As to it not being true high speed, well, looking at California, we see how their cost for HSR have gone through the roof and no rail yet. For a LOT less money, Brightline has done more for rail in recent years than anybody and it works.
As to it's glitter, look at the New Penn Station. Like Brightline, NYC has recognized that dingy stations not only don't encourage new riders but they deter older ones who remember better days. Most of Amtrak's stations are platforms without a building, dumpy buildings, and worse. They don't have the money to fix them up because they don't own them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a nice looking station. After all, cities, states and the feds provide nice modern airports that are continually improved. Big bucks. And they are spending bigger bucks on ever wider freeways and roads.
As to using diesel, sure it could have been electrified but at much higher cost because of the track sharing between Brightline and the Florida East Coast RR (FEC). They did it w/o public money and there is nothing to stop a future conversion down the road. They created an excellent system at a reasonable cost in a much shorter time and are doing it successfully. They do plan to create their LA to Las Vegas route electrified and high speed.
As to being like Amtrak, there is no comparison with Brightline when it comes to onboard service. As a long time rider on Amtrak, I have found onboard service to be awful, inconsistent and the trains rarely getting bathrooms, windows and the interior cleaned - mostly outside the Northeast Corridor (NEC) running between Boston and D.C.
As to their speed comparison, in a few places like the NEC and some other corridors, Amtrak has managed to hit as good and even higher speeds (Acela) than Brightline but their average speeds especially Boston to NYC are disappointing and their long distance speeds are an abortion, mostly due to the host railroads who own the track. When Brightline was created (initially by FEC) both the freight FEC came up with a brilliant idea. They created a separate dispatching company that would take requirements from FEC and Brightline and come up with a best dispatching solution to meet both RR's needs. Unlike Amtrak's hosts who control almost all dispatching outside of the NEC and who run trains too long to fit on their own sidings, they give themselves priority even though that violates federal requirements.
As to the collision issues, this is a combination of stupid Floridians and state and local government failures. Where the railroad was first (the FEC tracks), the states/local governments have the obligation to pay for all crossing improvements and overpasses/underpasses. They don't want to pay because they don't care about the people and you don't win votes by "wasting" money on improvements like that vs building new highways.
Amtrak has no forward thinking IMHO. Some of it is money but most of it is laziness. Their management proved to be the biggest bunglers during Covid and they don't care about their customers. And they suffer with idiots in Congress that just don't want them around and who have no interest in promoting rail.
Brightline has shown where new private corporations can contribute so much as has been shown by many new companies and their willingness to shake up the status quo. The problems come later when times are tough and they forgot what made them good in the first place and the original visionaries are gone or have succumbed to greed.
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