Brightline Suspends Trains Between Orlando and West Palm Beach as High Water Covers Its Brevard Corridor
The railroad that links West Palm Beach to Orlando stopped running the northern half of its Florida route on Monday, with high water along the corridor in flooded Brevard County. Service resumes after inspections — the company has announced no time.
Brightline has temporarily suspended train service between Orlando and West Palm Beach because of high water along its rail corridor in Brevard County, WPTV reported on Monday. The suspension takes out the northern half of the railroad's Florida route — the segment West Palm Beach riders use to reach Orlando — while Brevard County deals with the heaviest flooding in the state.
Brevard is where the weekend's stalled storm did its worst damage in Florida: the National Weather Service in Melbourne declared a Flash Flood Emergency for West Melbourne and Palm Bay on Monday morning, and its gauges showed 16 to 22 inches of rain by Monday afternoon. Brevard Public Schools cancelled classes across the county, roads flooded, and the weather service and county emergency officials advised drivers not to attempt flooded roads at all.
There is no resumption time to plan around. The reporting on the suspension says service will resume after inspections of the corridor — the standard step after high water over a rail line, since floodwater can undermine track beds and conceal damage — and Brightline has announced no hour for the first train. Riders with Orlando trips on Monday evening or Tuesday should check the railroad's service alerts before heading to the West Palm Beach station.
The suspension is the second transport wall in this county's Monday commute picture: Military Trail remains closed at the Greenacres Learjet crash site with no reopening timeline, as this station reported earlier Monday evening. Between the crash investigation in the south of the county and the flooded corridor to the north, both of Palm Beach County's long northbound routes — the highway past the crash site and the railroad to Orlando — are interrupted at once.
