Now that Brightline has activated its 170-mile extension between South Florida and Orlando, the higher-speed rail line is turning its attention to laying foundations for a commuter line in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, a new stop along the Treasure Coast, and expansion to Tampa.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Brightline is celebrating its one-year anniversary of service to Orlando. Channel 9 anchor Alexa Lorenzo boarded the train this week for a trip to South Florida and learned more about Brightline’s future.

Brightline prepares to expand its rail service with extra train cars and a new loyalty program after a successful year of Orlando-South Florida connections.

For the first seven months of the year, Brightline had more than 900,000 long-distance passengers — those traveling to and from Orlando.

More to eat and drink, more baggage-handling ability and bigger trains are coming soon to Brightline’s higher-speed rail, which has established its riders’ favorite station as: Orlando. Those conclusions are top of mind for Brightline as it marks completion of its first year of service from five stations in South Florida to Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C.

Time flies when you are traveling by rail. Next week will mark the first-year anniversary of Brightline, the high-speed passenger-rail service, of its train service between Miami and Orlando.