The last time an overnight train connected Los Angeles and San Francisco was 55 years ago.
A Newport Beach startup wants to turn back the clock with its version of a “hotel train.”
The luxury overnight train could soon offer a new way to travel between San Francisco and LA if Dreamstar Lines Inc. gets its plans approved by California railroads.
The idea for the privately operated overnight train would work almost like a red-eye for the railroad, but with comfortable accommodations so people could get a full night’s sleep before waking up at their destination, said Jake Vollebregt, Dreamstar’s CEO. If the small company’s plan goes ahead, the new trains could be running by the summer of 2024, he said.
“I think it would be a renewal of the track,” said Vollebregt. “For those travelers who are fed up with security checks and waiting and delays [on airlines]we will address them.”
Dreamstar hopes to capture just a small portion of the huge market for travel between two of California’s largest cities.
Travel between LA and San Francisco has become one of the busiest air routes in the country, according to the latest statistics from OAG Aviation. More than 250,000 aircraft seats fly between the two cities monthly, OAG data shows; Dreamstar plans to provide private rooms for about 65 people per trip – far fewer than a commercial flight.
Vollebregt said Dreamstar’s service was “more like a private jet company than a major airline” and focused on the specialized niche of “upscale overnight hotel train service.” The night trains would run in both directions, departing around 10 p.m. and arriving around 8 a.m. the next day, Vollebregt said.
The five or six sleeper cars would offer three types of private rooms: singles, executive class doubles or first class cabins — the latter two with ensuite bathrooms — and a car for drinks, desserts and continental breakfast, he said. The trains would have multiple stops in both LA and San Francisco, startup officials said, and a stop and crew change point in San Luis Obispo.
One-way tickets cost about $300, $600, and $1,000 depending on room type, which Vollebregt says is higher than the typical airfare but below other North American sleeper trains.
A night passenger train — Southern Pacific’s LARK — ran between the two influential California cities for about two decades beginning in the 1940s, but service ended in 1968. Amtrak began operating a night train from Sacramento to LA in the 1980s, the held in Oakland. but it only lasted two years.
Amtrak currently offers a variety of cross-California long-distance daytime travel, but no direct service from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The Coast Starlight connects LA to Oakland and Emeryville, while the San Joaquin route runs from the same Bay Area stops to Bakersfield, but requires a separate bus trip to get to LA
“For day trips, travelers have limited options to arrive in both directions in the morning or fly the evening before,” said Vollebregt. “Why not a night train so travelers can sleep and wake up at their destination?”
He said the “gold standard” for the concept was based on Japan’s well-run rail system, which he described as “very fast and comfortable and very affordable.” He hopes his team can bring this concept to California and eventually expand to other metro areas.
But the next step, Vollebregt said, is to get the approval and support of necessary stakeholders and rail operators, including Union Pacific, which owns most of the shoreline the train plans to use, as well as Metrolink in Southern California and Caltrain closer to San Francisco.
Officials from both Union Pacific and Metrolink confirmed they are in talks with Dreamstar representatives, but neither have reached any type of agreement yet. It was not immediately clear if talks with Caltrain were initiated.
“The biggest challenge is getting support from the agencies and private companies that own the lines and terminals,” said Vollebregt. He hopes to begin services in the summer of 2024, but said, “It depends on how quickly our partners are ready to move.”
Scott Johnson, a Metrolink spokesman, said Dreamstar officials recently “put forward plans at a very high level for the proposed service.”
“More detail and analysis would be required to move the service forward,” Johnson said in a statement.
Vollebregt admits there are still many questions about the company, including scalability and sustainability as a company, as well as determining the physical infrastructure and logistics. But he said Dreamstar has spent years studying feasibility and is confident in its current plans.
“This is one of the largest travel markets in the country with more than 10 million air passengers annually and around 40 million travelers in total,” said Vollebregt. “A night train would be sustainable with a market share of less than a quarter of a percentage point, which would support ridership well beyond that.”
