USDOT ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR FLORIDA RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

Miami, FL (September 22, 2025) – U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced today that the Department has obligated four grants totaling over $42 million to fund critical rail safety projects along Florida’s rail corridor.

 

Details on the grants, size, and project intentions can be found below:

• A grant for $24,934,138 announced in August 2022 to the Florida Department of Transportation for improvements to 330 highway-railroad crossings, along 195 miles of corridor, including fencing, crossing delineators, crisis support signage and other intrusion prevention mitigations.
• A grant for $1,648,000 announced in September 2023 for a Trespassing Identification and Classification System under the CRISI Grant Program for FY22. The project will advance a technology that will provide real-time alerts and aggregate data to generate heat-maps of trespassing and potential collision events on the Florida East Coast Railway right of way from Miami to Cocoa.
• A grant for $15,440,000 announced in June 2023 to increase safety at 21 grade crossings along the Brightline/Florida East Coast Railway corridor with additional crossing gates and delineators.
• A grant for up to $150,000 announced in October 2024 for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to support overtime costs for targeted enforcement of pedestrian trespassing at identified hot spots.

These four rail safety grants support installing safety fencing, grade crossing upgrades, and a trespassing alert system.

 

“We commend Sec. Duffy and this administration on working diligently to accelerate the distribution of these funds to address safety projects and are proud to partner with agencies including FDOT and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office,” said Michael Lefevre, vice president of operations, Brightline.

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ABOUT BRIGHTLINE

Brightline seamlessly connects travelers to top destinations and major events between Central and South Florida with stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando. The company offers a hospitality-centric experience designed to reinvent train travel at a comparable price to driving or flying. Brightline is recognized as one of TIME100’s Most Influential Companies, one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative by Fast Company and one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Southeast by Inc. The company focuses on city pairs that are too close to fly and too long to drive. Construction is currently underway to connect Las Vegas to Southern California. For more information, visit www.gobrightline.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Ashley Blasewitz, Brightline, ashley.blasewitz@gobrightline.com

Michael Hicks, Brightline, mhicks@bltrain.com