NEW YORK — Amtrak workers and union leaders staged a protest outside Penn Station on Wednesday, saying the company is preparing to lay off up to 1,700 workers by outsourcing its food services.
The New York Post reported an estimated 100 protestors had harsh words for Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson, with signs depicting him as a robber barron.
The Post reported that Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen said Anderson is “engaged in a slash-and-burn management plan. He’s looking to dump 1,700 workers who provide Amtrak riders a vital service — hot food service — that they pay dearly for.” Protestors also criticized the replacement of dining-car service on the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited with pre-packaged boxed meals.
In a statement, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams told the Post 14 chef positions had been eliminated, and that “all who have sought a new position at Amtrak have landed one. We will continue to evaluate impacts to determine staffing levels.”
The statement also said: “Our continued success depends on increasing customer satisfaction, improving efficiency and costs. This contemporary style of service has been well received by customers, with meals of their choice and at times they choose.”
This is what you get when the government funds and runs something, be it health care or passenger trains. Airlines are private, for-profit organizations, and their profits are directly tied to how well they serve their target customers. Southwest airlines is a perfect example. Low fares, great scheduling, no bag fee for up to 2 bags. Up to 2 carry on bags, no fee to cancel or change trips, and they’re hugely successful. Amtrak – funded by tax dollars with a small portion from tickets. Politicians mandate too many aspects to give Amtrak any chance of succeeding. 95% of trains wouldn’t exist if run for profit by private sector, and for good reason. Vast majority of the U. S. doesn’t have the population density to justify a train. Bus is a far better option.
I think Mr Anderson should be forced to lunch on the cold food service that he’s trying to put in place. I remember we were forced to eat “cold-cuts” for dinner on Sundays, in the Army. Fortunately most of us had C-rations put away for the occasion – we opted for C-rations instead of “cold-cuts”. Mr Andreson should try IMPROVING Amtrak, rather than cutting it down, and eventually closing it down as per tRump.
Gene Wands: Great report! The question is, how will I return to the US next year for a planned extended visit? I’ve decided to call my travel agent tomorrow to see if there are any vacant cabins left on the Titanic.
if all the folks complaining about the trains would realy look at the airlines we wouldnt have such negativity towards amtrak. we ride the train from atl to nyc 2-3 times a yr and never had a bad meal or service. last time we went a aplane you couldnt even get the steward to help put the bags in the overhead let alone it being jam packed. little cup of soda, juice or water with a bag of pritzessl maybe 4 in it to boot. and how about paying 25 now 30 for achecked bag. and now they are going to take another inch off every row of seats cause they say the cramped public will still psy the price and we can get another row of seats in the front. planes for teh folks ina rush trains for the leasure people who wnat to take their time to enjoy things. we dont travel for the food i can eat at home or before i get on.ITS ALL POLITICAL ANYWAY NEVR GOING TO CHNAGE AS THE OIL COMPANIES WNAT MORE CARS ON THE RAOD(hence more highways for cars) and the the airlines want. more and bigger airports. just take alook at the billions profit for delta this past year. yet they charge for the bags and everything else. when the last time the price of an aitline ticket went down cause gas prices fell? never. WE WILL STILL USE THE TRAIN AS LONG AS ITS RUNNING. NO MORE PLANES WITH US CHEWING ON OUR KNEECAPS AND TRYNING TO GET OUT OF OUR SEATS TO USE THE RESTROOM IF YOU CAN FIT.
What sticks out to me is the number 1700.
There are 1700 people working to put food on trains? In an organization of 25,000 or so.
That’s nuts.
I don’t think the real issue is “food or no food”. Its how much does that food cost.
I quick web search the other day yielded costs for airline food. It cost them about $10 to deliver a hot meal to a coach passenger and $30 to deliver a plated meal to first class passengers.
I can tell you that 9 of the last 10 coach airline meals I’ve had are better than most I’ve had on Amtrak.
It’s not 1950 anymore. Amtrak doesn’t have to do the food thing as a core competency. It’s long past time to contract out the food service. Let sleeper passengers (and others) pre-order and pay for hot meals when they buy their ticket and do food the airline way.
Scale isn’t a problem. The safety crew on a Boeing 777 can serve 350 hot meals in an hour or so.
I disagree with some of the posters, but it does sound like Amtrak needs to shape up some of its’ staff. I have never had a bad experience on any of LD trips I have taken. On the Coast Starlight, we had to be bused from Eugene, OR to Klamath Falls, arriving about 10 pm, the diner was left open for first class travelers and we even received complimentary wine because we had missed the wine/cheese party. Recently it has been 2 times on City of NOLA and the diner was not what I expected. Food was good, but not the same as fresh cooked meal. I know they had regional specialties a few years ago as I read about them, but no longer on that train. But “propeller head” is not fit for running a RR, too much airline mentality. I did hear from a friend who worked for NS that it seems like Wick has recommended 2 people to replace him and neither was suited for the job. One was to be Pres of NS, don’t know much about him, but he also recommended Anderson. Seems like he wants to have some succeed him who fails at the job and makes him look good. Don’t know if that is the reason, but supposedly Wick did recommend Anderson, I had no idea where he came from but he needs to go back there. Just like his comments that people do not need a diner as no one wants to eat with a stranger-that is one of the fun things about riding a train. And people need to stay in their seats and not be roaming around. Again one of the perks of riding a train, don’t have to sit strapped in for hours, When TWA went down, I stopped flying, as I have no place to go that I can’t take a train. and it is not the same today anyway, or so I have heard from friends who have flown recently.
This is great news. Maybe we’ll get better attitudes and service from new crew members. These people with their high salaries and bad attitudes need to go. Anderson is doing a great job doing exactly what Congress told him to do which is to lower F & B costs to close to break even. If you have a gripe it is with the politicians not Anderson. Within the last 5 – 10 years there have been few employees that I thought were worth half their salaries. The poster below who said that the attendant made up the room on his schedule is lucky because the attendant on my last trip did not make it up at all. He was on the platform in Chicago and the next time I saw him, other than in the diner eating dinner, was on the platform in Albany with his hand out for a tip. I’d tell you how much he got from me but I think you can probably guess. I thought this was unusual because sleeping car attendants are usually the best of the group but I guess things have changed and they have become more like the diner crews which with the rare exception are uniformly bad. On that trip in the other direction something I ate in the diner made we quite ill and this time the attendant was very helpful and concerned. He was tipped very well. but this has become rare.
Comparisons to the airlines are way off. The air traffic control system may be a government agency but the airlines pay for it. The airports are generally paid for by the municipalities and then charged to the passengers through a ticket tax, same with security. Plus the airlines are generally profitable and therefore pay income taxes to the government which cover the other services that the government provides. Amtrak would be lucky to operate like the airlines.
I’m going to stick with Acela Express from now on. The crews are pretty good, the food is hot and tasty and once you’re past Metro North territory the trip is fast and reliable.
Amtrak was designed to be a failure within five years of its inception. New legislation is needed to empower the Federal Railroad Administration if not form an entirely new agency to furnish infrastructure support for private operations of passenger trains at solvent levels while providing quality on board amenities. Funding for separate tracks would allow competitively faster and more punctual passenger trains.
Airlines do not have air traffic control on their payroll. And they do not pay out of pocket for the construction and maintenance of runways and tarmac.
Come on Trains….I didn’t finish and Wham Batman….time to fix this problem folks….
….a CEO should get out of the office, ride the trains first hand to meet and talk with employees and riders alike, to receive Positive/Negative Feed Back. Only then will problems be disclosed and solutions found.
Most contributors agree that Amtrak has been a Political Ping Pong Ball from Day One. The sheer fact it has survived is something short of a miracle itself.
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Employee morale can, in most cases, be traced to top management. If you have a CEO who doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about customer service you’ll have disgrunted employees as well as riders. It’s all about Team Work. If a CEO will get out of the office and ride the trains first hand and meet and talk to
This Anderson is a bum and needs to reported on as such. Why did Wick Moorman not warn us?
Welcome to Century 21. The return of Robber Barons.
They cash their big fat pay checks every month while sitting on their loose cabooses figuring how to eliminate additional jobs in the operating department. When the dedicated employees have been dumped the dirty no good degenerate low life pieces of scum will receive a billion dollar bonus on top of the trillion dollar salary they already get. Pretty darn good set up, is it not?
I am all for healthy contemporary food such as grilled salmon served with fresh vegetables and fresh fruit for dessert on a china plate with wine in a real glass. I don’t know of a single passenger who likes the “new and improved food service.” Why not ask the crews what they can do to prepare tasty appealing meals on china with a more limited staff? A meal such as the one I described would typically cost around $25-30 in a mid quality restaurant. A little more in a Legal Seafood or McCormick and Schmick. People like me who travel in a sleeper want and expect real food in the dinner. Otherwise it’s Southwest, Jet Blue, or Alaska Air on what would be an overnight trip. Note that I avoid Delta, American, and United where possible.
Because James Foster it isn’t the airlines so that is why they shouldn’t have it.
It’s like the airlines , they have it, So why don’t the railroads have it.
Succinctly, the issue is simply that for far too long, Amtrak has clearly been bereft of any level of competent, experienced management in its food & beverage (F&B) services. A contributing factor why nobody cares about providing a consistently acceptable level of food service is a result of how Amtrak has cleverly buried its F&B costs in the sleeper fares. One answer I have proposed is to start charging passengers from the sleepers for their meals, which would facilitate an improved menu beyond the same ol’, same ol’ menu every day, every meal.
Whether accountants or politicians review this issue, the perpetual disintegration of F&B services emanates from a disinterested, conflicted Board of Directors that could care less–they do not ride the long distance trains; they have already walked away from them. Now, it is just merely a matter of time for a very conflicted Board how to start discreetly, or slyly, killing off the long distance trains to move the federal funding over to the NEC, which itself is in dire ned of further subsidies.
The fiasco of Amtrak’s F&B service is a red hurricane flag of Amtrak’s race to the bottom.
Sounds things haven’t changed that much since I stopped using Amtrak for long-distance trips. Too many Amtrak on board personnel, including the very well paid food service employees which is about all of them from what was revealed earlier this year in the forum, don’t seem to have much interest in being good at their job. Its time to try something else. Maybe outside food service contractors is the answer? You don’t know until you try.
Amtrak should certainly not dump dining cars on the long distance trains ! But it sure should dump some of the people working these cars! I recently took a trip from Sandusky OH to Sacramento CA on the “Capital” and the “CA Zephyr”. The same menu/food ,was served on all four legs of the Zephyr, resulting in a chance to compare the service and preparation. We had a roomette on al the legs of the trip. Chicago to LincolnNE—– car attendant worked like he was “doing you a favor”. He turned our bed down “on his schedule”– so he could get some sleep. Dining car was just so/so. Lincoln to Sacramento—– car attendant was great! Dining car crew was the BEST I have ever encountered on Amtrak!!!! Food preparation was excellent. The service was great, even with “a full load of sleepers”. NOTE: The Steward on this diner helped his servers, didn’t just set on hid duff! THEN—- Sacramento to Denver we encountered maybe the worst crew both car attendant AND THE WORST DINING crew EVER!!! Food preparation was poor(crab cake was burned to a crisp, not edible). Same crab cakes were great going west. And the steward never moved from the sitting position, except to collect for drinks.Which now brings me to this thought——-I would be willing to bet that food revenue could be increased by 10,20% if only debit or credit cards were accepted. NO CASH Denver to Chicago was basically an average crew.
Yes, Amtrak workers——–we who use sleepers, pay dearly for service,and sometimes certainly do not get any !! Some of you should certainly find another job. The new lounge in Chicago is surely a great improvement and the personel are always good.
And yes we ended our last leg Chicago to Sandusky OH with an excellent coach attendant. He knew he had a “full load” and worked with the conductor, while pulling tickets, handing out seat assignments. He did a textbook job of keeping large groups together,and short and long distance travelers separated.
This wide separation in level of service,makes me wonder? Is anyone really in charge—— does anyone really care????
According to Comparably, which is a compensation and benefits survey service, Richard Anderson’s salary for the first three years of is contract is zero. However, if the company meets its performance targets, he could receive a bonus up to $500,000.
The median estimated compensation for executives at Amtrak including base salary and bonus is $232,242. The top paid executive earns $652,000 per year. Compared to industry as a whole, the compensation and benefits packages for Amtrak’s executives are low.
These numbers are a bit short of trillion dollar salaries and billion dollar bonuses.
And to think Amtrak once advertised its culinary school investment in its chefs. I recall such a full page ad in the 1990s in the reincarnated LIFE magazine.
I just rode the Auto Train, round trip, and the sleeping car hosts on both trains were very friendly and helpful, as were the people loading the vehicles and the station staff. The evening meals were very good, I had the beef with green beans and a baked potato and the dessert was an excellent chocolate cake. The dining car staff was very friendly. The plates and cups where plastic but I did have the use of real silverware. On the other side of the coin the breakfast was nothing to write home about, plain bagels with cream cheese, pre-packaged cereal and crumb cake and watered down orange juice. We left the terminals early and arrived early, all in all a very good trip. It reminded me the Amtrak of old.
I’m about to find out just about bad it’s gotten, when I take the City of New Orleans from NOLA to my father’s home in Champaign, IL. The last time the meal was pretty bad. Clearly heated up in a microwave. It’s not very nice, but what choice do you have? It’s included with the sleeper.
Mr Andersen needs to go before Amtrak is gone,I am also more than a little sick of trains magazine writers defending this clown send him back to the airline world.
JOHN HEFFNER _ I’ve flown Delta once in my life. American not more recently than 30 years ago and United 39 years ago. I’m looking forward to my flight home on Southwest tomorrow.
I haven’t heard anyone who prefers the new food options.