally identified high-speed rail corridors. Among the prospective routes: Los Angeles-San Diego; Chicago-St. Louis; Houston-Dallas; Houston-San Antonio-Austin; Atlanta-Charlotte; Portland-Seattle-Vancouver; and Washington-New York-Boston.
Jim Mathews, President/CEO of D.C. based Rail Passengers Association said "we at Rail Passengers were excited about Brightline from the beginning. Not as some kind of anti-Amtrak -- indeed, we happen to know top Amtrak executives who are excited to see Brightline succeed -- but as an example of thought leadership and the beginnings of a change in thinking about what rail travel could be in this country." Mathews said "I firmly believe this could be a real shot in the arm for passenger-rail in the United States."
Sir Richard Branson, responsible for launching Virgin Airlines and the U.K. Virgin Trains says he shares a typically modest Branson-eque goal with Brightline: to transform rail transportation in the U.S. "We believe Brightline is at the forefront of this innovation and the ideal partner to work with to alter perceptions and traveling habits across the United States," Sir Richard writes in his own blog.
On the same day, the private train company formerly known as Brightline filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a publicly traded company.
Virgin Trains USA, the name the company said Friday it would formally adopt, filed an S-1 form stating its intent to begin trading its shares on the open market.
“We are the first new major private passenger intercity railroad in the United States in over a century, and we believe our business represents a scalable model for twenty-first century passenger travel in North America,” the company says in the filing. “Our goal is to build railroad systems in North America that connect major metropolitan areas with significant traffic and congestion. We believe that the economics of passenger rail service offer a highly compelling investment opportunity.”