Amtrak: No discussions on LV Railway attaching lounge cars

An Amtrak spokeswoman said that there are no plans or even discussions to have the Las Vegas Railway Express attach luxury lounge cars to trains running between Houston and New Orleans.

Las Vegas Railway, a penny-stock company that has also announced it would start passenger rail service between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area but never performed, made the new route a centerpiece of its annual report filed July 1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it would look at attaching luxury cars to several Amtrak routes, setting the start for Houston-New Orleans as the fourth quarter of this year.

“There have been no discussions regarding the Southwest Limited,” said Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham, referring to the name of the train.

Las Vegas Railway has made announcements in the past without informing others involved, such as once saying it would include a gaming car on trains between Las Vegas and Southern California. Union Pacific, which owns about half of the tracks, strongly objected and pushed Las Vegas Railway to drop all mention of it.