America's first new private passenger rail service in 100 years will open this summer

A new passenger rail service will open this summer.
(Image credit: Jens Schlueter - Pool/Getty Images)

This summer, America will open its first new privately owned passenger rail service in more than a century. Called Brightline, the new train line will link Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach in a bid to alleviate some of the traffic-choked highways along the Florida coast. The project will convert a "lightly used freight rail corridor" into a passenger line able to carry thousands of people a day, with the additional benefit of "adding millions of square feet of residential and commercial space" around it, Slate reports. Critics warn that residents of these auto-centric communities won't ditch their cars in sprawling cities where businesses are still far from downtown.

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Kelly Gonsalves

Kelly Gonsalves is a sex and culture writer exploring love, lust, identity, and feminism. Her work has appeared at Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and more, and she previously worked as an associate editor for The Week. She's obsessed with badass ladies doing badass things, wellness movements, and very bad rom-coms.