Florida’s High-Speed Rail Rattles Investors, Defying Its Promise

The Brightline train running from Miami to Orlando, lauded as an alternative vision for the future of American rail travel, is making some investors anxious.

The concerns have amped up since Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Brightline was going to delay an interest payment on $1.2 billion of bonds it issued through the municipal-bond market, one of several different types of debt issued by various arms of the company.

Brightline’s ridership and revenue have lagged projections, creating a growing number of financial hurdles for the Fortress Investment Group-backed project and defying the enthusiasm about the train shared by ...