AmeriStarRail (ASR), through Chief Operating Officer Scott R. Spencer, has proposed a new fleet for Amtrak’s long-distance trains, the latest of several proposals that ASR has made recently. Spencer has already suggested that Amtrak rebrand its Nextgen Acela consists as Libertyliner 250 trains and offer a “Freedom Pass” that would allow seven days of travel on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) for $250.00 per person (suggested at the December 4 Amtrak Board meeting). He has also suggested that NEC trains, especially if they become Libertyliner 250 trains, add a stop at New Jersey Transit’s Secaucus Junction Station which is now used only for NJT’s local services, if that agency and Amtrak agree to add the stop. Now ASR is proposing what Spencer calls a “Grand Conveyance” for Amtrak’s skeletal network of long-distance trains he has revealed designs for long-distance equipment to run on those trains.
Paul H. Reistrup, former President of Amtrak, is AmeriStarRail’s Senior Advisor. Reistrup led Amtrak from 1975 and until 1978, ordered the Amfleet I cars that still run on the NEC and other corridors, as well as the Superliner I cars that run on the long-distance trains west of Chicago and New Orleans, and on the Auto-Train.
AmeriStarRail Proposal
Spencer and Reistrup call the proposed fleet “AmeriStarliner.” ASR sent a three-page letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris on Jan. 9 that introduced the proposal and described the cars (download below). The letter began by saying: “As you know, AmeriStarRail (ASR) is an LLC based in Wilmington, Delaware that has developed several infrastructure and operating solutions to improve Amtrak’s rail passenger service utilizing private financing. Our proposed partnership with Amtrak includes serving Coach passengers on Amtrak Libertyliner 250 high-speed trains, the Baltimore Grand Slam tunnels, a bi-level Susquehanna River bridge to eliminate the busiest junction with freight trains on the Northeast Corridor at Perryville, Md., and the New York-Los Angeles Transcontinental Chief.”
Although Amtrak has recently rejected the Transcontinental Chief plan, Spencer and Reistrup went on to say: “AmeriStarRail has been developing alternative concepts for Amtrak’s Long Distance Fleet Replacement, to improve passenger safety, comfort, and the economic viability of Amtrak’s long-distance fleet. AmeriStarRail’s goal is to ensure Amtrak passengers have the finest trains available for long-distance travel across America.”
ASR then mentioned its goals: “Maximizing Passenger Safety, Amenities, and Comfort, Maximizing Available Seat Miles (ASM) per Train Mile (TMI) to generate at least 200 passenger miles per train mile, maximizing operating efficiency to improve the financial performance of Amtrak’s long-distance routes, [and] Minimizing trainset complexity for trainset manufacturing and fleet maintenance.” The proposal then said: “As America’s 250th birthday approaches, AmeriStarRail is proud to offer Amtrak a grand conveyance, the AmeriStarliner long-distance trainset, to usher in a golden age of travel for Amtrak with the finest way to travel across America.”
The proposal then described the seven types of cars that AmeriStarRail plans to order: “The AmeriStarliner trainsets for Amtrak long-distance trains are a mix of single and articulated cars in a simpler design of just seven car types to design, manufacture, and maintain.” Here is the list of car types:
- Utility Car (Single-Level).
- SkyView Observation Car (Multi-Level).
- SlumberCoach End Car (Multi-Level/Semi-Articulated).
- SlumberCoach Intermediate Car (Bi-Level, Articulated).
- SkyView Dining Car (Multi-Level).
- Sleeper End Car (Multi-Level/Semi-Articulated).
- Sleeper Intermediate Car (Bi-Level/Articulated).
In summarizing the core benefit proposal of the AmeriStarliner fleet, Spencer and Reistrup described an important feature: that the cars can fit through the tunnels on the NEC, including the North River Tunnels, which bring the line into Penn Station, New York: “the AmeriStarliner long-distance trainset will provide Amtrak with a standard, bi-level, long-distance fleet that can be operated nationwide, including through the tunnels of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The bi-level cars will have a maximum height of 15 feet above top of rail (TOR), which is based on the height of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG1 locomotives, which operated for decades on the Northeast Corridor.”
Superliner cars are too tall to clear the tunnels on the NEC, so all trains that go to or from New York Penn Station must use single-level Amfleet II equipment, which is used exclusively on trains whose routes extend as far as Miami and New Orleans. If the entire fleet could fit through the tunnels, a single fleet could equip all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains throughout the country. While Amtrak has started the process for separate procurements of single-level and bi-level long-distance fleets, a single fleet that could be used everywhere on the system would simplify the procurement process and save money on maintenance and operations, too.
ASR’s letter then described the seven types of cars that the company proposes to order, including descriptions of some of the features that the cars would have. All cars would be accessible, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and all passengers (including those who need ADA accommodation) and crew would walk through the train on the lower level. On today’s Superliners, everyone passes from one car to another on the upper level. The trainsets would accommodate high-level or low-level platform boarding, with fold-out ramps for boarding, like those used on transit buses for passengers who need wheelchairs or other mobility-assisted devices.
AmeriStarRail said “The entire upper level of the passenger cars will have SkyViewDome glazing to create an exciting travel experience for passengers,” apparently like the curved glass between bulkhead and roof on today’s Superliner lounge cars. Seats in the SlumberCoach cars would recline sufficiently to lay flat. Although AmeriStarRail said: “The capacity and configuration of AmeriStarRail’s proprietary long-distance fleet replacement designs, the AmeriStarliner trainsets, are subject to design, engineering, and commercial considerations.” The proposal also said: “The Ameristar line will utilize technology to easily flex trainset capacity from 300 to 600 passengers, split trains for specific destinations or connecting routes or remove bad order cars enroute.”
Spencer and Reistrup then mentioned that AmeriStarRail is negotiating with a carbuilder and has an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and added “The intent of the NDA is to partner with AmeriStarRail to provide Amtrak with up to 85 12-car trainsets for a total of 1020 cars. ASR also proposed an ambitious delivery schedule: “If Amtrak commits to the AmeriStarliner trainsets before the end of 2026, delivery of the first 12-car trainset will take place no later than the 4th quarter of 2031 and be delivered at the rate aof 204 cars per year over five years. Under an AmeriStarRail – Amtrak joint venture, AmeriStarRail will utilize private financing to consider ordering three additional options for a total of 612 additional cars to support Amtrak’s goal of doubloing ridership by 2040 with more capacity to expand Amtrak’s long-distance service.”
AmeriStarRail concluded its pitch this way: “With exciting new passenger amenities to compete with air and highway travel such as the SkyView Observation Cars, private dining rooms, Children’s Play Areas, lay-flat SlumberCoach seats, full ADA accessibility and the SkyViewDome throughout the entire train, the AmeriStarliner long distance fleet is designed to be a grand conveyance for Amtrak passengers traveling throughout America.” The final paragraph said: “As we get ready to celebrate the upcoming Bicentennial of American Railroading, we look forward to Amtrak’s consideration of the AmeriStarliner’s innovations and imaginative features to inspire a new golden age of rail passenger travel in America.”
The letter included a summary of the features of the various types of proposed cars.
Download design proposals. Drawings by Tom Hickey.
Hopes and Challenges
In recent years, advocates at the Rail Users’ Network (RUN), the Rail Passengers’ Association (RPA) and elsewhere have been concerned that it is taking so long for Amtrak to move the procurement process forward and purchase new equipment for its long-distance routes that a sufficient fleet of the current equipment might not last long enough to keep the current network running, much less allow for any additional routes or additional frequencies on existing routes. Nearly two years ago, Jim Tilley, President of the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers, raised the issue in a letter to Amtrak Board Chair Anthony Coscia. At a conference sponsored by RUN on Nov. 14, 2025, Michelle Tortolani, Amtrak’s Assistant Vice-President for Project Delivery – Fleet and Facilities, discussed Amtrak’s fleet generally and mentioned the 2023 Request for Proposals (RFP) to replace the bilevel Superliner cars and the recent one to replace the single-level Amfleet II equipment. However, she also said: “the target date for new bilevel cars is not until ‘the 2030s’ and she did not say exactly when.”
Much of the equipment in both fleets is now more than 40 years old, and advocates wonder how many of those cars will last to age 50 and beyond. If the proposed AmeriStarliners can be delivered and placed into service by the end of 2031 and the 204 cars per year that AmeriStarRail predicts can be added for the following five years, there could be enough equipment in service to keep the national network intact well into the future. It won’t be easy, because some trains, especially Superliner trains in the West, are running with short consists. Still, as a best-case scenario, AmeriStarRail might be able to deliver.
Before that can happen, there are a few challenges in the way. Is AmeriStarRail’s potential funding from private-sector investors sufficiently secure and stable to order such a large fleet and see the project through until all the new equipment is built, tested, certified, and placed into service? Is there a car builder that can fulfill such a large order on the schedule AmeriStarRail proposes? We also don’t know how serious Amtrak is about continuing to run the existing and skeletal long-distance train network, much less augmenting it someday with new routes such as the ones proposed in the FRA’s Long Distance study, or additional frequencies on some or all the existing routes. At this point, we don’t even know if we will see the return of the Silver Star and Capitol Limited that ran until 14 months ago. We also don’t know what the FRA might say about the design if similar cars have not operated in this country before. It’s also too soon for any of us to know about financing such a deal and who pays.
There are other questions and concerns. While the proposed fleet appears to have some positive features like seats that lay almost flat, minimum consists with plenty of passenger capacity, and features for easy boarding and alighting, there are also concerns. Some managers and advocates are not sure if a bilevel configuration is better than a single-level configuration, especially for long-distance service. Amtrak has increased class-segregation in recent years, with moves like serving meals to sleeping-car passengers only, so coach passengers are not allowed to eat in the dining car. Spencer told Railway Age that all passengers will have access to the dining car “in the railroad tradition,” although each class will have a separate private dining room: the “Turquoise Room for sleeping cars and the “Rainbow Room” for coach riders. We also know is that half of the seats in “SlumberCoach” class will face backwards, rather than toward the direction of travel. Facing that way is uncomfortable for many riders (including this writer), but Amtrak has mandated that half of all seats on trains running corridor-length routes face backwards. Will riders taking trips of a full day, or even two-day duration be willing to tolerate facing backwards for all those miles and all those hours? Time will tell but, overall, AmeriStarRail will need to surmount many challenges before we will know the answer to that question.
At least AmeriStarRail has suggested a plan, and we have reported the proposal made that was made to Amtrak, as well as drawings of what the proposed cars would look like, inside and out. We don’t know how well Amtrak would do replacing the current fleets if nobody else had suggested a procurement plan. On the surface, at least, it appears that AmeriStarRail is making its pitch, despite an apparent lack of demonstrable interest elsewhere. If the actual objective is to build new cars and get them into service in time to save the long-distance network, then AmeriStarRail and the two longtime railroaders who run it might have started the process with a new and interesting idea. The next move is up to Amtrak.
