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Riding the Rails: SpaceX's Starlink Coming to Trains for First Time

Florida-based train service Brightline will offer free Starlink access on five trains between Miami and West Palm Beach to start.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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SpaceX's Starlink is already available for RVs, boats, and planes. But now the satellite internet is coming to trains.

Florida-based train service Brightline today announced it’s the first passenger rail service to adopt Starlink. The high-speed internet access will be complimentary for all passengers.

The satellite internet service will first be available on five trains running between Miami and West Palm Beach. It will then come to five more trains on the Orlando route this summer. 

“As the first rail service in the world to adopt Starlink, Brightline continues to lead the way in the industry,” says SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller. “We’re excited to work with Brightline and provide Starlink to their entire fleet.”

Brightline already offers free Wi-Fi at its stations and onboard the trains, and according to some reviews, that coverage is already good. However, the Starlink connectivity promises to improve download speeds to 50Mbps or higher while maintaining low latency.  

For Brightline, this means passengers will be able to stream TV shows, game online, and hold video calls while on its trains. Tickets between Miami and West Palm Beach start at $15. 

Outside trains, SpaceX has also struck deals to bring Starlink to cruise liners and commercial planes. For example, jet operator JSX recently completed outfitting all the company’s planes with Starlink dishes, enabling them to receive high-speed internet while in the sky. 

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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