5 January 9-15, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | LASTING IMPACT? Questions linger after Brightline collision with fire truck. BY ALEX DELUCA I t was Sammi Breiter’s first, and possibly last, time riding the Brightline train. On December 28, the 28-year-old and her boyfriend traveled from Miami to West Palm Beach on the high-speed passen- ger train, planning to spend the day at the Norton Museum of Art. Although Breiter had never really been interested in taking the train before (she says she prefers to be in con- trol of her schedule), her boyfriend con- vinced her to give it a try that day. So, when the Brightline train crashed about ten minutes away from the West Palm Beach station and ul- timately spoiled their plans, Breiter felt... slightly vindicated. “Like I said before, the reason why I don’t really advocate for the Brightline is because I can’t con- trol the time,” Breiter tells New Times. “And this showed exactly the reason why I’m scared of trains or anything like that.” Breiter was seated in the second passenger car of the Brightline train that violently col- lided with a Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck in downtown Delray Beach on Saturday morning, injuring three firefighters and more than a dozen passengers aboard the train. The crash took place after the fire truck re- portedly stopped at the crossing and waited for a freight train to go by before then driving around the lowered crossing arms. Breiter shared photos with New Times showing the mangled front of the Brightline train, with its windshield shattered and front severely indented. Brightline, which has been dubbed the deadliest train per mile in America by the As- sociated Press and has killed dozens of people across South Florida in the years since its 2018 debut, released a video showing the mo- ments before the crash. “For everyone’s safety, never drive around crossing gates when they are down,” the company wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Monday, December 30, a spokesper- son for Delray Beach told New Times that the firefighters remained hospitalized in stable condition and that the Delray Beach Police Department, Brightline, and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the incident. The spokesperson didn’t immediately re- spond to a question about the fire depart- ment’s protocol for stopping at railroad crossings while responding to an emergency. While Breiter and her boyfriend thank- fully walked away from the incident un- scathed, she says passengers in the front car described luggage flying off the shelves and people being flung from their seats following the crash. One passenger told her that a suitcase hit an 80-year-old woman in the head, she says. “They’re like, ‘My God, it felt like [the car] was gonna turn over. I thought I was gonna die,” Breiter recalls the passengers telling her. Meanwhile, Breiter recalled passengers seated alongside her crying and others franti- cally making phone calls. One man, who said he had his gallbladder removed the day be- fore, yelled in pain. Several families who were wearing matching “Disney 2024” shirts ap- peared extremely bummed. Amid all the chaos, Brightline officials made passengers pull their blinds down, Breiter says. “We’re all thinking the worst, like, Oh, my God, what did we hit? Was there somebody there? What’s going on?” she recalls. Breiter explained how she and other pas- sengers felt left in the dark (literally) by Brightline for nearly two hours after the crash while they waited for the company to provide them with answers. She says Brightline officials told the pas- sengers they couldn’t leave the train on foot, citing a federal law that prohibits people from walking on train tracks. The officials also turned off the air conditioning on the train, Breiter says, while passengers grew increas- ingly uncomfortable. When Brightline officials finally stepped aboard the train and told passengers what was going on (about an hour and a half after the crash, Breiter says), they explained that a rescue train was coming to bring them to the West Palm Beach Station. Once they arrived at the station, however, she says there was no Brightline representa- tive there to greet them. “It almost felt like nobody knew,” Breiter says. “There was nobody from the Brightline to be like, ‘Hey, oh my god, are you guys the ones that were just on that train? Is everyone okay?’” Brightline did not immediately respond to New Times’ request for comment. Although Breiter never made it to the mu- seum that day, her plans weren’t entirely de- railed. She returned to Miami that evening on time for her planned trip to Zoo Lights with her boyfriend, who proposed to her. “People are like, ‘Oh my God, tell me all about it! And I’m like, what? The train hitting the fire truck or my fiancé proposing?’” she laughs. “Because, I mean, one was a lot freak- ier than the other.” And in terms of her ever riding the train again? “I don’t think I’m gonna ever take the Brightline again,” Breiter says. “Simply be- cause I’m clearly not in control of my own timing. And then I guess you can hit a fire truck every once in a while.” [email protected] A Brightline train violently collided with a Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck in downtown Delray Beach on Saturday morning. Photos by Sammi Breiter | METRO | “THIS SHOWED EXACTLY THE REASON WHY I’M SCARED OF TRAINS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.”
