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The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak commissioned the cars to replace older single-level cars on its long-distance trains in the Western United States. The design was based on the Budd Company Hi-Level cars used by the Santa Fe Railway on its El Capitan trains. Pullman-Standard built 284 cars, known as Superliner I, from 1975 to 1981; Bombardier Transportation built 195, known as Superliner II, from 1991 to 1996. The Superliner I cars were the last passenger cars built by Pullman.
Car types include coaches, , lounge car, and . Most passenger spaces are on the upper level, which has windows on both sides. The Sightseer Lounge observation cars have distinctive floor-to-ceiling windows on the upper level. Boarding is on the lower level; passengers climb up a center stairwell to reach the upper level.
The first Superliner I cars entered service in February 1979, with deliveries continuing through 1981. Amtrak assigned the cars to both long-distance and short-distance trains in the Western United States. The first permanent assignment, in October 1979, was to the Chicago–Seattle Empire Builder. Superliner II deliveries began in 1993, enabling Amtrak to retire aging Hi-Level cars and to use Superliners in trains in the Eastern United States—although Structure gauge prevent their use on the Northeast Corridor.
Conventional single-level cars made up most of Amtrak's inherited fleet, but it also included 73 Hi-Level cars from the Santa Fe. The Budd Company built these between 1954 and 1964; the bilevel design, with its superior views and smooth riding characteristics, was well-suited to the long distances in the west. Michael R. Weinman, who worked at the design firm Louis T. Klauder & Associates, recalled that when Amtrak issued a request for proposal (RFP) in 1973 for a "totally new" passenger car, it "was assumed" that the design would be bilevel. Thirteen companies responded to the RFP; Amtrak selected the Klauder proposal. The design was finished by mid-1974 and Amtrak invited four companies to bid on its construction: Boeing, Budd Company, Pullman-Standard, and Rohr. Pullman-Standard won the contract.
The railroad asked its employees to name the new cars, and announced the winning entry in its internal newsletter of June 1, 1977: "Vistaliner", harkening back to the dome car of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. But the newsletter went on to note that the name was already under copyright by another company, and so the cars would be dubbed "Superliners", a name created by Needham, Harper & Steers, then Amtrak's advertising agency.
As the cars arrived in 1978 and 1979, Amtrak put them into use on short-haul routes radiating from Chicago. The first coaches entered regular service on February 26, 1979, running from Chicago to Milwaukee. The coaches, led by an EMD F40PH locomotive, displaced the regular Turboliner equipment.: "For aboard train 337 when F40PH No. 230 accelerated coaches 34014 and 34013 out of Union Station..." The equipment continued to operate on the run for several weeks. The Illini and Shawnee trains received Superliner coaches soon after; the first Superliner dining car ran on the Shawnee as a lounge.
Amtrak's first choice for Superliner assignments had been the financially troubled Floridian, a Chicago–Florida long-distance train, but the two years' delay in delivery scuppered these plans. Amtrak turned next to the Empire Builder. This long-distance train ran between Chicago and Seattle through the plains of Montana and North Dakota. Winters in that part of the United States are harsh, featuring both and cold temperatures. Traditional steam-heated equipment often broke down, causing Amtrak to cancel service. The Superliners, with their electrical head-end power, were far better suited for the conditions. The Empire Builder became the first long-distance train to use Superliners, and the first train permanently assigned them, on October 28, 1979. Amtrak's new national timetable depicted a Superliner coach on the front cover, and the listing for the Empire Builder carried a heading which read "Amtrak's Superliner is Special." At the same time, Superliners entered service on the short-haul Pacific International and Mount Rainier in the Pacific Northwest.
With the Empire Builder in operation, Amtrak began re-equipping the remaining long-distance trains in the west. The second permanent Superliner train was the Desert Wind, then a day train between Los Angeles and Ogden, Utah, which gained coaches on June 30, 1980. The San Francisco Zephyr, a long-distance train on the traditional Overland Route between Chicago and San Francisco, followed on July 7, 1980; it received the first of the Sightseer lounges on January 6, 1981. Amtrak assigned Superliners to another long-distance train, the Los Angeles–Chicago Southwest Chief, in October 1980. The Southwest Limited, formerly the Super Chief, traveled the same route as the El Capitan, whose Hi-Level cars had inspired the design. The management of the Santa Fe, impressed by the design, permitted Amtrak to restore the name Chief to the train, and Amtrak renamed it the Southwest Chief on October 28, 1984. The Chief was the first train to receive Superliner II sleeping cars in September 1993.
The Coast Starlight began operating with Superliners in January 1981. The Sunset Limited, a long-distance train running along the southern border of the United States between Los Angeles and New Orleans, gained them in February, resulting in a commendation from the Texas State Legislature. The Pioneer gained Superliner coaches on April 26. The Texas Eagle, an overnight train between San Antonio and Chicago, began carrying Superliners in October on those days it connected with the Sunset Limited in San Antonio. Superliner assignments became permanent in the 1990s. Amtrak estimated that reequipping a train with Superliners boosted ridership on it by 25%. The last car of the order, a sleeper delivered in July 1981, was also the last car ever built by Pullman, and was named in honor of the company's founder, George Mortimer Pullman.
In the mid-1980s, Canada's Via Rail contemplated replacing its aging Budd-built steam-heated cars with Superliners. The order would have consisted of 130 cars, valued at , to be built by a consortium of Bombardier Transportation and the Urban Transportation Development Corporation. Via tested several Amtrak Superliners in revenue service between Edmonton and Winnipeg in 1984–85. Ultimately Via chose to rebuild its Budd cars to use head end power (HEP) instead of ordering new equipment.
The new order allowed the displacement of the remaining Hi-Level cars as well as the employment of Superliners on trains running with single-level cars. Amtrak converted three eastern long-distance trains to Superliners: the Chicago–New Orleans City of New Orleans (March 1994); the Chicago–Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited (October); and the Virginia–Florida Auto Train (March 1, 1995). A project to enlarge the First Street Tunnel in Washington, D.C., enabled the Chicago–Washington Cardinal to begin using Superliners in September 1995; these were withdrawn in 2002 because of equipment shortages. Superliners were used on the Chicago–Toronto International from November 1995 until early 2000. In 2017, Amtrak identified a need to replace the Superliners, noting that each car traveled the equivalent of "seven trips around the world" every year. In November 2024, the Capitol Limited was replaced by the Floridian which uses Viewliner, not Superliner, equipment.
Initially, the cars could not be worked east of Chicago because of limited overhead clearances, but by the 1980s, many eastern railroads had raised clearances on their tracks to permit tri-level auto carriers and double-stack container trains, which also permitted the operation of the Superliners. To this day, inadequate tunnel clearances in and around New York City and Baltimore prevent the use of Superliners on Amtrak's busiest line, the Northeast Corridor. The Superliner I cars ride on Waggon Union MD-76 Bogie, which require more frequent overhauls than comparable domestic designs and are "notorious for their rough riding characteristics". The Superliner IIs ride on GSI-G70 outboard bearing trucks, also found on the Horizon single-level cars. Both models have a maximum speed of .
The Superliner I cars originally waste disposal in tanks, then macerated and dumped it along the tracks once the train had attained a preset speed. This was an improvement on the Hi-Levels, which dumped directly to the tracks. Growing public concern about such dumping led Amtrak to order its Superliner IIs with a full-retention system. The Superliner I cars were retrofitted with a full-retention system in the early 1990s.
The New York Times described the Superliner I interior color scheme as "soft hues of beige, rust, brown and green". For the Superliner IIs, Amtrak introduced a new scheme incorporating gray, aquamarine, and salmon.
Seating on the upper and lower levels is 2×2 with reclining seats. The seats are wide with a seat pitch of . Included are adjustable footrests and retractable legrests, but no center armrest. There are overhead luggage racks on the upper level and a luggage storage area on the lower level across from the stairs. There are four unisex toilets per coach, all on the lower level. A shower was included in the original design, to be locked when the coaches were used in short-haul service, but deleted from the final design. After a grade crossing accident in 1999, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada faulted the layout on the lower level; the exterior door, when opened and locked in position, prevented egress from the wheelchair-accessible bathroom.
Two-piece windows are located at each seat row. Each window is . Integral Window blind were rejected in favor of on maintenance grounds, while an upper level of "skylight" windows, similar to those on the Sun Lounge cars, was rejected as too expensive. Full-height windows were incorporated into the lounge cars.
Eleven Superliner I coaches were rebuilt as "snack coaches". These retained the 62 seats on the upper level but removed the lower-level seating in favor of a snack bar and lounge seats.
Amtrak rebuilt 34 of the coach-baggage cars as "smoking coaches" in 1996 and 1997. The baggage room was converted to a self-contained specially ventilated smoking lounge. After Amtrak banned smoking on long-distance trains in 2004, the cars were reconverted.
Five Superliner II coaches were rebuilt in 1996 and 1997 as "family coaches" or "Kiddie Cars". These cars featured a children's play area on the lower level instead of seating and were assigned to the Coast Starlight, a long-distance train between Los Angeles and Seattle along the West Coast of the United States. Amtrak rebuilt these five cars again in 2008 and 2009 as "arcade cars" with video game machines in the lower level. The cars were converted once more in 2015 to provide business class service on the Coast Starlight. The service began in June 2015.
Caltrans paid to rebuild six Superliner I coaches and one baggage-coach, which had been wrecked in various accidents, for use in Amtrak California service. The seating capacity was increased to 76 on the upper level and 20 on the lower level.
Roomettes measure × . In daytime configuration each features two facing seats; these are combined to form a bed. A second bed is folded down from the ceiling. Bedrooms measure × . Like the roomette, there are two berths; during the day the lower berth acts as a sofa. The room also contains a chair which faces the beds. Unlike the roomette, a bedroom includes a private combination toilet/shower, and a private sink.
The family bedroom is located at one end of the car's lower level and measures × . It can hold up to two adults and two children in four berths. During the day the berths form a sofa and two seats. At the opposite end of the car from the family bedroom is the accessible bedroom, which measures × . It sleeps two people in two berths and includes a wheelchair-accessible toilet, but no shower.
The standard sleeping car has five bedrooms and ten roomettes on the upper level. The bedrooms are set against one side of the car with a hallway along the edge, while the roomettes are located to each side with the hallway running down the centerline. At the center of the car are the stairs to the lower level and a bathroom. A hallway runs through the centerline of the lower level with the accessible bedroom at one end and the family bedroom at the other. To one side of the stairs are three bathrooms and one shower, and to the other are four more roomettes. Luggage racks are located opposite the stairs. The layout of the deluxe sleeping car is similar. There are ten bedrooms on the upper level with a continuous hallway along one edge. The lower level contains opposed family and accessible bedrooms, four toilets, four roomettes, and a luggage rack. Two bedrooms may be combined to form a "bedroom suite".
As delivered, the Superliner I sleeping cars had five bathrooms, all on the lower level, and no public shower. Roomettes were termed "economy bedrooms" and bedrooms "deluxe bedrooms". During the 1980s, Amtrak retrofitted the cars to add a bathroom on the upper level and a public shower on the lower level, at the expense of one bathroom. The Superliner II cars incorporated these improvements into their design.
Amtrak announced in 2025 that with the introduction of the Phase VII livery, names will be reintroduced on First Class Sleeper cars. As delivered, the Superliner II cars were named after states. The Superliner I cars will be named after national parks.
The upper level contains a mix of seating options. At one end are eight tables, four to each side, each seating four passengers. In the center is a lounge area with a wet bar and several groups of seats. The stairs to the lower level are located here as well. At the other end are swivel chairs. The lower level contains a bathroom, additional tables, and a café. As built, the lounges had seating for 73. The cars were built with an electric piano in the lower level, which has since been removed.
In addition to the Sightseer lounges, Amtrak converted five Superliner I to lounge cars in 1998 for use on the Auto Train, an automobile-carrying overnight train between Virginia and Florida. These cars may be distinguished from the Sightseer lounges by their conventional windows.
Amtrak rebuilt 17 Superliner I dining cars as diner-lounges in the late 2000s. Dubbed the "Cross-Country Cafe", they were intended to reduce food service losses by replacing both a traditional dining car and the Sightseer lounge on long-distance trains. One end of the car was converted into a café area, with tables and a small serving area near the stairs to the kitchen. The other side remained dedicated to traditional diner seating, but the standard two-by-two tables were replaced by booths.
| 31000–31047 |
| 32000–32069 |
| 32070–32118 |
| 32500–32505 |
| 33000–33024 |
| 33025–33049 |
| 34000–34101 |
| 34102–34139 |
| 38000–38038 |
| 38039–38068 |
| 39000–39046 |
The resulting California Car design, of which 66 were built by Morrison Knudsen from 1994 to 1997, offered a number of improvements on the Superliner design. The single vestibule and bent staircase of the Superliner design were replaced with two vestibules and two straight staircases to facilitate faster loading and unloading. The trainline-controlled power doors do not require a crew member at every door, thus reducing crew size requirements. The California Cars comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, with wheelchair lifts and accessible seating on the lower levels. Fourteen of the cars were built as , allowing push-pull operations rather than turning the whole train or moving the locomotive at terminals.
The success of the California Cars resulted in the procurement of the Surfliner cars by Amtrak and Caltrans in 1998. Alstom built 62 Surfliners from 2000 to 2002. The Surfliner is a modification of the California Car, with design changes including an improved accessible bathroom design and passenger amenities such as electric outlets. Surfliners and California Cars are mechanically and electrically compatible with each other and the Superliners, and they often are combined in trainsets on Amtrak California services.
Caltrans and Amtrak began drafting the specification for a third generation of the design in 2006. This specification, dubbed "Corridor Car for the 21st Century" or C21, became the basis for the design work undertaken by the Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee (NGCE) under the provisions of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 beginning in 2009. Caltrans and the Illinois Department of Transportation ordered 130 of these Next Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Cars from Sumitomo (with Nippon Sharyo as the builder) in 2012. In August 2015, a new car shell failed a buff strength compression test. Increasing the buff strength would require a complete redesign of the car, and would delay delivery beyond the expiration of a $220 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) grant that funded the order. In November 2017, Sumitomo cancelled their order of bilevel cars with Nippon Sharyo, and instead contracted with Siemens Mobility to build 137 single-level Siemens Venture cars based on the European Siemens Viaggio Comfort cars instead of the bilevel cars.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> 3D tour of Superliner sleeping car
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