Since being founded in 2012, Wanderu has partnered with some of the largest ground transportation companies in the U.S. and Canada, including Greyhound, Megabus and Peter Pan Bus Lines. Now, the Boston startup has announced a new agreement with Amtrak, which will enable train tickets booking for more than 60 cities across 14 states through Wanderu's search engine.
As of today, Wanderu users will be able to book tickets on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited (New York/Boston–Chicago), Silver Star (New York–Tampa–Miami), Silver Meteor (New York–Miami) and Palmetto (New York–Savannah) lines. Wanderu will be incorporating additional Amtrak routes in the coming months until it has integrated the rail service’s entire network.
Polina Raygorodskaya, CEO and founder of Wanderu, noted in a press release that the company now boasts coverage of ground transport across 90 percent of the U.S. thanks to its partnerships.
“Now, more than ever, we can help our users reach destinations that they were not able to get to before,” she said. “More importantly, we are able to provide them with a broader range of options in terms of travel time and type of transportation.”
In February, Wanderu launched an iPhone app that enabled users to book bus and train tickets on the go. That same month, Polina Raygorodskaya traveled to Necker, Richard Branson's private island, to pitch him and a handful of judges on her startup — and the British businessman/investor ultimately selected Wanderu as his favorite. In November, the company raised a $5.6 million Series A round from a number of investors, including former Greyhound CEO Craig Lentzsch and Brad Feld, Techstars cofounder and Foundry Group venture capitalist.
