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>i love it
Why? I've rode on it multiple times, and Tri-Rail is a much more pleasant experience.
The bad aspects of Brightline:
Can't pay in cash for anything. Not for your ticket, nor for anything in the station or on the train.
Overpriced
Tries to make every station feel like an airport rather than train station. They do this by:
Harassing you worse than the actual TSA does while providing worse actual security
Having more restrictions on what you can carry
Telling you to come ridiculously early for your train
Interestingly, they call you from the waiting area down to the actual platform a few minutes before your train arrives, likely to make it feel more like boarding an airplane.
In contrast, for Tri-Rail:
You can pay with cash, or with your Easy Card. You can use a credit card or debit card if you truly wish.
Tri-Rail is more fairly priced
The train stations are built to be easily used by regular people
You can take almost whatever you want on Tri-Rail
You can arrive 60 seconds before the train comes and still get on
>could brightline be successful
Maybe. But their market is primarily confused tourists. Every time I rode Brightline, the trains weren't even a fourth full.
Their advertising confirms this: they try to compare trains to planes, stylistically, and their only other advertising is about using a train rather than driving. Nowhere have I ever seen Brightline compare itself to another train. (Neither to Tri-Rail nor Amtrak)
Brightline is all-around an unpleasant experience: the only benefit is it goes faster: in every other way, it's worse.
Have a nice image of a train in the rain.
