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[quote user="henry6"][quote user="Sam1"] [quote user="schlimm"] [quote user="henry6"] Therefore dining car fare need not be Delmonico's on wheels. But nor can or nor should be Micky D's.  My "etc." was to include the likes  of Red Lobster and other chains...even regional chains to add spice to the fare.  And I'm not sure Cracker Barrel is the choice either.  I am just throwing out a concept which would have to be market defined, researched and tested then redefined and refined to work.  I do think it has to be better than normal fare, but not gourmet or fine dining by any means. [/quote] Whatever the dining niche ends up being, it should cover the costs of providing.   Amtrak's charter is to provide transport, not be the restaurant on wheels.. [/quote] Which raises another interesting albeit not controversial point!<img alt="Smilies" src="/tiny_mce/plugins/smilies/img/smiley.gif" />   If the charter is to provide public rail transport, does the charter include high priced business class travel that most of the taxpayers cannot afford and is paid for frequently if not mostly by people traveling on expense accounts?  Or in private rooms that only an average of 14.6 per cent of long distance passengers or 2.2 per cent of system passengers choose?  Presumably their choice is driven in part by several variables, including the ability to pay.  Numbers are from the 2009 - 2013 Amtrak Monthly Operating Reports. <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] The charter has nothing to do with it, marketing does. Is the train a slouch all stops coach only train or a limited with sleepers for businessmen or whatever. Design your dining car and menu to fit the clientele you are selling the train to. The problem is that Amtrak has to market to Congress and not riders, customers. But some trains can serve subs and potato chips or hamburgers on plastic plates and sloshed down with a Bud or a Coke while others should have steak and on ceramic plates, salad, choice of potato and with a glass of wine. Not everything has to be white collar fare nor blue collar fare but designed for the train and its service. However, whichever is presented has to be just a little bit better, a little more special, more appealing because of the cost involved but not made more costly.  [/quote] The charter (legislation) has everything to do with it.  If the market had been allowed to work, most passenger rail, especially the long distance trains, would have faded from the scene in 1971 if not before.
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