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Want A Brightline Train Station? Taxpayers May Help Pay For It

MIKE STOCKER
/
South Florida Sun Sentinel
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson celebrates the new Virgin MiamiCentral in downtown Miami. Brightline, which is being rebranded as Virgin Trains USA, is in talks to build stations in Boca Raton and Aventura and at PortMiami.

South Florida local governments are finding that if they want a Brightline station, taxpayers could help foot the bill. The most recent example: Aventura, where a station could get a $76 million contribution from Miami-Dade County.

Brightline, the South Florida high-speed rail service, has been in talks with local governments to start building stations in Aventura, as well as in Boca Raton and PortMiami. But unlike the rail line’s initial buildout, where the company paid to build the stations now in operation, taxpayer funds are now a consideration.

The local governments would pay to gain access fairly quickly when compared to the millions it would take to build and operate a rail line on their own.

Read more at the Sun Sentinel.

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