A Brightline passenger rail station in Stuart could have hit a roadblock.
“FEC has clearly communicated in multiple letters to Brightline that the request and plan for a passenger station in Stuart have been denied,” said Robert Ledoux, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Brightline, in an April 27 letter to former Stuart Mayor Christopher Collins.
Ledoux declined to comment further to TCPalm.
City records show the letter was received May 5.
“Brightline cannot unilaterally build anything on FEC without FEC’s express written approval,” Ledoux wrote.
Brightline and Martin County signed an agreement in November 2024 to build a station at 500 Southeast Flagler Avenue in Stuart pending receipt of grant money to help construct the station.
The project cost has recently ballooned to $87 million.
Brightline did not respond to requests for comment.
Florida East Coast Railway owns the railroad tracks from Miami to Jacksonville, which Brightline uses to take passengers between Miami and Orlando.
This story will be updated.
Keith Burbank is a watchdog reporter for TCPalm, usually covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Latest Florida Brightline station might be dead, FEC denies approval
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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