Private company AmeriStarRail proposes cross-country Auto Train service with Amtrak

If I understand correctly, the proposal would:

terminate the Southwest Chief and Pennsylvanian service
add a train with mixed consist of passenger cars and flat cars that will transport whole 18-wheelers, cab plus trailer, or charter buses
will aim to do NYC to LA in 72 hours, or an average speed of at least 40 MPH (64 kph)
introduce renovated or new bilevel passenger cars
does not propose where or what facilities would be needed to drive vehicles onto the flat cars
and somehow this can all be done by May 2026

What planet has this company been inhabiting that they think this is a reasonable proposal?

Just from the freight perspective, surely it would be simpler and easier to send intermodal freight by rail and then have short-haul trucking at the bookends, rather than what seems to be a boneheaded plan to put long-haul trucking on rails.

The shrinking interest in working long-haul truck routes will not be alleviated by spending rest time on a train, since the root complaint about the job is how much time is spent away from home and family. And I can't see why the host railroads would be fine with Amtrak -- aka the National Railroad Passenger Corporation -- carrying freight.

I sense something deeply amiss or even quite possibly scammy about this.

1 comments

If I understand correctly, the proposal would:
terminate the Southwest Chief and Pennsylvanian service
add a train with mixed consist of passenger cars and flat cars that will transport whole 18-wheelers, cab plus trailer, or charter buses
will aim to do NYC to LA in 72 hours, or an average speed of at least 40 MPH (64 kph)
introduce renovated or new bilevel passenger cars
does not propose where or what facilities would be needed to drive vehicles onto the flat cars
and somehow this can all be done by May 2026
What planet has this company been inhabiting that they think this is a reasonable proposal?
Just from the freight perspective, surely it would be simpler and easier to send intermodal freight by rail and then have short-haul trucking at the bookends, rather than what seems to be a boneheaded plan to put long-haul trucking on rails.
The shrinking interest in working long-haul truck routes will not be alleviated by spending rest time on a train, since the root complaint about the job is how much time is spent away from home and family. And I can't see why the host railroads would be fine with Amtrak -- aka the National Railroad Passenger Corporation -- carrying freight.
I sense something deeply amiss or even quite possibly scammy about this.