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Luxury train travel in the U.S. a bust? Train cars for sale
Last month, GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, a luxury train company we've blogged about in the past stopped operations due to financial woes. It's not that Americans aren't interested in train travel, Amtrak's business went up this summer, it just seems that fancy trains have a hard time making a go of it in the U.S.
Rachel Dunlap at Intelligent Travel stated her surprise that the GrandLuxe Rail wasn't able to make a go of it. As she pointed out, it had met with great reviews.
Dunlap is stymied about the demise, particularly since luxury trains have been able to find a market outside the U.S. Just yesterday David posted about VIA Rail's upcoming Concierge class for the discerning train traveler.
I'm thinking that one reason why luxury train travel hasn't picked up in the U.S. is because train travel in many parts of the U.S. is not something people think about as an option. Train schedules on a day to day basis aren't the most convenient. Although I took the train with my 6-year-old son from Cleveland to New York and loved it (see post), we took the bus back. The train would have put us into Cleveland at 4 or so in the morning, plus we don't live in Cleveland. One trip there from Columbus was enough. The bus had several schedule options--none of them perfect, but doable.
Perhaps in the U.S., we are so attracted to the idea of speed that even if the train offers a luxurious way to go to a destination, we're not hooked into the idea of the journey as being the pleasurable aspect. We want to be on that beach or at the tourist attraction--and quick.
Although, cruise ships have done a tidy job of making the journey the thing. Except ships are huge, and there is much to do to occupy a person's time. Not that I've ever been on a cruise ship, but from what I've heard there are several options geared to keep people from thinking much. On trains, scenery gazing and letting one's mind wander are the major highlights.
If the U.S. peps up train travel, and passengers get used to heading to destinations on the rails more and more, perhaps luxury train travel will have another go at it. Even without the luxury, I love a train.
As Dunlap mentioned in her post,the GrandLuxe train cars are for sale.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Business, Blogs, Transportation, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike Sep 29th 2008 3:03PM
Because the whole country has gone non-smolking nuts, using a flawed acs "report", us smolkers who would enjoy train travel, are pushed out of the market, so, let them sell them to Turkey.
Kris Sep 29th 2008 11:18PM
Train Travel is great but adds an additional couple of days to your vacation each way. Thats the only reason I don't trvel more by train.
Simon Pielow Sep 30th 2008 9:27PM
Luxury train travel has a small but important role to play in any country with a reasonably developed rail network - and so should be successful in the USA with a properly considered route / service offer.
Why did GrandLuxe fail? Perhaps it overextended itself; I remember a proud but perhaps understandable boast that they had managed a journey on every day of the year.
It is not just hindsight to say that I would have begun services with a modest brochure, and waited for trains to be running at capacity before adding to it.
In any event, I hope that some entrepreneur can see the beenfit in investing in perhaps the best cars to offer some brochured trips as well as providing them for private charter to corporations or individuals.
Simon Pielow
http://www.privaterailcars.net
http://www.traincharterinhg.com
http://www.luxurytrainclub.com