Transforming the high-speed rail experience.

On his first day as Brightline’s chief technology and digital innovation officer, Kevin T. McAuliffe boarded the company’s high-speed rail and had a profound realization — he wasn't just taking a ride, he was stepping into the future of American rail travel. As a lifelong commuter who had spent years riding Amtrak, PATH, and New Jersey Transit, he thought he knew what to expect. But Brightline wasn’t like any train he had ever seen.

“All my life, I’ve been riding trains — I know what they’re supposed to feel like, even smell like. This was something else entirely,” says McAuliffe.

From its luxury cabins and complimentary gourmet meals to Lamborghini-like leather seats and touchless doors, McAuliffe’s Brightline experience was a world apart from traditional rail travel. It was high speed, high end, and high tech.

But its digital experience lagged. The booking process was slow and riddled with server errors and timeouts. Digital screens inside the station — prime real estate for customer engagement and real-time updates — were often blank or turned off. The license plate recognition intended to automate parking entry didn’t work. Onboard, Wi-Fi was unreliable and announcements didn’t play over the PA system.

The seamless, luxurious experience Brightline promised was hitting digital roadblocks. McAuliffe knew the brand’s digital presence had to match the quality of its trains, stations, and service.

“The first thing I said to my boss when I arrived in Miami was, ‘We’re going to fix this disconnect.’”

McAuliffe’s goal wasn’t just to fix individual touchpoints but to create a seamless, end-to-end journey that felt as refined as the train ride itself.

“We’re not just selling tickets. We’re delivering an experience,” McAuliffe says. “Everything from the app to the in-station kiosks to the Wi-Fi onboard — it all needed to work together.”

Engagement beyond the ticket purchase.

Fixing the booking process was just the start. McAuliffe wanted every part of the journey — stations, onboard experiences, and post-travel interactions — to feel personalized and effortless.

Station kiosks and digital displays now deliver dynamic content from train times and platform updates to tailored promotions for seat upgrades and Brightline’s loyalty program, all powered by Experience Manager Sites. Wi-Fi login pages personalize content based on travelers’ destinations, offering event recommendations, local dining suggestions, and exclusive loyalty perks.

“Now, instead of showing static screens, our displays interact with customers,” McAuliffe explains. “We’re delivering relevant content at the right moment, based on real-time insights.”

Brightline’s transformation also empowers travelers with real-time, personalized offers, upsells, and reminders, making trips smoother and more engaging. Real-Time CDP unifies cross-channel customer data into customer profiles ready for activation. With Customer Journey Analytics, Brightline can get a full view of its customers across every channel and interaction. This understanding of customer behaviors and preferences enables real-time personalization in the moments that matter.

For example, if a traveler abandons their booking, Journey Optimizer automatically triggers a reminder, sending them an email (soon to include text) with their saved itinerary. This simple change significantly reduced drop-off rates and increased completed bookings. To enhance their travel experiences, customers receive real-time offers, such as discounted parking for frequent riders or last-minute upgrade promotions on channels such as in-app, kiosks, and email — boosting both revenue and customer satisfaction.

After a trip, Customer Journey Analytics uses data on customer interactions to surface insights and trends. This data triggers even more personalized interactions, such as thank-you emails, based on immediate and contextual customer actions. “For most Americans, taking the train isn’t second nature,” McAuliffe explains. “We needed to prove why Brightline is better than driving or flying — and Adobe gave us the tools to tell that story in a way that truly resonates.”

To McAuliffe, personalization has no limit. He’s constantly dreaming up new ways to surprise and delight Brightline customers — from sending birthday discounts to riders, bottles of champagne to loyalty members, or curating onboard educational content for riders with children.

“The simplest of personalizations has a way to amplify results in meaningful ways — improved conversion rates, increased revenue, earned ROI. As we tailor our experiences ahead using Adobe’s products, we believe we will create connections that lead to lifetime value,” says McAuliffe.

Seamless travel powered by personalization.

Today, the Brightline digital experience moves as fast as its trains — effortless, intuitive, and personalized from the moment a traveler considers booking to the time they arrive at their destination.

While the entire transformation took just 12 months, the impact was massive:

• Booking time on the app became 70% faster.
• Ridership tripled from 80,000 trips per month to 260,000.
• Brightline’s digital channels now account for 95% of revenue growth.
• Website traffic from unbranded organic searches surged by 618%.

But digital transformation isn’t just about technology — it’s about people. Brightline’s marketing team, once bogged down by siloed data, now has the toolsets to work smarter and more strategically, personalizing outreach and driving bookings with less effort.

“From the day we went live with Adobe, we’ve been up 99.999% of the time — no crashes, no downtime, just a seamless experience for our customers,” McAuliffe says.