BaltACDGuess everyone should get a 22nd Century food injection!
Works for me. Not everyone is a foodie.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
charlie hebdo zugmann It isn't 1970 anymore. Microwave-able food has come a long way since then. Maybe it's time to attempt the automat car again? Very true. But the complainers are stuck in the 1950s. They want quality restaurant dinners served on a white tablecloth with china, silverware, crystal and a fresh rose, all for $10.
zugmann It isn't 1970 anymore. Microwave-able food has come a long way since then. Maybe it's time to attempt the automat car again?
It isn't 1970 anymore. Microwave-able food has come a long way since then. Maybe it's time to attempt the automat car again?
Very true. But the complainers are stuck in the 1950s. They want quality restaurant dinners served on a white tablecloth with china, silverware, crystal and a fresh rose, all for $10.
Guess everyone should get a 22nd Century food injection!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Normally I do not agree much which comes from the keyboard of Fred Frailey but this time he hit it correct on the head. Anderson is getting a bad rap on this. The CEO is only doing what is being required by law from the US Congress on Amtrak bottom line. Just like Fred stated, the new meal service being launched is what has been around for yrs on the Portland section of Empire Builder. No one cried wolf when that came about. Dining car service is a huge money looser and no longer can be business as usual from yrs past. The food there is horrible. Lets fid a way to fix it. If nothing is done, then many will be standing around at some future point in the future when there are no more trains at all and be wondering "what were we thinking". I am for support of Amtrak but only in the least-costly and effficient method. At least Anderson is trying to do this and he has stood up to the issue while other past CEO's have not.
MidlandMikeAll's I can think, is that Amtrak management must be empathy-challanged to subject a captive clientele to a 16 hour train ride with not a single hot meal.
Anderson will have the airline refrain - Give them another bag of pretzels.
All's I can think, is that Amtrak management must be empathy-challanged to subject a captive clientele to a 16 hour train ride with not a single hot meal.
MidlandMike I think "enhanced" has replaced the worn out phrase "in order to serve you better...". Either way you know you're going to be let down.
I think "enhanced" has replaced the worn out phrase "in order to serve you better...". Either way you know you're going to be let down.
I received the following this morning, in coneection with a trip I plan to take in September:
Beginning June 1, Amtrak will offer contemporary meal choices for sleeping car customers, in place of traditional dining car service, onboard the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited trains. Sleeping car customers will choose from a variety of quality, fresh and ready-to-serve meals. Unlimited soft drinks, a complimentary serving of beer, wine or a mixed-drink and an amenity kit will also be offered to sleeping car customers.
Sleeping car customers will have the option to dine at available seating in the sleeping car lounge or can continue to be served in their bedrooms or roomettes.
Reservations for in room dining will be available in frequent intervals consistent with today’s standards and meals continue to be included in the sleeping car fare. A Kosher meal continues to be available with advance notice.
More information is available here
Thank you for choosing Amtrak.
I am glad that "quality" was not mentioned. When I see or hear "quality," I think of the quality grade of fence boards--which may have knot holes, loose knots, wane, or any variety of warp. It is definitely inferior to the grade "#2 or better" (which, as I recall, may have a little bit of wane--it's been about twenty years since I worked in a lumber yard), which is inferior to the top grade.
When buying fence boards, I always looked at each board--and would find one or two quality boards mixed in with the better lumber.
Johnny
"Enhanced room service?" Currently, hot meal room service is available on all trains with diners.
Since I use a walker for getting around (while not on board), I am often asked if I will be wanting my meals served in my bedroom--and I am able to say that I plan to go to the diner.
Apparently, those at Amtrak who say that meal service will be enhanced do not know the meaning of the word "enhanced," think the traveling public does not know the meaning of the word, or are knowingly lying.
PJS1 Here is the question that I would like someone(s) to address. Maybe it has been covered, but if so I missed it. Do the meal changes announced for sleeping car passengers on the Lake Shore Limited and the Capitol Limited mean the dining cars will be removed from those trains beginning on June 1?
Here is the question that I would like someone(s) to address. Maybe it has been covered, but if so I missed it.
Do the meal changes announced for sleeping car passengers on the Lake Shore Limited and the Capitol Limited mean the dining cars will be removed from those trains beginning on June 1?
As I understand it: YES
See my post of 4-27 where I mentioned I am booked on the Capitol Limited in June; DC to Chicago & return a few days later.
Here is the information taked from the AMTRAK Capitol Limited public timetable effective June 1, 2018:
Dining: Contemporary and fresh dining choices for Sleeping car customers onboard. Meals can be ordered with the Sleping car attendant and delivered to Sleeping car passengers through enhanced room service. Sleeping car customers choose from a variety of quailty, fresh and ready-to-serve meals. A Kosher meal is available with advance notice. Sleeping car passengers have the option to dine at available seating in the Lounge car or served in their bedrooms or roomettes.
Lounge Service: Sandwiches, snacks and beverages.
Sightseer lounge: Available seasonally.
There is NO DINING CAR on the train!
They are not cutting fares, nor waiving cancellation penalties.
A view from the Cresent
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/amtrak-crescent-new-orleans/index.html
The food is pretty tasty -- rail cuisine doesn't suffer the same tinkering that goes into preparing food that will be served at 35,000 feet. The train is spacious; there's a dining car, a lounge and you can walk around, recline, even lie flat.
Does anyone remember when the word "Limited" as part of a train
name said that train was special. Now it means limited food and
a cheap blanket!!
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
DeggestyI wonder if paronage of the Cardinal will increase since it still offers hot meals?
I suspect if the Cardinal's patronage would increase, Anderson would see about increasing the journey by 12 hours or so as well as ditching food service.
I wonder if patronage of the Cardinal will increase since it still offers hot meals?
PJS1Executive management pays attention to performance numbers. If ridership on the long-distance trains declines significantly following the removal of the dining cars, and the decline is attributable to the change, Mr. Anderson and his executive team may pay attention. Otherwise, they are likely to ignore the pleadings of small albeit vocal advocates.
If ridership is down - Anderson will be delighted and begin the next phases of his plan to kill Amtrak.
Railvt Thanks. I'm trying, I suppose, to shame the Anderson management into rethinking a very foolis action........A 2 person crew services both the diner (Cross Country Cafe) and the lounge car on the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.......
Thanks. I'm trying, I suppose, to shame the Anderson management into rethinking a very foolis action........A 2 person crew services both the diner (Cross Country Cafe) and the lounge car on the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.......
Executive management pays attention to performance numbers. If ridership on the long-distance trains declines significantly following the change in meal options, and the decline is attributable to the change, Mr. Anderson and his executive team may pay attention.
The only long-distance train that I ride is the Texas Eagle. And then only between Dallas and San Antonio. Normally it has a Cross Country Cafe dining car and a lounge car. The dining car has a chef, which given the duties, is a stretch, and two servers. The lounge car has an attendant in the lower level who sells food and beverages.
On occasion Amtrak substitutes a second dining car on the Eagle in place of the lounge car that has been pulled off for whatever reason. When this occurs, the lounge car attendant opens the buffet in the substituted Cross-County Cafe car and sells the eats and beverages that are normally available in the lounge car. The number of food and beverage servers is the same.
So, do the changes announced for the LSL and the CL mean that the dining cars will be removed from those trains beginning on June 1?
If a sit-down dining car experience is non-negotiable - don't count on it, the patrons should pay the fully allocated cost of their meals.
A case can be made for subsidizing basic passenger train services in high density corridors or to rural communities that don't have another viable option. But using taxpayer monies to subsidize an Amtrak passenger's meals is not warranted.
RailvtThat Amtrak did not do this on the LSL/CL sadly vindicates my point that they knew exactly what they were doing and went ahead anyway.
It is more difficult to do away with a train if you satisfy the customers that use it and by word of mouth advertising get their friends and acquaintances to also use the service.
Reduction of services was one of the tactics the railroads did to discourage use of their passenger trains and create Amtrak in the first place.
Thanks. I'm trying, I suppose, to shame the Anderson management into rethinking a very foolis action. They already have options that get them the staff cost savings they want without this degree of service degradation.
A 2 person crew services both the diner (Cross Country Cafe) and the lounge car on the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS (no attendent in the lounge--you buy your drinks/snacks in the diner) and that's the model for the CAPITOL LIMITED. The same is true on the single-level CARDINAL, 2 staff providing dining and drink service from a "diner-lite" car and a Business Class/combined louge adjacent with service from the diner--the model for the LAKESHORE.
That Amtrak did not do this on the LSL/CL sadly vindicates my point that they knew exactly what they were doing and went ahead anyway.
Carl, you make some great points. Many forget why and under what circumstances amtrak was created.
We have been fighting for funding for Amtrak since it's inception. I believe some sort of middle ground will be found. A diner and hot food is non negotiable on a long distance train.
Until it is, the good fight has to continue. Thanks for being part of the battle.
CPRcst PJS1, is Greyhound still around?
PJS1, is Greyhound still around?
Greyhound is very much alive in Texas.
As an example, it has 16 schedules a day between Dallas and Houston, with intermediate stops at Corsicana, Buffalo, and Conroe.
Between San Antonio and Brownsville, which is deep in the Rio Grande Valley, where I live, it has 14 offerings a day, with stops at Alice, McAllen, and Harlingen.
The best example is the service between Dallas and San Antonio. Greyhound has 22 daily schedules between DFW and the Alamo City. Running time with intermediate stops is about 5 1/2 hours. Comparatively, the running time of the Texas Eagle between Dallas and San Antonio is 10 hours five minutes.
Why do people take the train between the two cities. Fares. To be competitive, Amtrak undercuts the fares on Greyhound to the extent possible, although it has a real challenge on its hands with Megabus.
Tilting at windmills, or perhaps hoping saner minds might reverse a very bad decision I issued the following Op Ed today to every newspaper still covering Travel and in a special send to the outlets along the LAKESHORE and CAPITOL LIMITED routes. Hopefully it will at least draw a contrast to the obfuscation about "New and Contemporary" cold boxed meals as First Class diner. A longer version is on my Facebook page if anyone is interested.
Carl Fowler is the retired President of Rail Travel Center/Rail Travel Adventures. He worked full time for over 35 years selling rail travel worldwide, including Amtrak. Mr. Fowler is a Vice-Chair of the Rail Passenger Association/NARP. These are his personal views.
Yes, as Balt says, Greyhound is still around. However, its routes are greatly reduced from what they were fifty years ago. There are many towns, including two in which I lived, that no longer have any intercity bus service--and the frequency of operation on existing routes is not anywhere close to what it was back then.
To get to my college alumni gatherings, I take a bus from Charlottesville to Bristol (the train times in Roanoke are not convenient for me)--and there are only two buses a day each way. When I was in college, there were perhaps six buses a day each way.
CPRcstPJS1, is Greyhound still around? In Canada First group revamped Greyhound by taking over the feeder lines and then reducing service to almost nothing, then withdrawing service. In most of Western Canada, except for major centres, it’s drive or stay home.
Greyhound still exists in the US. I have seen their busses on my Interstate travels this year, however I have no idea what their route structure or service frequency is.
PJS1, is Greyhound still around? In Canada First group revamped Greyhound by taking over the feeder lines and then reducing service to almost nothing, then withdrawing service. In most of Western Canada, except for major centres, it’s drive or stay home.
railfanjohn said[in part]:"...I am booked in sleeper space so I will get a cold meal delivered to my room, which I can then take to a table in the lounge car (seating subject to availability - 1st come 1st accomodated)..."
Deggesty(Johnny) said[in part]: "...Perhaps Amtrak has redefined the word "enhance"? Or is someone at Amtrak so unlearned as to not have any idea as to the meaning of the word?.."
Johnny, You are being too kind! Basicly, what that cold meal is, is just like in school; You got sent out the door to go to school with a sack lunch [PB&J sandwich(s?), and maybe, some chips?] I am reminded of a plane ride my daughter took some time back. Her complaint was they only had botteled water to drink, and her sandwich had a full growth of some nasty looking mold on it. She did not eat it, and left it in the overhead compartmen, in the Delta blanket.... The joys of modern Transport!
Correctly, ein deutsches Gift.
In the spy world beware Russians bearing "Gifts"...it's their preferred method.
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