GrandLuxe Rail Journeys Closes Up Shop

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 30th 2008 at 6:02PM

The faltering economy has had a profound effect on air travel, now it's taking its toll on the train travel industry. GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, which we've covered before for their luxury train trips throughout the U.S. and Mexico and their partnership with Amtrak, has announced that they cannot continue to operate due to financial reasons. The Denver Post reports that the company is not sure yet if people who made deposits for trips will get their money back.

The company formerly known as American Orient Express got a new owner in 2006 and seemed to be on track for success. But train travel in the U.S. has become less and less popular and the vacation industry as a whole is suffering.

Gallery: Around the World on Luxury Trains

Tags: grandluxe, railways, trains, travel

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brett Aug 31st 2008 2:39AM

As a founding member of the executive team of the American Orient Express I am deeply saddened to see this most unique operation of the American rail and travel landscape come to its last run after 13 years. Independent rail operators of passenger service have always had a tough go due to heavy operating expenses; most have not lasted this long. I am sure that the rough economy took away the slim margins that were available.

Hopefully a new day will dawn on our economy with a change in the America Presidency and a change in the priorites of the government and business will help bring about new prosperity so that someone will revive this fleet and put it back into service before it is sold off piecemeal. It is truly a grand train.

mark Aug 31st 2008 11:17AM

Brett is absolutely right. Grand Luxe needed/needs an ownership that can afford to take losses while aggressively marketing for a few years. A bit of creativeness in routes would have helped too. Much like a Major League Baseball team, this treasure is not a toy. I too pray that the remaining cars are not further scavenged so that this unique experience can be revived. This extinction of this way of touring our country is certain if the Grand Luxe is not kept intact.

Lee Sep 5th 2008 12:14AM

I agree that there is much that is broken in Washington DC, but the business climate for an operation like GrandLuxe to return won't improve if the person who gains the Presidency implements huge tax hikes on American businesses and American consumers and fails to encourage EVERY possible means of improving our domestic energy production.

Wishing for change without understanding how those changes will affect American business is the wrong way to proceed. Praying for wise, good, and EXPERIENCED leadership for this country is the right course.

Gary Sep 9th 2008 10:53AM

Maybe if they didn't cheat customers such as myself they would still be in business. I also find it offensive that you would blame their demise on our President. A new day will dawn when people/businesses quit being victims and take responsibility for themselves.

Gabe Rosica Sep 4th 2008 1:43PM

It is sad to hear this news but no surprise. We took the tour of The National Parks of the West in June and encountered a number of maintenance problems that one would not expect. The AC was less than adequate and the hot water iffy. I mentioned to the train manager that as a partner in a venture firm that evaluates companies, I believed one of two things was going on. Either the business was profitable and owners were milking the business or the business was not profitable and the money was not there to upgrade the cars. In either case the business was in a downward spiral and would not last long. I felt bad and now feel bad again for the excellent crew that went out of their way to make the trip an enjoyable experience, and did their best to compensate for the equipment failures.

Lee Sep 5th 2008 12:04AM

Deidre,

Whatever the true reason(s) for GrandLuxe to cease it's operations, you should really do a little more research before making the sweeping statement that "train travel in the U.S. has become less and less popular." In fact, the only nationwide passenger rail service that exists in the US, otherwise known as Amtrak, is seeing record ridership on most routes.

GrandLuxe tours were out of reach of the typical traveler because they were aimed at consumers with the money to spend on luxuries, but you can't extrapolate a pullback in luxury expenditures to infer that typical consumer train travel in also negatively affected.

I for one would MUCH rather travel by train than deal with the headaches of airport security and weather delays or doing a slow crawl on congested highways.

Bruce Oct 21st 2008 5:21PM

My wife and I spent one of our best life experiences on Grand Lux. Granted we are not world travelers, but we experienced Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier National park in a way we never would have been able to see.
As far as we are concerned there was no better vacation than Grand Lux.