Amtrak phasing out diner car service

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1

This is probably old news since I am usually one of the last to learn these things. I came across this article on my online news service:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/the-end-of-an-american-tradition-the-amtrak-dining-car/ar-AAHE3Xs?ocid=spartandhp

I first road Amtrak in 1976 and the dining car service was top drawer. I remember having a prime rib meal that would have rivaled that in a four star restaurant. I didn’t ride Amtrak again for several more decades and when I did, the quality had gone down some. The meals were more the quality one would expect at a family restaurant. It was still good but not the level I had first experienced. The preprocessed meals being proposed will probably be another step down. Frozen meals have improved greatly in quality over the years but they still don’t rival a fresh cooked meal.

Don’t know when, if ever, I will ride Amtrak again. I’d like to once take an Amtrak across the Rockies. On my last two cross country trips, I missed out on that. On one, our route through the Rockies had been detoured from the Moffat Tunnel route to the old Amtrak route through Wyoming which isn’t nearly as picturesque. My last trip was a one way trip from Portland to Chicago and due to the bottlenecks in North Dakota, the schedule had been adjusted so we crossed the northern Rockies in the middle of the night. By the time daylight broke, we were well into the flatlands of Montana.

2

The airline industry has demonstrated to the rest of its competitors in the transportation business that the American traveling public is amazingly tolerant of indignities, inconvenience, and rough treatment. The old frog in the frying pan analogy is still sound.

I have never eaten an Amtrak meal. But I remember delicious breakfasts on VIA’s Canadian and, oddly enough, the Algoma Central’s Agawa Canyon excursion train (where our dining car was an old Southern Pacific articulated two-car diner). On both trips I was astounded by the steward’s ability to quickly pour piping hot coffee into my cup without spilling a drop as the train twisted and groaned through curves. Unfortunately there was ample spilling by me as I attempted to lift cup to lips.

Dave Nelson

3

The last couple of times I rode Amtrak either the food was terrible or I brought my own. But that was the Lake Shore Limited.

4

I think all of this is because of the new Amtrak president, AKA the former president of Delta airlines. I have heard that he is all about cost cutting, and I think Amtrak will pay for it (no pun intented). I think Amtrak can still be a splendid passenger railroad, but it will need a complete overhaul. Right now, its giving trains a bad name domestically and American passenger rail service a bad name everywhere. Too bad…[:'(]

5

…

I don’t think we can lay the blame on him for this.

Every one of his predecessors was charged with making Amtrak better, and not a single one did it.

Amtrak had a bad name domestically and American passenger rail service had a bad name everywhere long before he was put in charge.

6

Amtrak has done this before.

Amtrak will do this again.

7

After the treatment I got from VIA rail on my roundtrip from Montreal to Halifax, I wouldn’t book another trip with them if they paid me. They were 14 hours late on what was supposed to be a 21 hour trip. Their incompetence was exceeded only by their arrogance. Their attitude was it was just our tough luck.

8

So - exactly like the airlines then. I have had nothing but trouble flying back and forth to my current work trip in Council Bluffs IA. What’s worse is how they constantly lie to you - like saying the arriving crew we were waiting for for our flight had arrived - 2 gates down where even someone with eyes as bad as mine could see there was no airplane! Or the other flight, delayed until 2:30 which meant I could make the connection, only to find out when I touched down and was able to turn my phone back on, they moved it up to 2:10 and despite running, the shut the door in my face - literally - I watched someone walk down the jetway and before they closed the door yelled as I was running up to the counter, but they still shut the door and said sorry, flight closed.

Everyone’s in too much of a hurry today, and 100mph trains are not “high speed rail”, trains did that in the steam era. It’s so much better, IF the train goes where you need to go - no cramped legs, no restrictions on cell phones, power at your seat (most of the flights I’ve been on use smaller regional jets which do not yet have power outlets at the seats). I would take the train EVERY time if it went where I needed to go. I despise the airline industry. But now we have an airline guy in charge of the railroad. This will not end well. The last good guy to run Amtrak was Claytor.

–Randy

9

?

Before Anderson, things were going well?

10

Bayfield Transfer Railway:

You know this how?

Can you provide a reference relating to this topic? I’d love to see it.

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No, before him we had some bureaucrats in charge. Only before that we had actual railroad people in charge, and it wasn’t doing too poorly at all. There’s no way an airline guy is going to make it any better, or slow the downhill slide.

–Randy

12

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Yes, when actually on the airplane, the treatment of the passenger has become much worse.

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However, from what I have seen (Atlanta, LAX, Dallas/FTW, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Salt Lake) the airports themselves have gotten much better. Better restaurants, better check-in, better rental car service, better baggage claim, etc.

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Given that the plane is just a ride, and not a cruise ship, I can understand how it is going, and it does not seem all that bad to me.

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-Kevin

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13

You should have been on my trips back and forth to Omaha via Chicago last month then. The ultimate in bad customer service - the one plane I was on was taxiing to the runway when they turned around and went back to the gate because they canceled the flight. On top of that - I had ALREADY booked a backup ticket with our travel agency, because I saw things going south before I even got that far, and since they canceled the flight I had alreayd boarded, the rebooked me and wiped out the backup ticket! The first customer ‘service’ rep outright lied to me and said I was all set, just check in at the gate and get my boarding pass. WHen I attempted to do so - they said my name wasn;t listed for that flight, but I was on a flight for 11 amp the next day.

ANd it was already too late to get from O’Hare to Union Station to catch the train, or I would have done it. I somehow miraculously made standby on the flight I was SUPPOSED to have a confirmed ticket for. Going out, the reduced the delay on my connection while I was in the air and I ended up literally having the boarding door closed in my face as I ran to the gate. The prior trip - I had the same problem coming back, with flights just being canceled - and while they feed you a line of horse puckey about it being to “clear the backlog” it really is simply because if they cancel the flight then they do not have to report how late it is, thus upping their on-time average. On that one - they were even saying the incoming plane had arrived, when simply using the good old Mark 1 eyeballs and looking out the windows, it was obvious there was no plane at the specified gate. It would be a lot more bearable if they simply told the truth, if it’s late, it’s late, don;t out and out make obvious lies. If Amtrak goes more of the way of the airlines - the only thing left will be the Northeast Corridor. Because that actually makes money, AND gets you there in the same or less time than an airplane, when you factor in the check i

14

Hello All,

Our wedding anniversary is in January.

Some years we take Amtrak from Denver to Glenwood Springs, to soak in the hot springs and escape the chill at 10,430’ in the dead of winter.

The first time we did this we had planned on having lunch on the train.

When we were boarding that first excursion we noticed how many other passengers were carrying coolers and sack lunches.

The “Special” in the dining car on that first trip was a “Roasted chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread with chips”.

Sounded good so I ordered one.

What arrived was two slices of dry whole wheat bread containing sliced, processed, chicken; think Buddig sliced meats, a bag of generic potato chips and packets of mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup.

The next time we made this trip we were on the platform with our own cooler filled with deli meats, cheeses, salads, pickled vegetables, baguettes and two liters of a refreshing beverage named after a former English queen.

Since then we always travel with our own food and drink.

Even the Snack Bar; on the lower level of the observation car, is stocked with convenience store type sandwiches and à la carte beverages at, what could be best described as, amusement park prices.

We love to travel by train but the food service options are disappointing to say the least.

Not sorry to see the “dining” services go.

Hope this helps.

15

Okay, it’s rant time!

I’m kind of mad at Amtrak! When I first read this thread I though it was referring to the old news about the loss of hot meals on the Lake Short a bit ago. Then I read this Trains article: http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/10/02-staffed-dining-cars-make-last-runs-on-eastern-amtrak-routes

What is Amtrak thinking! They literally just had those diners delivered and their not even using them! I hold the opinion that Amtrak is ment to preserve the former rail passenger network that remained in the US, and a big part of that to me is hot meals (not the garbage airplane food thing!).

Also how does Amtrak expect to increase ridership on long distance trains if they make the experience absolutely garbage! For me the fun of eating in the diner is one of the reasons I want to ride on Amtrak trains, but if they are turning great experiences into bare service how do they expect to make money.

Honestly this just kind of makes me sad to see such a great thing go away. I loved the dining car when I took the Empire Builder two years ago. Highlight of the trip! Now there is little hope of such service remaining on many of Amtrak’s routes, and I am sadden to here this.

I am also fearful that my favorite Amtrak train, the Builder, won’t have dining service by the time I get another chance to ride. I say we need to preserve this tradition, even if the quality of the food is worse than it one was, for future Amtrak riders.

Okay, rant over! Just my [2c] I guess…

16

Maybe Amtrak should go back to the old days when passenger trains had meal stops along the way. Of course that would require them to hold to their schedule so that these meal stops would occur a

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That’s certainly an imovative idea John! Still it won’t be the same as eating a good meal in a diner while watching the scenery pass by! [:(]

I guess the only thing that is constant in life is change! Still I wish it didn’t have to happen to my favorite part of Amtrak!