Virgin Trains USA, the parent company of the Brightline higher-speed passenger rail has stopped train service between Miami and West Palm Beach as 
of Wednesday evening due to the Coronavirus.The company also confirmed it has laid off 250 out of more than 300 South Florida workers. The layoffs were not limited to local station and track workers: Among those laid off was Bob O’Malley, Vice President of Corporate Development.
On his Twitter account, Mr. O’Malley tweeted:
“I’m sad to share that I’ve been laid off from Virgin Trains USA, but still proud of our good work in FL, CA & NV. I’ll continue to advocate for transportation, which will be even more important in the post-pandemic recovery. And obviously I’m looking for a new job, so please RT.” (RT means Retweet)
700 construction workers on the company’s West Palm Beach to Orlando route are reportedly still working.
Indian River County residents recently pooled $200k to hire a high profile Washington D.C. law firm to appeal the County’s Federal lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Indian River County is suing the U.S. Department of Transportation over the issue of $2.7B in tax-exempt private activity bonds for construction of the higher-speed passenger train.
More than 40 people have been killed on the tracks since the train began running in January 2019, making it the deadliest rail per mile in the nation.