Passenger Trains > Amtrak Dining Service Question

Have full meals returned on Amtrak LDTs, as opposed to boxed meals? If not, if there a timeframe for when they will return?

Twelfth of Never.

In theory full meal service should return in the west "soon" as traffic recovers. But Amtrak just posted a new version of the "New and Contemporary Menu" for the Western long-hauls offering more choices at lunch and dinner (but not breakfast), which suggests they do not plan to drop this soon.

If you can use Facebook the Friends of the California Zephyr group has a copy posted at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217543167592102&set=gm.2680345505544384&type=3&eid=ARBHnMsjx0hjR2vtm7bnajOdfeRCe0e_QN-C0dp71je21BuUzT_-XZ8CPJXG6xtg0_3ML2s3zoTAZYu_&ifg=1

The pending Amtrak Re-authorization repeals the "Mica Rule" (eg. Amtrak can not subsidize food service with any Federal funds), but so far it has not passed a full vote in either the Senate or House. If this survives things may improve.

upgraded menu also on Eastern routes for Contemporary dining -- more choices for lunch and dinner but the fresh fruit for breakfast seems gone.  Will be sampling this in 16 days -- will report. 

I'm hoping this bill passes because I for one know you can't top a full service dining car, always been the best part of train travel, Another_view says otherwise but he can't find proof to back his claim!

Posted from Android

RevRandy Wrote:
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> upgraded menu also on Eastern routes for
> Contemporary dining -- more choices for lunch and
> dinner but the fresh fruit for breakfast seems
> gone.  Will be sampling this in 16 days -- will
> report. 

They are getting this down pretty good - 8 options for the Western Trains and 5 options for the Eastern Trains...... Don't see the fresh fruit for breakfast either, and that would be a disappointment. Perhaps keeping it fresh was an issue, but if so - would it be that hard to coordinate getting one loaded locally - if possible/available - between the previous night and 6:30 am the following morning??? Ugh! Amtrak's certainly saving LOTS of money with this flexible dining option. And they increased the sleeper car bedroom and roomette prices in the process. Nice!                                                                                                                                                      



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/20 15:22 by jp1822.

Going into summer I'm sure it goes without saying that there will be a lot of negative responses to the dining situation. The hard question will be how many "never again" decisions will be made and will it amount to a greater number of passengers than those who actually file a complaint about it. Even If tri-weekly is over-ridden but "new and contemporary" remains it is potentially very troublesome. Congressional efforts seem to be tuned more quickly to service reductions than inferior food. When fighting tri-weekly service the food issue really needs adddresing as well.

Perhaps in Amtrak's mind they feel that if one thing doesn't eliminate passengers the other will; and if they succeed with both attacks there's even more serious potential. 

Our changing preferences in response to the Corona virus has probably killed the sit down dining car for good. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/20 21:23 by ts1457.

There is plenty of proof that is readily available. It is unfortunate but it is the truth, given the high labor rates, difficult logistics, high capital expense, and maintenance expenses of rolling stock it is impossible to come close to break even with “traditional” dining car service. The truth of the matter is that congress doesn’t even require Amtrak to include rolling stock, capital, maintenance, and associated expenses in the break even analysis. Any private restaurant would have to include similar costs on its P&L statement. I wish but weren’t so but it is what it is.

If what I post isn’t factual, show me why.

another_view Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is plenty of proof that is readily
> available. It is unfortunate but it is the truth,
> given the high labor rates, difficult logistics,
> high capital expense, and maintenance expenses of
> rolling stock it is impossible to come close to
> break even with “traditional” dining car
> service. The truth of the matter is that congress
> doesn’t even require Amtrak to include rolling
> stock, capital, maintenance, and associated
> expenses in the break even analysis. Any private
> restaurant would have to include similar costs on
> its P&L statement. I wish but weren’t so but it
> is what it is.
>
> If what I post isn’t factual, show me why.


Railroads before Amtrak figured it out and also knew taking this out would hurt them, it's sad you assume everything that you mentioned besides dining car services has to be either break even or make a profit, that mindset sucks!

Posted from Android

The net passenger results from diner loss on western trains in particular remain to be seen, it's the passengers that will end up speaking. Given that the diner continues to roll on Auto Train - is this an "Amtrak experiment" to see whether or not the diner is abandoned or visited in great fear and trepidation? Or is it that Amtrak has a little more concern for Auto Train's survival?

I don't think I speak for myself only as having no hesitation to support local diners or those I see when travelling about. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/20 03:15 by PRSL-recall.

What did the railroads do during the 1918 Flu Pandemic for dining car service?

For the remainder of this year - complaints about the diner can likely be attributed to or blamed on trying to operate in a post-COVID-19 environment (or recovery). 

However, there does appear to be an upswing in Amtrak travel for July and August. An article in one of the national newspapers I read this morning mentions that people may be heading more to National Parks or remote areas and staying within the United States due to overall limited travel. 

If we have to deal with Flexible Dining, can Amtrak at least allow dining with social distancing in the Superliner Diners and Viewliner Diners (Sleeper Lounges)? The Amfleet Cafe/Lounge on LD trains (as the sole food service distribution car in a post-COVID environment) is going to get a little too congested in the coach and sleeper bookings that I am seeing for July and August. Amtrak may want to re-think the storage of the Viewliner Diner - even if re-purposing it as just a Lounge car. It actually makes more sense as a Sleeper Lounge right now, to relieve any pressure/congestion/traffic off of the Amfleet II Cafe/Lounge (Diner Lite).