After spending nearly $7.2 million battling Brightline, Martin and Indian River counties appear to be stepping back from their fight against the passenger railroad.

Martin County has reached its limit at $4.2 million, a sum primarily spent on outside legal counsel and experts, said Commission Chairman Ed Ciampi.

“From my perspective, that’s going to do it for us. We’re not going to continue to allocate funds to the battle," Ciampi said Friday. "I think people, even people vehemently opposed to the railroad,” are starting to resign themselves to the fact that “the light at the end of the tunnel might be a train."

Indian River County, meanwhile, will wait to make spending decisions until it receives the verdict in an ongoing federal lawsuit in which the counties have challenged Brightline's use of tax-exempt bonds, said Commission Chairman Peter O’Bryan.

More:Does Fort Pierce have what it takes to lure a Brightline station?

“We’re still very much in this,” O’Bryan said. “If (the court) rules Brightline can’t use the private-activity bonds, that would be … a huge setback for Brightline because it would take away funding for their next phase.”

But, O'Bryan added, if the court rules in Brightline's favor, then "we’d have to sit down and say, 'What is the probability of other strategies working?'"

Indian River County commissioners last month allocated $92,500 to continue the Brightline fight through the end of the 2018, including $15,000 for oral arguments Nov. 27 in federal court.

The county has committed a total of $2.98 million to the fight, including the most recent allocation, according to county records.

Both Ciampi and O'Bryan acknowledge that in recent months the counties have increased their efforts to negotiate with, rather than exclusively fight, Brightline.

For its part, Martin County hopes to negotiate additional safety improvements, and has discussed installation of quiet zones and establishment of a regular schedule for St. Lucie River bridge closures, according to Ciampi.

O’Bryan said safety also has been discussed in Indian River County, including during talks with Brightline and in a closed-door attorney-client session last month.

The railroad, for its part, has promised to work with the Treasure Coast to build a "constructive and collaborative relationship," said Brightline President Patrick Goddard.

More:Stuart will pursue Brightline station; city is considering three locations

Since 2014, Indian River and Martin counties have worked hand-in-hand to fight Brightline on behalf of communities strongly opposed to the train.

Now, though, their attitudes seem to have diverged, a change likely brought about in part by Brightline's promise to consider building a station in downtown Stuart.

Brightline in late August renewed a prior offer to look into building a Treasure Coast station or stations, and encouraged Fort Pierce, Sebastian, Stuart and Vero Beach to apply. Stuart did, while Vero Beach did not — a decision that seems to have impacted the larger Brightline battle and softened some Martin County opponents, according to Ciampi.

The counties also differ in their assessments of what spending $7.2 million has accomplished.

"The only thing in terms of real concrete accomplishments is that we have a stronger and more powerful seat at the bargaining table," Ciampi said.

O'Bryan, however, said delays in Brightline's schedule are proof the counties have had an impact.

“Considering Brightline said they would be zipping through here four years ago and they haven’t laid a lick of track yet, I think we've done a pretty good job stopping the train so far," O'Bryan said.

Martin County’s expenses included $1.54 million to the Washington, D.C., law firm McDermott Will & Emery and $1.21 million to the Oertel, Fernandez, Bryant & Atkinson law firm of Tallahassee.

Other payments exceeding $100,000 to outside law firms and professional services were:

$440,000 to Capital City Consulting, a Tallahassee public relations firm

$276,910 to Creech Consulting, an engineering consultant

$124,940 to Intelligent Management Solutions, a consulting and expert-services firm

$114,760 to Jonathan T. Ricketts, an engineering consultant

$103,900 to Taylor Engineering, an engineering firm

In Indian River County, $2.4 million — or 80 percent of the Brightline legal spending — went to the St. Louis-based Bryan Cave law firm. Other consultants paid more than $100,000 were:

$130,135 to McDermott Will & Emery

$169,660 to Shubin & Bass, a Miami law firm

Brightline began phase 1 service among Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach earlier this year, and phase 2 service to Orlando is expected by early 2021. Brightline already has asked the state to lease it land along Interstate 4 to extend service from Orlando to Tampa.

Brightline has begun early phase 2 work — such as fiber relocation and moving endangered species — but does not yet have a schedule for heavy construction and track work, spokeswoman Ali Soule said Friday.