FORT LAUDERDALE Fla. — The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will investigate two accidents involving the Brightline train in Florida, which killed three people at the same railroad crossing on the high-speed rail route between Miami and Orlando.
The crashes occurred Wednesday and Friday at an intersection along the US 1 corridor in Melbourne, on Florida’s Atlantic coast, where the high-speed train passes on its daily routes to and from South Florida. Since Brightline launched the 260-mile extension connecting South Florida and Orlando in September, there have been five deaths, according to an Associated Press database.
Friday’s crash killed driver Lisa Ann Batchelder, 52, and passenger Michael Anthony Degasperi, 54, both of Melbourne. On Wednesday, 62-year-old Charles Julian Phillips was killed when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by the train. Three passengers in that vehicle were injured, according to Melbourne police.
Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey told reporters at the scene that the SUV was trying to outrun the train. He said he has spoken with Brightline officials about a new public safety campaign to warn drivers not to drive around railroad crossings because the train travels at higher speeds.
“I’ll start by saying that if the arm is down, don’t go around,” Alfrey told Orlando television station WKMG. “There is no good result with a train. This is an unfortunate situation. We have another loss of life. There are safety measures in place for a reason, and people must adhere to them.”
The bright, neon yellow trains travel at speeds of up to 201 km/h in some locations. The 3.5-hour, 230-mile (378-kilometer) trip between Miami and Orlando takes about 30 minutes less than the average trip.
The NTSB team would be on site for several days starting Saturday.
“Investigators will attempt to better understand the safety issues at this intersection and will explore options to prevent or reduce these crashes in the future,” NTSB spokeswoman Sarah Taylor Sulick told The Associated Press.
She said a preliminary report will be released within 30 days, and a final report will be released within 12 to 24 months.
Brightline did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but the company has posted warning signs at intersections to alert drivers to the speeding trains.
The three deaths in Melbourne this week mark at least 108 since operations began in July 2017. That’s one death for about every 61,000 miles the trains travel, the worst death rate among the nation’s more than 800 railroads, a Continuing Associated Associate. Press analysis that started in 2019 shows. Among U.S. railroads that run at least 100,000 train miles per year, the second-worst figure since 2017 is California’s Caltrain commuter line. During that period, Caltrain averaged one death for every 125,000 miles traveled.
None of Brightline’s previous deaths turn out to be the railroad’s fault. Most cases are suicides, pedestrians trying to run across the tracks in front of the train or drivers maneuvering around the fences instead of waiting.