© 2026 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

High-Speed Train Eyes Disney Stop

Virgin Trains USA is looking at building a station at Walt Disney World. The stop would be a part of the proposed high-speed rail route between Tampa and Orlando.

“We are continuing to explore the possibility of building a station on Walt Disney World Resort property, which we believe will help transform the region," Virgin Trains USA senior vice president Ben Porritt said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Business Journal Tuesday.

“A proposed station would provide a direct rail connection to Orlando International Airport and serve as the initial segment for Virgin Trains’ future extension to Tampa.”

Porritt said that a Disney station would offer the 126 million visitors to Florida, as well as its 21 million residents, “a car-free option to the state’s most-visited attraction and one of the world’s greatest destinations.”

Disney officials confirmed talks, telling the Orlando Sentinel: “While we have not yet made any definitive commitment, we have mutually agreed to more formally explore developing a train station on our property.”

Virgin Trains, formally known as Brightline, is a privately financed railway company that has already built a high-speed line between Miami and West Palm Beach and is now working on its extension to Orlando International Airport.

Part of the new extension, including a station at the airport, has been already built, but the whole project is expected to be completed by 2022. After that, the company is planning to work on connecting Orlando and Tampa.

Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7. To see more, visit .

Maria Tsyruleva is the WUSF/USF Zimmerman School digital news editor for fall 2019.
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • Animals in south Florida don’t have to worry much about winter cold – and indeed many migrants from areas farther north find suitable living conditions here. But, a trip to the beach or on a rare blustery day sometimes makes one wonder. How do ducks, herons, egrets, and other birds tolerate wading or swimming in cold weather? Aquatic birds, for example, have bare skinny legs with leg muscles placed among insulating feathers.Blood vessels going to and from the very few muscles in the legs and feet lie right next to one another, and cold blood going back into the body is warmed by warmer blood coming from the body – and is nearly the same temperature as the blood circulating in the well-insulated body.
  • Jim Atterholt is retiring after swerving six years on the Fort Myers Beach Town Council, effective at the end of the year. First elected in March 2019, Atterholt's tenure included navigating the Town through the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple major storm events, including Hurricane Ian.
  • It hides in plain sight in Sarasota, but within the confines of the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy, lies a treasure trove of unique and quirky art.