JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The new Brightline train's maiden voyage from Miami to Orlando Friday morning was delayed because of a deadly crash, Brightline representatives confirmed to WESH.
The Associated Press has called the new high-speed route, which will take passengers between Miami and Orlando in three and a half hours, "the first big test of whether privately owned high-speed passenger train service can prosper in the United States."
A pedestrian was hit and killed by another Brightline train headed southbound to Miami from West Palm Beach -- the company's first route, which was established in 2018.
The passenger was hit around the area of Southeast 2nd Avenue and Southeast 4th Street in Delray Beach around 7 a.m. This caused a stoppage en-route, delaying the train's inaugural arrival in Orlando by 30 minutes.
The train arrived in Orlando just after noon to a raucous crowd, bursting through a grand opening banner in Brightline's signature yellow.
Brightline trains are the deadliest trains in trains in the United States, according to the Associated Press. The train connecting Miami and West Palm Beach, where the pedestrian died Friday, has struck 98 people since its start in 2018.
That's about one death for every 32,000 of travel, AP says.
