CHICAGO — Amtrak plans to add “a hot meal option” to dining service on the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited, and says food-service changes on the two trains — which saw full dining cars give way to pre-prepared cold meals as of June 1 — offer passengers more dining choices.
These points come from a statement to Trains News Wire by Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, who wrote, “We are undertaking changes on the dining service to provide higher quality food with a modern service pattern that allows people to order what they want and have it provided when they want. People who want to dine in a communal way can keep that. People who want privacy or to work on their laptops while they’re dining, can dine in that way. We’re putting the decision-making into our customer’s hands, versus dictating to our customers how they have to accept their food.
“Amtrak sleeping car customers have always had the ability to choose to be served in their bedrooms and roomettes and this model makes that choice easier by offering a selection of meals that are made fresh and are readily enjoyed by customers in their sleeping compartments or at tables in a private area only for sleeping car customers. These food service cars were infrequently used by coach customers.
“A hot meal option will be coming at future date as we are gathering feedback from our customers to understand preferences.”
The statement was issued in response to a News Wire story in which Amtrak unions expressed their concern over the elimination of the full diners, and the effect on Amtrak on-board staff. [See “Unions decry end of full dining service on two Amtrak trains,” Trains News Wire, June 1.]
Of course this is exactly what we could expect when we have an airline executive delegated to run an railroad passenger operation. just because a person is an expert in one particular facet of the transportation industry, does not mean they are an expert in all facets of the industry, and I believe we are now seeing the outcome of this. Service has fallen terribly ,food service is being cut to the bone, if it even exists at all. This is not an airline sir, where you can give someone a bag of peanuts till the end of the flight. believe it or not many of these people will be on these trains for many hours or in some cases even days. Wake up this is not the airline transportation industry, its the railroad transportation industry ,either join or get out of it and turn it over to someone more qualified.
I had lunch in the diner aboard Train 22 this past Sunday. My hamburger was overcooked, but tasty. Cost was $12.50, about medium for such a meal in most local restaurants. I did notice, however, that they were only using one dining area for both first and coach class. Could the other half of the car be broken, or was it being used as a first class lounge? As for the Sightseer Lounge, it never was more than half occupied despite the fact that the train was sold out. Also, the on-board crew did not take up any of the lounge space. I guess it all depends on the train and it’s crews. I saw an assistant conductor take food through the lounge toward the rear of the train, at least twice, perhaps for disabled passengers. Most noteworthy, the Conductor and his two assistants were very friendly and the Conductor made very folksy, friendly announcements over a sound system that worked well. I had the feeling this Conductor would keep the passengers informed of any delays or mishaps if they happened. My regret is that I didn’t get his name, but he deserved recognition (Train 22, 6/10/18 San Antonio to Fort Worth). One criticism: the diner closed for breakfast before it’s Austin stop and didn’t open for lunch until 12:45 p.m. which made it impossible for some Fort Worth bound passengers to eat before the 1:45 p.m. (13 minutes early) arrival.
as usual somebody has to bring up the racial issue which has nothing to do with eating in the dining car. if you don tlike the diner or the cost dont eat in it. i could care less who is preparing my meal as long at is good. when someone doesnt like something it always turns into a racial issue. has nothing to do with eating in the diner. we have met quiet afew folks eating together where they be form the coach class or sleepers. RICHARD!!!
Don Oltman. I could not agree with you more.Even the Empire Service Dinettes 6 tables are used by the conductors, and lounge attendent, Cardboard boxes take up the luggage racksand usually a tble leaving only to 3 -4 tables at most. for passengers.
What a mealy-mouthed way to say that First Class Sleeping Car customers might not like having to share a Dining Car table with coach passengers or, God forbid, with someone from a different demographic group! A very underhanded way of saying that Sleeping Car passengers are too rich, elitist or racist to interact with the rif-raf in the coaches.
I should think that Amtrak’s predominately African – American Dining Car Chefs, Maitre-d’s and Wait Staff ought to have something significant to say about Amtrak’s new management’s trying to eliminate this long standing policy of putting a butt in every vacant seat in a Diner no matter who’s next in line – one of the few “forced integration” efforts from the Civil Rights Era that pretty much everyone agrees with.
Come on, you guys, play that Race Card to it’s hilt. We need to bring out our biggest guns to save Amtrak and it’s Dining Cars!
Gluten-free? Sure–not eating. I am mildly allergic to Canola (formerly Rapeseed) Oil but every restaurant uses it since Michelle heavily promoted it–so I don’t eat in restaurants often. But back to Amtrak’s President’s thinking that his market is mostly endpoints; AMTK’s new head doesn’t know his business and thinks AMTK is another airline where you herd people at semi-gunpoint into the cattle cars/planes and then let them out at another place.
This only evidences how as a state-owned enterprise, Amtrak excels only at being an indifferent monopoly for people to take it or leave it; bulging with an over-staffed HQ with far too many senior and executive managers.
We are seeing the end result of Amtrak failing in marketing to understand demographics of who rides currently, why people do not (any longer), and what would induce new riders, or, even a return of former riders. This on top of Amtrak being totally devoid of a practical sense of food & beverage services, including:
1) Coach passengers are totally discouraged from using the diner due to the very late hour 9pm or later, as well as the excessive over pricing of the menu.
2) Instead of stripping the galley down to the the bare minimum, if Amtrak could benefit from intelligent, experienced people in food & beverage, one-half of the diner and the galley better utilized converted into a coffee shop/grill to serve passengers, particularly from coach.
3) Including meals in the exorbitant sleeper fare (note no longer “first class”) should be eliminated to allow Amtrak to improve the daily menu and adjust pricing accordingly.
4) A psychologist in training would competently advise Amtrak to back-off the ludicrous belief that people disfavor the dining car, preferring to eat alone in their compartment. Perhaps if Amtrak enforced a modicum of decorum for the diner to refuse serving people in sleeveless t-shirts, short shorts, clogs, and dirty baseball caps would help restore a more favorable atmosphere.
5) To build revenues, Amtrak should invest in training its diner and lounge LSAs in mixology to craft cocktails; to properly equip and supply with an expanded liquor kit, mixers, and condiments.
6) With all the problems identified by the OIG, why has Amtrak failed to promptly implement a Point-of-Service IT program for diners, cafes, and lounges to control cash and products, and prevent product waste.
In view of this ridiculously, excessively delayed approach to competently dealing with the never ending food & beverage issue, the lack of any in-depth understanding of the issues and costs, and the total inability to know the customer, I am beginning to think that former Congressman Mica was correct after all in slaying Amtrak over the cost of its food/product purchasing and the prices it sold the items. One just gets the sense that Amtrak is run like a “candy store” with its only interest on the NEC and ensuring the pillows are fluffed for the 1% riders in first class on the “Acela Express.”
This is no way to run a railroad, even if it is a state-owned enterprise, as we do not experience the same pathetic nonsense over food & beverage services on VIA Rail Canada. Perhaps it’s time for Amtrak to swallow its pride and benchmark to VIA?
This is all bs. The diner is the essence of train travel and coach passengers, sizzling steaks and hot pancakes are all key elements of the experience. And we have beautiful new diners. Bring back the diners!
Randall, there was generally such available on the full dining care menus. I can’t speak about this new beast.
What snippy comment by the Amtrak spokesman, talking as if wanting to “dine in a communal fashion” rather than over your lap in a compartment seat, is some oddball preference of fusty train nuts. Because wanting to dine at a table with place settings, and food in dishes served by waiters is something from another time. He says they aren’t dictating how customers “accept their food” (which sounds like something baby robins in a nest do) while Amtrak is really doing just that by providing only boxed meals either to the compartment or to a setting equivalent to the workplace lunchroom. This is otherwise known as Hobson’s choice.
I sent the following letter to Amtrak tonight, and CC’d my federal representatives.
Letter to Amtrak:
Sir/Ma’am–
Amtrak made a public statement today about food service on the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited that was inaccurate, and needs to be corrected. Specifically, the statement indicated “These food service cars [dining cars] were infrequently used by coach customers.” As an Amtrak rider since 1985, I always used the dining car for meals, whether traveling in coach or in sleeping cars. The primary reason that I could see for coach passengers not using the dining car was having to wait until the very last call for dinner in the diner, often well after 9 pm. This was a reflection on the efficiency of your on board service, not on the desire–or lack thereof–of coach passengers to enjoy a hot meal.
I urge you to reverse your decision to eliminate dining car on these long distance trains. You should be expanding quality food options on board, and not restricting them. And please do not use misleading statements as justification to roll back on board services.
Respectfully,
That’s his job, he’s paid to do so… But agree
At present at least, the “Coach Lounge” on the LAKESHORE is 5 1/2 tables in a half Business Class/half cafe car, but the conductors nearly always take one full table, plus the surviving bench seat at the handicap table, and the attendant occupies another table both as seating and for added storage. Thus typically only three tables/12 seats are actually available for 240+ coach/business class riders.
The ambiguous promise of hot food comes with no planned date, nor with any intention to allow coach passengers to buy a better meal.
Further the claim of low coach usage of diners on the LAKESHORE and the CAPITOL is untrue. One need only to have observed the waiting ques in the morning for breakfast to know this.
Coach passengers avoid dining cars because of the ridiculously high prices. That is completely intentional on Amtrak’s part, so they can minimize staffing.
It should be the other way around–price meals in the diner at the incremental food and packaging cost to encourage use by all passengers.
AND, note that the hot meals are sometime vaguely off in the future, an empty promise for now.
But from what I am reading on facebook blog under the Cardinal blog coach passengers no longer have access to the dinning car’s unless you a sleeping car passenger. They a relegated to the coach lounge which does not have enough table space and only one attendant Is this true ? With the elimination of station agents how is this going to improve ridership.
This Magliari can really shovel the corporate bullshit.
Does AMTRAK provide any sort of gluten-free alternatives on their menu?
Typical corporate double-speak. Lots of high-sounding words, but in the end, empty promises.
A “better Amtrak” would include keeping conductors from setting up shop in the lounge car. Where else in the world is this allowed?
I sometimes travel coach and sometimes in the sleeper. In either case I enjoy eating and meeting people in the dining car. This certainly makes me less likely to ride these trains.
There’s a great article in the new Trains magazine suggesting how Amtrak could use the new diners and other cards to improve service and increase revenue.
Unreal. Now coach passengers don’t use the dining car. What will they say next, that coach passengers don’t even use the seats in coaches? Will they take those out next? Think of all the cleaning costs they’d save if there were no more seats on the train!
ANDREW SELDEN
Are you joking, and I quote: “Coach passengers avoid dining cars because of the ridiculously high prices”…have you seen the prices for food in the dining car? I think not, it’s cheap, not even close to being revenue neutral, which is why dining car service has always been at a loss. If they actually charged prices for the cost to be break even, it would still be inexpensive vs a typical sit down restaurant, which is what it should be compared to.
Also, passengers could always eat in their rooms if they wanted to. This is not a new service.
“These food service cars were infrequently used by coach customers.”
More lies from Amtrak. Their own document from 2011 states otherwise (see page 45)
http://floridacoalitionofrailpassengers.memberlodge.com/Resources/Documents/Amtrak_2011_PRIIA_210_Report_09-26-11_final%5B1%5D.pdf
“Coach passengers account for 47 percent of the meals served.”