Lunatrain Announces Project to Launch Modern Night Trains in the United States and Canada

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Lunatrain, Inc., a private, early-stage company, is developing a privately owned, operated, and maintained passenger rail service to connect major cities and destinations. The passenger rail project, called Lunatrain, will focus exclusively on sleeper trains in express, non-stop service. Lunatrain is designed to serve the growing number of solo travelers, couples, and families living in major metropolitan regions that want a practical alternative to short-haul flights and driving long distances.

Lunatrain will establish a network of night trains that extends across the East Coast and Midwest, connecting cities that are too far for daytime trains to serve effectively. The service network will primarily be focused on trips that can be completed in a single night. This shifts the majority of travel to nighttime, delivering significant value to passengers by minimizing the number of waking hours they spend traveling. The network will also prioritize origins and destinations with excellent connections to regional transit for last-mile transportation.

Lunatrain will offer a variety of sleeping cabins that can accommodate a wide range of traveler needs. This includes cabins designed specifically with solo travelers, couples, and families/groups in mind. These sleeping cabins are a significant improvement over existing sleeping train options in the United States; Lunatrain cabins are sized to meet different types of traveler needs appropriately, offer enough power outlets to charge many devices simultaneously, have improved soundproofing and vibration dampening for optimal sleeping conditions, and include access to a host of onboard amenities. Lunatrain will have both economy and premium cabin options available that will be priced competitively with an airline seat of the same service class along the same route.

This innovative, comfortable, and convenient way of traveling is expected to:

(1) CREATE JOBS AND GROW THE ECONOMY — Lunatrain’s multi-million dollar project will grow the passenger rail industry and create new U.S.-based jobs in engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, onboard service, and back office professional roles. Lunatrain will utilize the robust American railroad supply chain that the Buy America program has helped cultivate, further strengthening onshore manufacturing capabilities. The new jobs and manufacturing activity will stimulate local economies in addition to the economic benefits that Lunatrain provides as a mobility service.

(2) BRING BETTER RAIL SERVICE TO NORTH AMERICAN TRAVELERS — Passenger rail saw a record number of riders in 2024, demonstrating that travelers often prefer to travel by train when it is a viable option. However, existing sleeper train options fall short of being a realistic alternative to short-haul flights and long-distance driving for most travelers. These existing trains are too expensive, too unreliable, and have dated sleeping cabins that don’t meet the needs of many travelers. Lunatrain fills an unmet need for metropolitan leisure and business travelers looking for a more comfortable, more convenient, and safer long-distance travel option.

(3) ALLEVIATE TRANSPORTATION CONGESTION — Lunatrain adds another mobility option to regions that are already experiencing overcrowding at airports and on highways. With no available expansion space, it is nearly impossible for most airports and highways to increase capacity. Lunatrain is a space-efficient option that adds travel capacity to routes where demand is on pace to surpass the supply of existing travel options, ensuring adequate mobility options for leisure and business travelers alike.

An entirely new travel choice, Lunatrain night trains will provide a high-quality experience for travelers. The experience will include advanced purchase reserved private sleeping cabins, high-speed Wi-Fi for work and entertainment, onboard full-service and in-room dining options, lounge spaces, and showers.

Lunatrain, Inc. completed a feasibility analysis for the project in the first half of 2024, and has since developed robust financial projections for North American night trains. Today’s announcement marks the beginning of working in depth with our customers and industry partners on the detailed design and development of Lunatrain.

Releasing a demonstration unit by the second half of 2026, Lunatrain will gather early customer feedback on its cabin designs and use a rapid, iterative design process to reach product-market fit. From there, it will build a fleet of stress-tested and scrutinized sleeping cars for full revenue service.

Mike Avena, Founder & CEO, brings a decade of experience across venture-backed startups and hardware developers where he held leadership roles supporting the commercial launch of products in highly regulated environments.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: https://www.ridelunatrain.com/media-kit/

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About Lunatrain

Lunatrain is a private, early-stage company with a mission to bring more comfortable, more convenient, and safer long-distance travel to Americans at competitive prices. Through its partnerships with the industry's most forward-thinking organizations, Lunatrain is defining a new gold standard for passenger rail that meets the complex needs of today's travelers. With headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, Lunatrain is deeply embedded in the type of dense metropolitan region it intends to serve.

Contacts

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