In January 2026Florida will start one new regulatory framework for railway crossings with the stated aim of Reduce deaths and accidents on the tracks. The central criticism, however, is not about what the law includes, but rather what it leaves out: the limited scope of the rules and their impact on the state’s most dangerous rail routes.
The regulatory change came after years of warnings, technical studies and requests from experts This identified clear solutions to reduce the number of road deaths.
Some of this information came from an investigation by the Miami Herald along with WLRN, which obtained official documents after the state refused to release them.
Florida’s New Railroad Regulations has rewritten entire chapters of the road planning manual and established higher standards for level crossingsespecially on routes where trains travel at high speeds.
The most important adjustments included linguistic modifications intended to have practical effects: more than 120 clues that “should” or “could” become “must”. That was numerous mandatory safety measures that were previously left to the discretion of each individual project.
The central problem that the Miami Herald It is temporary and structural. The rules only apply to new projects from 2026. They do not require modification of existing intersections, nor do they force immediate changes to routes already in operation. In this way, for example the Brightline corridor – according to research, the deadliest in the North American country – will remain virtually intact under the new regime.
According to research by Miami Herald, In Brightline, one person has died on average every 13 days since 2018. A total of 195 people died on the streets, 32 of them this year alone. None of these numbers will automatically change under the new law.
Brightline operates largely at street level and runs through densely populated areas in southern and central Florida.
The tracks cross hundreds of streets and avenues, many near highways, leaving little room for cars to stop without standing on the tracks. Add to that the speed: up to 79 miles per hour (127 km per hour) in the southern part of the state and up to 110 miles per hour (177 km per hour) on the Treasure Coast.
Official documents and technical studies agree on one point: There are proven solutions to reduce deaths. The problem is this many of them are still missing for long stretches the tour.
Measures identified as effective but partially implemented:
The state itself applied 2022 A Federal grant to install more than 50 kilometers of fencing and protective vegetationat a cost of nearly $19 million. Although The funds were eventually releaseda large part of these works have not yet been carried out. Since the grant was awarded, more than 100 people have been killed by Brightline trains.
What he pointed out Miami Herald is that now The state wrote stricter manuals, founded a railway safety coalition and announced New rules for high-speed trains. However, excluded the public from key meetings and avoided answering questions about the actual impact of the reforms.
The regulations, as drafted, do not require Brightline to immediately change the conditions that explain its kill list today.
The underlying criticism is this Florida has made many known solutions mandatory, but only in the future. Meanwhile, the North American country’s most dangerous corridor will operate almost as before, they said.
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