PHILADELPHIA — A new company has announced plans to develop a private sleeper-train service connecting major destinations, and says it aims to have a demonstration unit in the second half of 2026.
Lunatrain, which describes itself as “a private, early-stage company,” says it will develop a network of express, non-stop night trains in the Midwest and on the East Coast to connect cities “that are too far for daytime trains to serve effectively.” Operations will be anchored in the New York and Philadephia areas, it says. Projected service stretch as far west as Denver, north to Toronto and Montreal, and south to New Orleans and Florida.
The company plans to focus on single-night journeys. It aims to offer accommodations for single travelers, couples and families that it says will be “a significant improvement over existing sleeping train options in the United States.” Trains will feature full-service and in-room dining options, WiFi, lounge space, and showers. It says it will not be a “luxury” operation and will be “cost competitive” with flights on the same routes.
Lunatrain says there is no timeline for when full-scale commercial service will begin.
The company’s founder and CEO, Mike Avena, comes from the biotech industry. He previously was head of information technology at Ori Biotech, which launched a cell therapy manufacturing platform, and before that was at Tmunity Therapeutics, a cell therpay developer focused on curing solid tumors.
Lunatrain says it “completed a feasibility analysis for the project in the first half of 2024 and has since developed robust financial projections for North American night trains.”
It becomes the second U.S. private night-train company currently seeking to begin operations. Dreamstar Lines announced plans for a luxury Los Angeles-San Francisco overnight train last spring, saying then that it aimed to begin operations in 2025 [see “Plans for private San Francisco-Los Angeles …,” Trains News Wire, March 25, 2024].
The exterior rendition is a blatant reskin of a Venture shell with springs replacing the secondary suspension, the B end vestibule completely deleted with the interior extended into it (have fun relocating the 58 [electrical] cabinet, and the waste water/air brake/electrical pods in the proper order underneath. In my first week at the factory I was drooling like a kid in a candy store. Walking through the first pre-Venture shells and pacing off the space I envisioned bedrooms. When I asked if this had been anticipated my handler looked at me like I had two heads (with an Eastern European accent), “Why would you even ask such a question?” Then follow with, “We will build whatever the customer pays for.”
Dear potential investors, “if you don’t like this I have a bridge to Brooklyn I can sell you “.
France may preempt any purchase of European night train equipment.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/traction-and-rolling-stock/france-begins-procurement-of-replacement-night-train-fleet/68339.article
It’s always good to see someone trying to find some way to make this type of train service work out. But as other commenters have pointed out, there are many obstacles. I wonder how much real study was put into selecting some of these routes. Chicago-New York would seem a strong market, but the route shown uses heavy freight traffic lines. I understand that reviving the ex-PRR via Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh has some obstacles with some missing track, but seems to me that it might have less freight (I rode Amtrak Broadway Limited over this line some 40 or more years ago). If someone out there can provide more detail on the trackage problems, I would appreciate it as I am unfamiliar with that area.
Lunatic Train is more appropriate. Do they have any agreements with the RR? Cars or locos on order? They think because they have money everything is a snap like in their own orderly world. This would have been good April Fools day story. And Charles, airlines make money because they’re subsidized enormously by the taxpayers so flyers can have cheap tickets switch all those cost to the flyer it won’t be so cheap anymore but it will help Elon cut more waste!
It may be beside the point to remark how overnite sleeper service is returning in Europe. I remember when it was good and then terrible, for example in 1996 Venice to Rome, and 20 years later Florence to Rome. The 2 decade contrast was startling….so now time will tell.
It doesn’t really have a chance but that’s not the point. The demand for overnight train travel is real and growing and Amtrak can’t even get a builder for new equipment.
It seems to me that Amtrak can’t get a builder for new equipment because they can’t seem to figure out what they want. Everybody and anyone seems to have gotten involved in the “what we think we’d like to have – maybe” phase of this thing. Typical government project.
Articulated long-distance trainsets with elevators, etc. is one idea I’ve seen.
What happens if a car develops a wheel or wheel bearing problem? The whole set is “kaput”. And when that happens it will be on a cold night in some small town (pop. 75) in North Dakota (Murphy’s Law.)
The Superliner and Surfliner designs are proven to be effective, efficient and most important, durable. Remember that the Superliners were stress-tested in Canada for cold-weather and they passed, unlike the “Easy-Freeze” Horizon cars. Some rather small problems with Superliners can be resolved with some intelligent re-design:
(1)-Replace spiral staircase with straight steps like Surliners;
(2)-Work out problems with rattle and vibration in some sleeping car doors and dividers;
(3)-Address customer complaints about top-bunk too close to ceiling;
(4)-Address what seems to be a “too-high” center–of-gravity that makes Superliners sway slightly at high speeds and gives them a tendency to tip when derailed. Maybe heavier wheel trucks and more weight down low in a stronger underframe.
Alstom finished the Surfliners and must own the plans and patents. Bombardier finished the Superliners after Pullman left the market. As I recall, Alstom and Bombardier have merged. Makes for one-stop shopping for a proven design.
“Amtrak long-distance” = “Benign neglect.”
Give them a chance. At least someone is thinking and dreaming. And they wouldn’t be starting everything at once anyways. Miami Airport has a platform available!!! I am curious about Charlotte and Atlanta. The article states non stop service but where would Atlanta and Charlotte have non stop service to and from? Neither one is an endpoint on the map. Best place to start would probably be Chicago to MSP and Chicago to Denver. CSX leadership is now far different with the new leadership in place. Might be more willing to work with Lunatrain. And being non stop adds a bit more flexibility. One downside to Amtrak is many of its station stops are single platform. This means dispatcher gymnastics at times. A non stop train eliminates that.
That’s true, Miami does have a platform (two, actually) at the airport sitting unused. I personally think MiamiCentral would be the better place to terminate if possible, but it would be harder to get a train turned around from there.
Also, on the subject of Florida, notice that the routes from Jacksonville south follow FEC, so presumably Lunatrain is hoping to use that route (and FEC might be more willing to let them, especially if paired with a Brightline expansion that way to help absorb the cost of improvements). It also appears that Lunatrain would use Brightline to get to Orlando and Tampa, just looking at the lines on the map. Also seems like a good idea to me.
I love that line, sleeper fares competetive with flying.
So I picked a route at random, Toronto to Edmonton.
Air Canada, business class, $C818
VIA Rail Canada, sleeper class $C7,272
Bear in mind, the airline runs at a profit and the railroad runs at a loss.
I guessing that the day you picked regular sleeping car space is sold out and the only thing left is Prestige Class as is the case next Tuesday. The next day when any regular sleeper space is available is March 23rd and the only space available is a bedroom or cabin for 2 as VIA calls it for $1,164.
One possibility is that if Elon Musk/DOGE manage to deep six most of Amtrak, then this outfit could be waiting in the wings to assume Amtrak’s statutory right of access or whatever they can negotiate with the Class1 carriers. One takeover would be Auto Train, then grow from there. I hope they are very well capitalized to pull this thing off.
First-off, Amtrak’s right of access along freight rairoads is nontransferable.
Second, anyone can draw lines on a map and anyone can hire a CADDS artist to come up with pretty pictures of the exterior and the interior of a train car. That doesn’t mean they have any capitalization or that they ever will.
What I did note, to Lunatrain’s credit, is that their lines on the map do follow actual existing real-world rail routes. That is a rare skill for pie-in-the-sky rail start-ups. The second skill is to go out to see what these lines look like and how they operate. A third skill is to negotiate with companies like CSX that aren’t even obligated to return your phone call.
With respect, Professor Landey, the Amtrak access paradigm has only been around since 1971. Railroading is older than that and there is no expectation that it shall always be. Not that it will change for this scheme but things do change if you hang around long enough.
The border crossings to Canada are also smoke and mirrors… in Niagara Falls it takes 2 hours with everyone filing off the train to Present Dokuments, schnell!!! This ain’t the 1970s anymore.
Whatever happened to the reincarnation of the Lark in Cali?
Dreamstar Lines? Supposedly beginning operations this year, and have contracted with someone to rebuild cars. But I haven’t heard of them actually buying any cars to rebuild (speculation is former Santa Fe Hi-Levels), and while they have an operating agreement with Union Pacific I think they’re still working on Metrolink and Caltrain. Still worth watching.
Without permission of the freight railroads (who do run trains all night) nor Amtrak, this is a fool’s errand. When they announce they have to full support of CSX, Norfolk Southern, or any of the other Class 1’s, then this will be a real story. Until then, it is press release smoke. Some here will point to Brightline, but that only proves the case: they are part of the same corporation as Florida East Coast, and so began with the permission for track space before they even announced a plan.
This is still good news for us in the rail community, since it shows that even non-railfan investors recognize the possibility of such a service working. But until they get actual agreement from somebody who owns workable tracks, they are just a fantasy railroad.
A biotech entrepreneur whose company doesn’t own a single inch of track will notsucceed where everyone else has failed. It has been proven beyond any doubt that rail passenger service (coach or sleeper) is an economic loser that can only exist with both the following: (1) tax subsidies for operations and capital; (2) mandated access to freight railroad tracks for minimal compensation.
The original privately-owned Auto-Train and other companies have lasted a while before folding. However, the balance sheet has gotten a lot more difficult with today’s freight rail system, which isn’t the same as it was in the 1970’s.
Just where is it going to get equipment? Locos, cars, & worse overhaul / Maintenance facilities? Siemens is backed up and who wants their locos until Siemens fixes the cold weather problems? Now rebuilt locos may be an answer.
International cars? Even meeting the FRA compatibility requirements of couplers, braking systems, crash energy management, & emergency egress designs may be difficult. However, the demand of European outfits wanting sleeping car interiors will limit any manufacturing slots. Then there is the problem of possible unknown tariff rates.
More problems for Luna. Stations even if can use all present Amtrak stations.
1. MSP – Will need another track and platform.
2. Nashville, Tn – Do not know if the old station which has other use than RR.
3. Atlanta – no need to rehash that problem.
4. JAX = Not sure if would want to use old JAX station would need storage tracks in any case.
5. TPA – would need to restore platform and track removed.
6. MIA – Any one of the three stations.
7. CLT – No storage track yet available.
8. NYP – Would the past used layover track even be assessable now? Is Moynihan closed overnight? Then how to get a slot thru both North river bores and the closed east river bore. Then there is the AWW window closing the Hell Gate route every night for several years in the future. Maybe use NYG for BOS however it also is closed overnight.
This press piece could have been written by an AI bot. Of course, having a founder who has years of experience in the biotech industry could provide a fresh perspective on US passenger rail service.