Miami, .- The works to extend to Orlando a line of high speed train that begins in Miami, a project with a private investment of 4,000 million dollars, began already with the tasks of cleaning the land, reported Tuesday Virgin Trains USES.
The private railroad company, owned by British tycoon Richard Branson, announced that the construction firms Hubbard Construction Company, Wharton-Smith Inc., The Middlesex Corporation, Granite and HSR Constructors will handle the 170 miles (273.5 kilometers) of railway line missing to get to Orlando.
The city of theme and amusement parks, which was the first US tourist destination in 2018, is expected to be connected to Miami and other cities in southeast Florida by a high-speed train starting in 2022.
“Connecting the center of Florida with the south will bring the opportunity for more jobs, at the same time that we modernize the iron infrastructure and help strengthen the state’s economy,” said Patrick Goddard, president of Virgin Trains USA, formerly known as Brightline, it’s a statement.
Phase 1 of the project, which runs from Miami to West Palm Beach, some 72 miles (about 100 kilometers) away, has been completed and operational since 2018.
Phase 2, which has begun with the cleanup of the land in the Orlando International Airport area and the Virgin Trains Maintenance Center, will generate more than 10,000 jobs and more than 650 million dollars in federal tax revenues, state and local, according to the company statement.
It is expected that this year works will also begin in the other two zones of phase 2.
On April 19, Virgin Trains USA announced that it had secured financing to begin the construction of the stretch that connects the cities of West Palm Beach and Orlando.
The firm closed the sale of 1,750 million dollars in bonds with what can begin “immediately” the construction of a laying of 273 kilometers (170 miles) that will culminate in Orlando,
The announcement came after the visit to Miami in early April by the Virgin Group president, the British millionaire Richard Branson, for a ceremony in which officially the Brightline company’s central station was renamed “Virgin MiamiCentral”.
In November 2018, the British group reached a “strategic alliance” with Brightline, the company that after many delays and problems put in service the line between Miami and Palm Beach, cities of southeast Florida and separated by 120 kilometers.
Product of that alliance, the signature was renamed Virgin Trains.
In 2018, in addition to the “strategic alliance” with Brightline, Virgin announced the construction of a terminal in the Port of Miami for its Virgin Voyages cruise division, which has announced that its ships will make a stopover in Cuba starting in 2020. (EFEUSA )
