It was directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starred Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux, William Shatner, and Paul L. Smith.

It originally aired on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on October 28, 1979.

At his own suggestion William Shatner did his own stunts, including standing on top of a moving F40PH.

Shatner compared it to the work he'd done in Kingdom of the Spiders, and wondered which was worse: "standing on top of a speeding locomotive without any kind of safety cable or gluing tarantulas to your face?

[2] Disaster on the Coastliner premiered on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on October 28, 1979.