The ''Twilight Shoreliner'' was a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

on the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

between

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

, via

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Amtrak introduced it in 1997 to replace the ''

Night Owl Night Owl may refer to: *An owl *Night owl (person), a person who is most active or creative during the night * ''Night Owl'' (film), a 1993 film by Jeffrey Arsenault *"Night Owl", a ''Bangkok Post'' newspaper column by Bernard Trink * Night Owl ( ...

''. It was discontinued in 2003 in favor of the ''Federal''.

History

The ''Twilight Shoreliner'' replaced the ''

'' as Amtrak's dedicated overnight service on the

. Amtrak equipped the train with a

Viewliner The Viewliner is a single-level railroad car type operated by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. The first production cars, consisting of an order of 50 sleeping cars, entered service in 1994. From 2015–2016, 70 Vi ...

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

, replacing the

Heritage Fleet Amtrak's Heritage Fleet consisted of the rolling stock provided to it when it assumed passenger service on commercial railroads. The name was applied to a 1977–1983 program that converted the older, mainly streamliner cars (rail), streamlined ...

equipment used by the ''Night Owl''. The new train also featured a Custom-class coach and the specially-branded "Twilight Café," which served hot meals and was restricted to sleeper- and custom-class passengers. Finally, Amtrak extended the southern terminus from

, to

, and moved the departure time from Boston from 10 PM to 8 PM. The ''Twilight Shoreliner'' provided a second daily frequency between the Northeast and Newport News, supplementing the ''Old Dominion.'' Amtrak launched the ''Twilight Shoreliner'' on July 10, 1997. The cover of its Summer 1997 Northeast timetable called the train "An Unexpected Departure from the Northeast"; a full-page inset touted the many amenities available, including showers and in-room first-run movies for sleeping car passengers and the two cafe cars. By October, ridership was up 28%. Amtrak discontinued the ''Twilight Shoreliner'' on April 28, 2003, replacing it with the ''Federal'', which ran from Boston to Washington, D.C. Ridership from Newport News had declined in 2002–2003, and eliminating the Virginian portion of the route Amtrak could offer a better schedule to travelers on the Northeast Corridor. A southbound connection from the ''Federal'' to a Newport News-bound ''Regional'' was available at Washington, but northbound trips required a three-hour layover. The ''Federal'' was merged into the ''Regional'' brand on April 26, 2004. Amtrak re-extended overnight trains 66 and 67 (now part of the ''

Northeast Regional The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busie ...

'' brand) to Newport News on November 1, 2004; however, they do not include the sleeping car and lounge car. Private sleeping rooms were restored to the unnamed overnight ''Northeast Regional'' trains 65/66/67 on April 5, 2021. The trains were temporarily discontinued in January 2022. On July 11, 2022, Amtrak resumed the trains without sleeper service and shifted the southern terminus of numbers 66/67 from Newport News to

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. They were temporarily cancelled north of New York City effective April 4, 2023, due to

Penn Station Access Penn Station Access (PSA) is a public works project underway by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The goal of the project is to allow Metro-North Railroad commuter trains to access Penn Station on Manhattan's West Sid ...

construction.

Equipment

The ''Twilight Shoreliner'' operated with a mix of

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

Amfleet Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger car (rail), passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Budd Metroliner, Me ...

, and

equipment. A Heritage Fleet baggage car handled checked baggage for passengers and, beginning in 2001, bicycles. The train carried a Viewliner sleeping car except for a brief period in 2002 when Amtrak had to withdraw it because of equipment shortages elsewhere. The train carried four

coaches, two of which were configured for " Custom Class" seating. The train featured a first class-only lounge car, the "Twilight Lounge", for sleeper and Custom Class passengers. A second standard cafe car served regular coach passengers.

References

{{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Night trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts Rail transportation in Rhode Island Rail transportation in Connecticut Rail transportation in New York (state) Rail transportation in New Jersey Rail transportation in Delaware Rail transportation in Maryland Rail transportation in Virginia Railway services introduced in 1997 Railway services discontinued in 2003