NY Penn
OBS Chief
Currently, basically none of the Amtrak LD routes are suitable for a quick overnight run between endpoints. The westbound CL comes close, leaving WAS around 4pm and arriving at CHI before 9am, but aside from that the present LD network doesn't fit this travel market. Some routes have convenient schedules for overnights between intermediate cities, but the cities are usually smaller and the OTP poor.
It seems that this market is too significant to be neglecting. There are plenty of business people who'd prefer to go to the train station after work, get on the train, and wake up at their destination instead of dealing with the hassles of flying. Even leaving aside the business market, many current Amtrak riders would prefer to not spend an entire day traveling if they could do so at night.
With a decent cafe car menu (like on the Acela?) the train wouldn't even need the dining car whose costs often kill the finances of the current LD trains. A sleeper or two, a few coaches, and a cafe are all the train would really need. There are plenty of large city pairs 8-14 hours apart that would be perfect for such quick overnight trains. (San Fran - LA, NY - Toronto/Montreal, CHI - Toronto, San Antonio - Dallas, CHI - Twin Cities, etc etc etc)
Has there been a study, running the numbers on this type of service? It seems like it would be fairly profitable.
It seems that this market is too significant to be neglecting. There are plenty of business people who'd prefer to go to the train station after work, get on the train, and wake up at their destination instead of dealing with the hassles of flying. Even leaving aside the business market, many current Amtrak riders would prefer to not spend an entire day traveling if they could do so at night.
With a decent cafe car menu (like on the Acela?) the train wouldn't even need the dining car whose costs often kill the finances of the current LD trains. A sleeper or two, a few coaches, and a cafe are all the train would really need. There are plenty of large city pairs 8-14 hours apart that would be perfect for such quick overnight trains. (San Fran - LA, NY - Toronto/Montreal, CHI - Toronto, San Antonio - Dallas, CHI - Twin Cities, etc etc etc)
Has there been a study, running the numbers on this type of service? It seems like it would be fairly profitable.