When then-Brightline executive Mike Reinenger appeared before Congress in 2017, he told lawmakers the private train company would not be using any taxpayer dollars.
“It’s completely an investment of private capital,” he said.
Today, seven years after the rail company opened for business, nearly a half-billion taxpayer dollars have been allocated to projects related to Brightline trains, a joint investigation by WLRN News and the Miami Herald has found.
Taxpayers helped pay for the construction of stations in Miami, Aventura and Boca Raton.
Taxpayers are paying to add more cars to Brightline trains, so they can carry more passengers.
Taxpayers are footing the bill for a new bridge over the St. Lucie River in Stuart — replacing a drawbridge that is lowered so often for Brightline trains, it's choking boat traffic in the river.
Taxpayers have funded studies to expand the Brightline route.
And taxpayers have indirectly subsidized the private train company through federal grants to sheriff’s offices — for deputies to patrol Brightline's tracks for trespassing pedestrians.
READ MORE: Brightline death toll surpasses 180, but safeguards are still lacking
All in all, the funding adds up to $486 million, according to the WLRN/Miami Herald investigation — much more than what has been previously reported.
More than $100 million of the $486 million total has been allocated to address rampant safety issues in what became the deadliest stretch of railroad in the nation after Brightline trains started running.
The public safety money began to flow as politicians and residents raised alarms over the early death toll.
As of now, 182 people have been struck and killed by Brightline trains, WLRN News and the Miami Herald reported last week. In the majority of cases, medical examiners ruled the deaths accidents or listed the causes as undetermined. About 41 percent were ruled suicides.
Brightline officials told WLRN/Miami Herald reporters that their early pledges not to use public funds applied only to the costs of upgrading train tracks and other railroad infrastructure — not building stations or installing safety features.
According to Brightline, the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on safety-related measures.
In the second episode of the podcast Killer Train, WLRN News and the Miami Herald explore the debate over whether tax dollars should support a private train company — a question that has divided one coastal Florida city.
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that taxpayers did not pay for the entirety of the construction of train stations in Miami and Boca Raton.
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that taxpayers did not pay for the entirety of the construction of train stations in Miami and Boca Raton.
Killer Train was produced with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
