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I searched the forums and wondered if I'm just going off into the impossible. Can this be done?
Is it possible to rent/lease/charter a Superliner privately for an excursion trip for a group?
Basically people would board at the origin station, travel out West. Be dropped (entire car) at a standard station on the route. Picked up again and returned home five days later.
I don't know if Amtrak wants to drag the car along the line, park it and bring it back in five days? Whatever works for them. We'll be staying elsewhere.
The idea is the group (38 people) would have their own car, "group" would pay Amtrak a flat fee and working out how much each passenger pays would be our own project.
Lets just call it the Superliner Casino Train.
I suppose someone could book the whole car, in advance and have the same effect, just that everyone else trying to take that train would be locked out and unhappy.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Amtrak has a Group Sales department; they'd certainly be best equipped to help.
pporro Member # 31539
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Amtrak has a Group Sales department; they'd certainly be best equipped to help.
Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the "clue" since I had none!
Sounds like an entertaining way to spend a long weekend of March Madness in Elko, NV and my Birthday, all at the same time. Worst that can happen, I go alone and still have a great time!
smitty195 Member # 5102
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I don't know if they do this, however, there is one important item to consider. Even though you might want to be dropped off at a "normal" Amtrak station, that does NOT mean that they will be equipped to uncouple a car and then add it on later. This requires a switch engine, and there are specific locations where this can happen. On the west coast, some popular switching locations would be Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle. Anywhere in-between, just off the top of my head, it is not possible to do.
Private car owners deal with this problem all the time. What they will sometimes do is have the group get off at whatever station it is that they want to get off at, and then the car (and the owner aboard) will continue to the station where switching can be done. In those cases, the group has to pay a "dead-head" fee, because Amtrak charges per mile no matter if the group is aboard or not. If they are hauling a car, then they WILL charge per mile.
If you want to get a rough idea of what Amtrak charges for this type of thing, go to this website:
I think it's under the heading of "How We Charter". It gets very specific with the pricing structure, and tells you exactly what Amtrak's charges are.
palmland Member # 4344
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I would second Smitty's suggestion. While it may well be more expensive than Amtrak, you'll be assured of good service and a more flexible approach to your requirements.
The American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners is the outfit that can provide you with more information at aaprco.com. Note they also have a 2012 Charter Guide that lists all the possibilities.
pporro Member # 31539
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Thanks all and I got a nice reply from Amtrak Group Sales. There was more but this part applies.
"This can be very expensive as you are not only charged for the accommodations and rail fares for each passenger, but also there are mileage charges as well as switching fees, etc."
Sound familiar, it's what people here told me, but I had already written so it's appreciated that Amtrak answered.
It was an entertaining idea for a group, but I think a little unreal. We had the same situation trying to charter a plane years ago. It went as a flat rate, something much higher than just buying a plane ticket for each person.
I just find it amusing that it's cheaper to book the whole car, than to pay them for a whole car in advance and have it put on the train.
OK you go to the store and a bottle of soda is 99 cents, you buy a six pack and it's seven dollars! But when the accounting bean counters say that Amtrak loses $32 a passenger, it starts to make much better sense.
Private rental gets no subsidy. I should have known better.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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So then am I understanding their response correctly---you CAN charter a Superliner sleeper if you want to pay the bucks?
smitty195 Member # 5102
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pporro: I just wanted to bump this message back to the top of the list in the hope that you'll see it. I'm curious if, in Amtrak's response to you, did they tell you "yes"--you CAN rent a Superliner (even if it's very expensive)? Or did they only talk about chartering a private car?
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