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US passenger train company drops Virgin as partner

Train planned between Vegas and California
Posted at 10:38 AM, Aug 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-12 01:51:29-04

FORT LAUDERDALE — The partnership between Richard Branson's Virgin Group and the private Florida passenger train service Brightline is over.

Brightline announced the split in a monthly report and said it would halt its plans to rebrand as Virgin Trains USA.

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Brightline declined to comment Monday on the split.

The Virgin Group did not immediately respond to an email.

The companies had announced the partnership nearly two years ago and celebrated it with a rollout party in April 2019, with Branson getting a rock star's welcome at Brightline's new Miami station.

Virgin has had several recent setbacks. It's Virgin Atlantic airline filed for bankruptcy last week.