"Florida East Coast Railway, the company that owns the railroad tracks Brightline trains run on, sued Brightline in August over an alleged breach of contract. FECR argues the private passenger train company violated its agreement with the railway by negotiating a commuter rail deal with the county governments without bringing FECR into the conversation. Since FECR owns the tracks, it has a joint use agreement that lets Brightline run its trains on those tracks. FECR says Brightline should have included the company in its conversations with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County, and that a commuter rail service is not feasible on the same railroad that FECR's freight trains run on."
""The commuter service that Defendants sold to the Counties is, as a practical matter, an unviable and unsafe pipe dream. Its dramatic expansion of the number of trains operating on the FEC Corridor would, in turn, require significant additions and upgrades to the Corridor's infrastructure, such as new tracks, stations, and sidings, to operate safely and avoid collisions," FECR wrote in an amended complaint filed on Sept. 26 that was not previously reported on."
"Brightline argued that according to its contract with the railway company, any disputes arising out of the joint use agreement must be dealt with in arbitration before they go to a lawsuit. Brightline said FECR just tried to do damage to the company's reputation by filing suit before dealing with this privately."
Florida East Coast Railway sued Brightline in August alleging a breach of their joint use agreement, claiming Brightline negotiated a commuter rail deal with three counties without FECR's involvement. FECR owns the tracks and contends that a commuter service on the same corridor as its freight trains is infeasible and unsafe without substantial infrastructure upgrades such as new tracks, stations, and sidings. Brightline says contract terms require arbitration for disputes under the joint use agreement and accuses FECR of publicly harming Brightline's reputation by filing suit prior to private resolution. The lawsuit is temporarily paused while arbitration proceeds.
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