Brightline to Offer a New Travel Option for Florida's Transportation Future
All Aboard Florida introduced Brightline, the express train travel service that will connect the major cities of south and central Florida along a 235-mile route. At an event held on the construction site for MiamiCentral, the new downtown transportation hub and mixed-use urban development in the heart of Miami, the company revealed the new Brightline brand identity and previewed the innovative trains that are the centerpiece of the new service. The brand launch presents a bright and optimistic view of the future for the millions of residents and tourists who crisscross the state’s highways and skyways annually by offering an important new travel alternative in Florida.
“With the introduction of Brightline, we set out to reinvent what traveling by train can mean in America, making it a forward-leaning solution that is a smarter alternative to more cars on crowded roads,” said Michael Reininger, president of All Aboard Florida. “Brightline is built to be an intuitive transportation option aligned with the emerging preferences of our customers for mass transit solutions and keyed to providing access to the primary destinations of Florida’s residents and visitors alike. With the extraordinary design expertise of Rockwell Group, we’ve blended train travel and hospitality, creating a new and innovative travel experience focused on providing customer service that extends well beyond the trains and stations.”
In developing the brand and product offering, the company tapped award-winning architect David Rockwell and his firm Rockwell Group. The firm utilized a unique cross-studio approach that began with the LAB, Rockwell Group’s innovation studio, and grew to involve their architects and interior designers. The resulting brand name, logo, train exteriors and interiors, and station interiors will create a holistic hospitality experience for the Florida travel market.
“We’re thrilled to be working with All Aboard Florida on the creation of Brightline,” said David Rockwell, founder and president of Rockwell Group. “The project provided us with a wonderful and rare opportunity to combine deep ethnographic research with our extensive hospitality experience to re-envision train travel. We believe that our holistic and collaborative approach will result in an entirely new travel experience that is welcoming, comfortable, fun, and seamless from departure to arrival.”
The express inter-city Brightline trains are being built in California by Siemens and – indicative of the new identity – will each be adorned in a spectrum of five distinct colors: BrightRed, BrightOrange, BrightGreen, BrightBlue and BrightPink, led by BrightYellow locomotives. “Typically, trains have been one color, either gray or silver, and tend to blend into the background,” added Reininger. “As our trains pull into the stations, their colorful entry will be another way that Brightline takes the gray out of travel.”
Making the journey in three hours — faster than by car and comparable to total air-travel time, Brightline will make frequent departures and deliver a relaxed travel experience, providing a savvy alternative to Florida’s crowded highways and airports. Brightline will dramatically ease that congestion, as well as present comforts and amenities valued by people on the go today such as convenient booking options, roomy and reserved onboard seating, free Wifi, on-board and in-station food and beverage selections and easy local transit connections.
As part of the launch, the company also introduced its consumer website: www.gobrightline.com along with specific social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. “On our website and social channels, consumers can learn more about our brand and how we are looking at everything through the lens of our customer who is challenged today with limited options for travel. We are setting the expectation of what we are going to deliver which will be smart travel with purposeful design,” said Reininger.
Welcoming Travel Partners
Travel agents and wholesalers will benefit from the ability to provide their customers with customized Brightline promotions and travel packages. “Brightline gives travel partners a smart solution for a multitude of travelers’ needs,” said Julie Edwards, Brightline’s chief marketing officer. “We encourage travel partners both in the U.S. and around the world to work with us well in advance of launch to ensure that they are taking full advantage of this incredible new travel alternative, seamlessly connecting major destinations within Florida.”
By uniting South and Central Florida so easily, Brightline is also driving the creation of dynamic new mobility-centric urban centers in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach at or near the cities’ stations, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in association with Zyscovich Architects. These vibrant neighborhoods, featuring residences, offices and hospitality venues, are expected to be destinations themselves, as travelers and locals flock to city centers to enjoy amenities. Construction has begun on all three stations. The Orlando station will be located within Orlando International Airport's new South Intermodal Center, where, when completed, will place train travelers steps away from air and local transit connections.
More information regarding Brightline’s branding, train interiors, services and amenities, as well as ticket pricing and packages, will be released over the coming months, leading up to the launch of the first phase of service in mid-2017.
