Brightline Florida > headed for bankruptcy. Brightline West > asking for billions more in subsidies. Very tough to make the economics of private passenger rail work. Japan is the only place it works without major public assistance, largely because rail companies capture the land value they create. structurally: rail has huge upfront fixed costs, fares don’t earn enough return on that capital. They compete with cars and airlines that rely on heavily public-funded road and infra. Rail…

marcjoffe@marcjoffe21h ago

Brightline West is hoping to get a low-interest, $6 billion federal loan in the 1st quarter of 2027. Meanwhile they are constantly renegotiating terms with current bondholders to stay alive until the loan comes in. The last time a Brightline West bond traded, it yielded >19%. https://t.co/WZrtDmhTen