The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak ordered 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 Hi-Level vehicles, employed 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, dining cars, lounges, and sleeping cars. Most passenger spaces are on the upper level, which features a row of 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; the additional cars enabled the retirement of the aging Hi-Level cars and the assignment of Superliners to trains in the Eastern United States. Tunnel clearances prevent their use on the Northeast Corridor.
1979Feb, 26
The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
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Events on 1979
- 1Feb
Ruhollah Khomeini
Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile. - 11Feb
Ruhollah Khomeini
The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. - 16Mar
People's Liberation Army
Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war. - 15Jul
Malaise speech
U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his "malaise speech". - 16Dec
OPEC
Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, which has an immediate, dramatic effect on the United States.