When news hit that Disney would be retiring the Magical Express service in January of 2022, many of us had hoped the new Brightline High-Speed Train would be open by then to accommodate passengers.

However, in a report yesterday from BizJournals, Brightline isn’t expected to connect to Walt Disney World until late 2026…

The Miami-based rail company expects to reach completion of the route from West Palm Beach to Orlando International Airport by December 2022, according to the February 2021 construction report from Brightline. In addition to the Orlando route, Brightline is working on an extension to Tampa, including a roughly 17-mile route to the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment district at Walt Disney World.

However, in the latest report, the route to Disney from Orlando International Airport would cost $1.03 billion-$2.1 billion, depending on which alignment is selected. And now the company HOPES to start service on the segment as early as third-quarter 2026.