The original plans for English Channel Tunnel service included sleeper trains, for direct
service to northern England and southern Europe. These trains were to use equipment based on
the British MK-4 coaches, modified for long distance service, and for use in the 26 mile channel
tunnel.
Unfortunately, skyrocketing costs and indecisive management caused the cancelation of
all plans to run sleepers from Britain to Europe (for more information see
this page) The British taxpayers
were left with over one hundred passenger cars for which there was no use. There were no European
buyers, and the only alternative was to scrap the never-used cars.
Fortunately, these cars will
likely see revenue service, not in the old world, but the new. Via, Canada's long distance
passenger rail company, has expressed an interest in buying the entire production run of Nightstar
equipment, and tested a set of cars in the summer of 2000.
Still I wanted to see a
Nightstar train in it's intended configuration, and the above animation shows what
they would have looked like.