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Brightline’s Cocoa Station Lands $57.5 Million Federal Grant, Bringing Passenger Rail Closer to the Space Coast
Brightline is getting a major boost toward adding a new stop on Florida’s Space Coast. The City of Cocoa and the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization announced that the Cocoa Multimodal Station and Rail Project has been selected for approximately $57.5 million in federal funding, clearing a major hurdle toward bringing Brightline passenger service directly to Brevard County.
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The funding from the Federal Railroad Administration will help move the Cocoa station into final design and construction. Plans call for a new passenger station near the US 1, SR 528 and Clearlake Road area, along with parking, passenger amenities and improved connections throughout the region. The project also includes approximately four additional miles of double track and other rail infrastructure needed to support operations. Brightline will work with the City of Cocoa to construct the station and will ultimately maintain and operate it.
Brightline trains already roll through Brevard County on their trips between Orlando International Airport and South Florida, but there currently is not a Space Coast station where passengers can hop aboard. Once completed, the Cocoa station could be a game changer for visitors headed to some of Central Florida’s biggest destinations. Kennedy Space Center is about 17 miles away, while Port Canaveral is just 10 miles from the planned station, potentially giving cruise passengers and Space Coast vacationers another alternative to making the entire trip by car.
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The project has been more than a decade in the making, with transportation officials studying potential station locations as far back as 2016. A more detailed feasibility study completed in 2024 further developed plans for the Cocoa location and its connections to other transportation options. There is still design and construction work ahead before anyone is boarding a Brightline train in Cocoa, but securing $57.5 million in federal funding puts this long-awaited station firmly on the tracks toward becoming reality.
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