Passenger Trains > Amtrak admits: pax don't know about Silver Star downgrade

Amtrak admits...many passengers don't know about the downgrade to
the Silver Star (reports from the field on this board suggested that,
already).

Despite what Amtrak claimed were their best possible efforts,
it is apparent that many passengers did not know about the
removal of the diner...and complained.

An Amtrak manager has issued the following statement in a
company communication, along with a new Passenger Notice that
is supposed to be posted at stations:

> ...Attached is an updated Silver Star passenger notice. While
> several channels have been used to communicate the removal of the
> Dining car to Silver Star passengers, recent customer surveys
> indicate that many passengers were not aware of this prior to travel.
> The updated notice more clearly communicates to passengers that the
> Dining car has been removed and all meals for sleeping car and coach
> passengers are to be purchased from the Café/Lounge car. Other
> communication channels will be updated as needed.

The new Passenger Notice, a PDF document, is attached.

 

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Still sticking to their Jan, 2016, and still calling it a "test".

Gee,this sounds just like the poster in todays at 02:30.Just proves my point.
Where have these people been? DUH!
You need to pay attention to the world around you.If not you will end up in trouble.


UJ SEFFNER,FL.

Right out of Espee's customer service manual.

Expermient/test huh, yeah right, just an attempt to get rid of Amtrak one train at a time, this cut back on the diner is just stupid and I know there's people who complained about it!

lower sleeping car  prices what a joke..on the star. .. I'm a pass rider and only pay 80% of lowest fair... last mouth i tryed to book a room the price was only  $50.00 less then the meteor with full meals  and double what is was last year  when we went to new York   witch was around $378.dollars for  the roomette in July 2014  this year it was $ 450.00 and the big room was 825.00  that's only one way . it terrible what Amtrak is doing to the star . just my 2 cents worth

Just wait 'till the Florida snowbird season gets underway around Nov-Dec..........  

This was a terrible plan from the start.  I think only someone who has never taken a long distance train ride could come up with this non-starter.  What is the total passenger capacity of the Star?  I'd guess 300 or more.  How can any ONE person serve everyone on the train....and what happens when 5 or 10 people get hungry at the same time?  Maybe a current LSA can tell us how many customers a lounge attendant can serve in an hour.  AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

I am not surprised that passengers don't know.  Amtrak has not made it clear enough 
what is being "experimented" with.

If you book the Star/Meteor on Amtrak.com, there is one of those red warning flags with an
exclamation point in it.  If the user clicks on it, two advisories appear.  Only one deals with
the Silver Star No Diner situation.  That's IF the user clicks on it.  How many ordinary
travelers do  (Trainorders members and railfans don't count)?

Once you select the train and accommodations, there is an Amenities link in the itinerary panel. 
It differs between the Star and Meteor; the Star version makes no mention of a dining car; the
Meteor's says "most long distance trains have a dining car.."  But again, the user has to make
a special effort to click on it and to figure out that it means, "NO DINING CAR ON THE STAR,
DUMMY!"

That's it.  Amtrak makes it too difficult for the casual traveler to find out about the no-diner-on-Star. 
All they'll notice is the lower sleeper fare, and that will drive sales, but if the passenger doesn't know he's
getting less, and is thus not making an informed choice, the conclusions from this "experiment"
will be invalid (Garbage In, Garbage Out)..as though the lack of a proper means of advising
passengers hasn't "poisoned the well" already.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/15 17:43 by GenePoon.

That menu is a very poor one.
 

Amtrak should haver told Mica to GFHS!  The budget got cut anyway.

What is truly concerning is: what information about the on-board amenities does the Amtrak reservations agent share with a passenger when they call in to make a reservation?  On my last trip I distinctly remember that no on-board information was offered by the Amtrak reservation agent.  Of course I know what is offered but the point is, some customers might not know what to expect on any given train.  What are agents instructed to tell passengers about the services?

It appears to me that better care could be taken by Amtrak to get a customer acquainted with the services during the phone call when a booking is made.  Perhaps a link describing the services on a given train could accompany each reservation confirmation or "eTicket" that is emailed to each passenger.

FWIW, I don't believe that Amtrak is trying to eliminate LD services by providing poor services.  I feel that there needs to be a culture change at Amtrak, to make customer care, schedule dependability and personal comfort job one.  I get the feeling that they are working on these issues.  But really, how do they get feedback from travellers or experienced railfans about how the service is being received by passengers?  How do they measure their product satisfaction and acceptance?

BTW: as an example of satisfaction, on my last ride on the CL (CUS - WAS, January 1, 2015) the on-board service crew was superb and the dinner service was very nice.

Tom



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/15 22:50 by NYC4096.

Did someone hit the rewind button on the SP Automat cars????  Wonder if the tables are equipped with a toaster????

Amenities weren't mentioned in my last there reservations calls. That's a shame because "our train has 35 inches between our big seats, comparable to first class air. And you can get up and walk to our diners and lounges. Dinner is included free, of course.'

That can be a nice selling point.

Posted from Android

I've ridden the SB Silver Star in coach twice during the dinner hour since the change took effect. No one seemed to notice. There are a lot of shorts between the NEC and the Carolinas, and a fair number of coach passengers on this train have been BYOF for decades. Queues at the cafe car were no longer than usual. 

Sorry for poking at nits, but dinner isn't free on the other LD trains.  It's bundled in the fare, and even though it's completely fair to question whether the pricing differential for unbundling that amenity on the Silver Star is appropriate, I think it's also fair to question whether the premium charged for meals on the other trains is appropriate as well.

I'm not defending Amtrak's handling of this "test" in the slightest, either in its communication or its execution.  But what the heck, I'll play devil's advocate anyway:  I ride two or three LD trains per year and I, apparently unlike the majority of posters on this topic, do not find meals in the dining car to be particularly compelling and often skip them.  I would be very interested in seeing a sleeping car fare that excludes meals, so that I could decide whether the added price is in line with the value I place on that amenity.  If it was substantial, I'd opt out. 

That said, I have no doubt that if all LD trains were to go without dining cars, the sleeping car fares would very quickly rise back to where they were originally, which would  just make me question the value proposition from a different angle.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/15 17:44 by yorknl.

This "test" is merely a butt kiss to the GOP congress's Amtrak haters.  Nothing more.

Art House

Amtrak calls it an "overnight" train. While only technically true, it conveys a false impression that one boards the train after dinner and one wakes up one's destination around breakfast time, hence no diner required, at most light snacks and beverages. That of course is BS.

In reality the train leaves New York just prior to lunch time and arrives in Miami just before dinner so an end-to-end traveler might reasonably expect two sit down lunches, a dinner and a breakfast. The northbound trip is much the same.

Too bad Amtrak has given in the the blackmail of false economics of Tea Party types. Hopefully, Amtrak (with NARP's encouragement) will find it's backbone somewhere around it's corporate offices at WUS. 

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

OK, I understand the point that Amtrak is under pressure to reduce Food and Beverage losses--that's been going on for decades--but blaming ham-handed execution on Congress is a bit of a stretch. This "test" seems "designed to fail." A bona fide test of whether the customers would prefer "unbundling" meals from sleeper accommodations requires a clear and obvious choice. Instead, Amtrak seems to have tried to obfuscate the loss of the diner on the Silver Star, and angered passengers in the process.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/15 10:33 by Dcmcrider.

Do they actually have enough serviceable Heritage Diners to actually put them back on the train? Or are they hoping the'll get enough new Diners on property when Jan 31 comes around in order to restore Diner service?