Passenger Trains > Viewliner 1 & Anderson Prison Food

OnTime didn’t care for the in room toilets in the Crescent’s Viewliner 1 roomettes. I actually sort of liked them but then I’m an old man who doesn’t particularly like having to trapse down the hall to use the possibly dirty facilities in the middle of the night.
I loved his description of meals as “Anderson Prison Food”. At least that is better than my high school cafeteria which served government surplus chicken gizzards and rice all too frequently.
I was involved for over thirty years with operation of privately owned cars. We always tried to provide passengers with an experience where not only would they come back but they would also tell their friends and business associates what a great trip they had. And quality meals are a major part of a joyful train experience.
 

I think the problem is that it is very easy to make a buiness case for cutting costs, in anticipation of higher net revenue.
It is far more difficult to make a business case for spending more money in hopes of getting more gross revenue and therefore more net revenue.
I think the MBAs always take the intellectually lazy way to show they are making the company prosper.  
This comment is applicable to a wide array of consumer goods and services, not just Andersonville.  

No worries, I'm sure the resident TO peanut gallery will still find something to complain about. For years, everyone complained about the removal of the diner from the Silver Star. As soon as Amtrak announced they were putting a diner back on the train, everyone immediately jumped in and complained about Amtrak's dining service.

Amtrak could reinvent itself into a world class profitable service, and I think a good portion of the users would still find something to be miserable about.

Posted from Android

> I think the problem is that it is very easy to make a buiness case for cutting costs, in
> anticipation of higher net revenue. It is far more difficult to make a business case
> for spending more money in hopes of getting more gross revenue and therefore more net revenue.

Cutting costs has a 99% chance of improving the bottom line in the short run, unless an insane decision is made. 
Increasing spend to improve the bottom line is inherently risky and must compete with other uses of cash. 
Almost every small business owner faces the same questions.