Virgin Trains has officially broken ground on the country’s largest privately funded infrastructure project to expand passenger rail service to Orlando.
The company is developing 170 miles of new track into the completed intermodal facility located in the new South Terminal at the Orlando International Airport as part of phase 2 of its expansion into Central Florida. The project encompasses four zones including the area of the Orlando International Airport and the Virgin Trains Maintenance Facility. It will use 225 million pounds of American steel, will include the laying of 490,000 ties, and the transporting of 2.35 million tons of granite and limestone by 20,000 railcars.
Service is expected to begin in 2022, with Virgin Trains projecting over six million annual riders in Florida and $6.4 billion in direct economic impact. The project between South and Central Florida will generate more than 10,000 jobs and over $650 million in federal, state, and local tax revenue over an eight year period.
Check out the Orlando Virgin Trains groundbreaking event video
The Intermodal Terminal Facility at Orlando International Airport comprises 1.3 million sf of terminal space accommodating the airport’s South Airport Automated People Mover and up to three regional rail systems: Virgin Trains, SunRail, and possibly a third system serving the Orange County Convention Center/International Drive area.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Maintenance Facility is a 200,000-sf building that includes six miles of maintenance and storage track at Boggy Street Road and Weatherbee. It features a deep pit for removing and replacing wheel trucks, a 30-ton overhead crane for removing heavy train components, a 60,000 gallon fuel farm, a train wash facility, and wheel truing capability.
Virgin Trains, formerly Brightline, announced a strategic partnership and trademark licensing agreement with the Virgin Group in November 2018.
Related Stories
Glass and Glazing | Jun 4, 2015
Construction of record breaking glass-bottom bridge nearly complete in China
Designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, the white bridge is meant to look as if it is “disappearing into the clouds.”
Fire and Life Safety | May 27, 2015
7 bold applications and innovations for fire and life safety
BD+C’s roundup features colorful sprinklers for offices, hotels, museums; a fire-rated curtain wall at a transit hub in Manhattan; a combination CO/smoke detector; and more.
Transportation & Parking Facilities | May 20, 2015
Federal Highway Administration releases guide for protected bike lanes
The guide consolidates lessons learned from practitioners designing and implementing separated bike lanes across the U.S.
Transportation & Parking Facilities | May 7, 2015
Salt Lake City on track to build first protected bicycle intersection in the U.S.
The templates are based on those found on Dutch streets.
High-rise Construction | May 6, 2015
Parks in the sky? Subterranean bike paths? Meet the livable city, designed in 3D
Today’s great cities must be resilient—and open—to many things, including the influx of humanity, writes Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen.
Transit Facilities | Apr 13, 2015
Winning design for Toronto ferry dock poised to become city’s new 'living room'
The winning submission features a spacious complex under a green roof, and is designed to attract all types of visitors, even those uninterested in riding the ferry.
Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015
14 projects that push AEC teaming to the limits
From Lean construction to tri-party IPD to advanced BIM/VDC coordination, these 14 Building Teams demonstrate the power of collaboration in delivering award-winning buildings. These are the 2015 Building Team Award winners.
Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015
Nation's first LEED-certified bus depot
A bus garage in Harlem shows that even the most mundane of facilities can strut its environmentally sensitive stuff.
Mixed-Use | Apr 7, 2015
$100 billion 'city from scratch' taking shape in Saudi Arabia
The new King Abdullah Economic City was conceived to diversify the kingdom's oil-dependent economy by focusing more in its shipping industry.
Structural Materials | Mar 30, 2015
12 projects earn structural steel industry's top building award
Calatrava's soaring Innovation Science and Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic University is among the 12 projects honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction in the 2015 IDEAS² awards competition.
