Virgin Trains USA on Tuesday scrapped itspublic stock offering, which could have raised more than $500 million for the fledgling railroad.

The company would have used a portion of the new capital toward building Phase 2 of its rail corridor, from West Palm Beach, through the Treasure Coast and Space Coast and on to Orlando International Airport.

In a statement, Virgin Trains said that as it explored the public offering, "a number of alternative financing sources became available that allow us to keep the company private and meet our growth strategies.”

Shares of Virgin Trains would have been sold at $17-$19, according to its IPO filing last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

More: Virgin Trains files for public offering of stock

Still, the money raised from the IPO would have been a small portion of the nearly $4 billion project between Miami and Orlando. Virgin trains, formerly Brightline, is pursuing two other sources of significant money for construction: $1.15 billion in tax-free bonds from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a pending application for a $1.6 billion federal loan.

Phase 2 expansion to Orlando alone is expected to cost $2.1 billion, according to the SEC filing.

— and its predecessor, All Aboard Florida — have struggled with financing from the outset. Financing has been a contentious issue with communi8ty groups and local governments that opposed the project. The issue has been at the heart of legal challenges, most recently in a federal lawsuit originally brought by Martin and Indian River counties.

More: Virgin Trains among possible developers of Fort Pierce property

Martin County settled its portion of the suit, but Indian River County commissioners voted not to settle and proceed with the suit. A federal court judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed the county's case in December.

Virgin Trains is pursuing state approval for a corridor along Interstate 4 from Orlando to Tampa, and is buying XPressWest, a planned high-speed passenger service between Southern California and Las Vegas for $120 million.

Proceeds from the IPO would have been used toward the XPressWest purchase, according to Virgin trains' SEC filing.

Locally, Virgin Trains is in talks with both Fort Pierce and Stuart about possibly building a passenger station.