Report: Dreamstar Lines Signs MOU With UP for Coast Line Track Access
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
The last Train #75, SP's Lark, with SDP3206 on the point ready to leave Los Angeles, April 8, 1968. Wikimedia Commons/Drew Jacksic
Dreamstar Lines of Newport Beach, Calif., has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Union Pacific (UP) “formalizing the parties’ negotiations toward a comprehensive final agreement” and “identifying the fundamental terms for Dreamstar to operate its trains” on UP’s Coast Line via Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and San Jose, according to a SFGate report.
The Coast Line is home to Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, which runs from San Jose to Los Angeles during the day. The route once hosted Southern Pacific railroad’s “fabled overnight first-class Lark.” No night train has connected the Bay Area and Los Angeles since 1983.
According to the report, Dreamstar, which is seeking to start a “deluxe overnight passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles” by summer 2025, also needs agreements to use tracks owned by Caltrain and Metrolink. UP owns most of the 470-mile route.
“We’re in talks with both and working towards acceptable terms for track access,” said Dreamstar CEO Joshua Dominic. “Both have been wonderful to work with and communicated interest toward getting our trains rolling.”
UP, responding to Dreamstar’s press release announcing the MOU, said only that it “has entered into formal negotiations with Dreamstar regarding proposed overnight passenger service between Los Angeles and San Francisco,” according to the SFGate report.
According to the press release, Dreamstar, which plans to use remanufactured bi-level cars, says its train would offer “a range of classes, from economy roomettes to deluxe first-class staterooms.” Services would include showers, high-speed internet, “app-based arrangements for tickets, on-board food, beverage and hospitality services,” as well as “last-mile” transportation.
Dominic says fares have not yet been decided but “will be on the low end of overnight rail travel in North America,” adding that walk-up fares “would be competitive” with plane tickets bought “within the typical business travel window, less than three weeks before departure, or the cost of a flight with advance purchase plus a hotel.”
Limited couch seating would also be available “for shorter trips near the ends of the route,” Dominic said. The train would make limited intermediate stops.
“Our collaboration with [UP] is a significant milestone for Dreamstar Lines and for the future of private rail travel in the United States,” Dominic said. “We are not only offering a luxurious and eco-friendly travel option but also revitalizing the rich heritage of overnight rail travel in America.”
The MOU “is a preliminary agreement memorializing the status of our discussions to date, and to identify the basic compensation formula for track access,” Dominic added.
According to the SFGate report, Dreamstar says it “hopes it becomes a template for similar arrangements with the other track and facility owners.”
Next steps, Dominic says, include “nailing down the final track access and operations and maintenance agreements,” as well as “completing the required insurance policies.” Dominic says he also needs to “raise the remaining funds to launch the service,” but the MOU is a “momentum boost,” according to the report.
“We’re targeting having all of the agreements finalized roughly one year before our intended launch date in late summer 2025,” he said.
Further Reading:
