METRA plan to add Cafe Cars

Trains Magazine Transit
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My experience with bar cars was on Penn Central’s commuter trains out of GCT in the afternoon. Just about everybody but me was wearing business attire and they all behaved themselves. The bar had a bartender who served up simple drinks and the entire atmosphere was very civilized. Some people in the car drank and others didn’t.

Then, at each stop along Connecticut’s “Gold Coast,” some of these suited men would get off, walk to their waiting wood-paneled Ford station wagon with the Mrs. at the wheel, and go home–presumably to have another drink or two before dinner.

For a college student from Ohio, it was fascinating to observe.

Maybe Metra could serve drinks outbound from Chicago only in the afternoon to the going-home business crowd, or what’s left of them these days.

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Guess we really need Bar Cars on the El in Chicago, the subways in the cities that have them, MARC, VRE, Tri-Rail, MBTA, SEPTA and on and on!

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[Trib, 7/29] “What’s clear is that alcohol consumption overall is trending downward, especially when it comes to wine. In 2024, global wine consumption fell to its lowest level in more than 60 years. Moderation in alcohol has become a cross-generational trend and Gen Z (currently aged 13-28) is coming of age…It’s more likely to be focused on specific occasions, she explains, a Friday night out, for instance, rather than a routine glass of wine with dinner or beer after work each night. And for many Gen Z drinkers, wine isn’t an obvious choice yet.”

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I wish to counter the argument against having truly fine station restaurants, operated much like fine hotel restaurants, full menue available at any time, with box-lunch & continental-breakfest - to - gourmet dinners available, with direct to train dining cars as part of a general take-out and home-delivery business, as something tried in the UK “in the 1870s, and thus aa step backward.” The 1870s did not have mechanical refrigeration, hot plates, and microwaves. I’m 93-1/2. I live in Jerusalem. For people of my age, at very modest cost, the Israeli Government provides seven precooked meals each week, that only require microwaving. I find the quality entirely equakl to meals served hot immediately after cooking. I admit that I am a vegetarian, and six of the meals are fish (3 variaties) and vegetables, with one corn fritters plus gefeilta-fish cold on-th-side. A small fruit basket is included, but no beverages. Other codgers tell me the meat meals are also good.

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Who is going to subsidize the cost of all the physical plant and operating cost to operate a ‘fine hotel restaurant’ without the guaranteed demand of a hotel? Even Fred Harvey quality with the modern equivalent of Harvey Girls isn’t likely to survive on 2 to 6 trains per day.

It might be possible to operate a ‘ghost kitchen’ for takeout and delivery (including DoorDash or other Uber-style jitney delivery services) and have a facility in or adjacent to an Amtrak station that is only in formal operation during the train dwell time plus or minus an hour or two, with the food delivered and the waste removed remotely. You’ll still have bussing and washing expense, and you may have to provide ADA-compliant access from and to the train, and assume liability for mishaps. On the flip side, the train crew can certainly use apps or other connectivity to get either partially or fully-prepared meals set up at the ghost kitchen to be prepped for cafe/diner serving or provided to passengers directly at a stop.

The entire idea of even a Fred Harvey redux in a fixed station location flies in the face of what we’ve been discussing about reducing stop and dwell time on LD trains (e.g. via flag stops. There was a highly illustrative story about ‘1870-era’ meal stops in France, where everyone ordered a ‘demi-poulet’ and had about 25 minutes to wolf it down before ‘prenez vos places, le train part’. It was not too pleasant then, and it might not be too pleasant now…

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Cool. Don’t buy it, however it is a thing.

It isn’t “X Ray vision” it’s a skill learned over time. Its is known as a “vibe check”, and bar tenders pick up the tell tail signs. I have seen it many times at my bars.

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Very true.
I’m wondering why taxpayers need to cater to a dwindling segment of population who require alcohol onboard en route home on the train? Can’t they buy one or two at the station? Many do. Or wait until they reach home?

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They shouldn’t. Unless the net revenue from alcohol sales exceeds the full cost of providing the alcohol – and that includes insurance against a variety of predictable claims – it would be unfair to require taxpayers (many of whom are surely opposed to ‘alcohol in public’) to subsidize it.

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So here lies a major issue with Amtrak’s approach to train stations. Amtrak or the City, preferably a collaboration between the two should be developing the station or the area around the station. Dave has a good idea and it will work but I think your presumption on dependency on passenger train traffic might be a bridge too far.

They built a fairly large restaurant / railroad themed hotel next to the Grapevine Tarantula Train station. Granted that is a tourist attraction. However alongside other Amtrak stations there are old hotels that could be brought back to life as part of a rehabilitation effort. Texarkana, TX is such a location. There are existing decent eateries along side existing Amtrak stations in Wisconsin.

So it is not so much the places have to built or subsidized it is more along the lines of Amtrak needs to view it’s stations as a potential eating location and work with local establishments. Amtrak has only recently started to view it’s station as a potential development opportunity and has only done so in the very large cities. Still very tunnel vision there on Amtrak’s part. Even in small towns the railroad depot can easily become the focal point again with a decent restaurant next to it to both serve the trains and the community.

The same is true of Metra and it’s stations.

Both transit agencies and Amtrak need to broaden their horizons. A good chunk of the ridership experience is options along the way as part of the trip. As an Amtrak passenger I would rather have options to the Amtrak menu. Likewise as a Metra rider, I really would like all their stations to be inviting with multiple eating / travel options from the platform or station vs being left in some kind of development ghetto to fend for myself.

A train or transit station area does not have to be dependent on train traffic to be successful. It’s basic urban planning that seems to elude a bunch of cities and towns in this country. Make the train station the focal point of a redevelopment or development effort. Amtrak should be proactively pushing that at each station vs passively hoping for the best.

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Not sure about LaSalle St, but afaik, OTC, Union and Millennium all have plenty of food and drink.

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Biggest issue to get the local community to use the train station is parking.

It’s fine if there’s enough land to have massive lots. But even our local amtrak stations - they (actually the state) had to install gates and charge like $2 a day to park. Partly because the state likes money, but I’m sure also part because too many local residents were using the station lots as their personal car storage.

Also, I don’t know if a train station can ever become a focal point of a community again. I don’t know if focal points of communities will ever exist again.

But back to the restaurants: if Not enough people go, restaurants may not make enough profit. If too many people go, the train passengers will just stop somewhere else, esp. if they’re coming home from a long day of work. Also, stopping somewhere once in a while vs. on a daily commute means different offerings/pricing. But you know all that. Also why I think Dunkin’ is shooting themselves in the foot lately.

And it would need to be open for the morning commute, and for some reason, the newer generation of people that own coffee hobbies think that opening up at 8am is perfectly fine. (I only call them coffee shops if they open at 6am or prior).

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As do the majority of the traditional outlining stations. They are built in the traditional “downtown” area and have local restaurants close. The newer “cornfield stations” that are just there to collect people living in subdivisions are not as well served.

In fact, the only “traditional” station that I can think of that is lacking restaurants around it is Villa Park. That has to do with Villa Park’s downtown being built around the CA&E and the Ovaltine factory and not the North Western.

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Wow, is it possible I have used Metra more widespread than the folks that live in the Chicago area? What about Metra Electric? Is that a NO-GO zone for you folks? What about the station in Shaumburg, IL. Suburban station on a hill…quite a hike to get to a decent restaurant from there.
What about the Metra Rock Island line to Joilet? Metra has plenty of stations where you have to walk a distance to find anything. You folks need to travel the Metra rail system…Oy.

C’mon I let the whole “Spidey Sense” thing slide to find drunk people. This alternate reality on amenities at Metra stations is a little too much.

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How many people get off at Schaumberg and walk away from the station?

I almost went there for a convention one time, but that was in 2019 so yeah, didn’t happen.

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Agree, no car and you are pretty much screwed. Not the only Metra station like that though. That has more to do with bad urban planning around the station then the the trains though. Schaumburg is a nice suburb but located quite a distance from the station. Still there is development within close walking distance of the station just not planned development. Kind of a curse of the Midwest though. They let the developers run rampant and try to fix the mess later. Just after the tax money initially with little or no requirements imposed on the developer.

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It’s like that around here, too. Nobody wants to talk planning because we aren’t a big city, so development runs wild, and by the time people realize that we should have had planning, it’s too late.

And the people with the whole 1950’s thinking of: “if we build roads/rails/etc, it will bring traffic”. Kind of too late for that, but then again, to many of them “planning” somehow became a code word for certain political ideologies. Not helped by the various political pro-bike/LRT youtubers that call themselves planners.

I was on n a planning tract in school before this RR thing happened.

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I guess maybe you should read before responding. The station at Schaumburg is one that would fall under a “cornfield station”. It was built in 1989, and was not a traditional stop.

Feel free to not “let it slide” Lets hear from some real experience you have either behind the bar or owning one to counter it.

I’ll wait.

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n012944: You beat me to giving a correction. Schaumburg was a farm town with no downtown until Woodfield Mall was built. The station on Milwaukee West line was added 100 years after the railroad ROW and is next to a nice minor league baseball stadium. It helps to know the local history, as opposed to some Johnny-Come-Lately transplant. And away he had to move to Dallas?

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What about it? While Metra Electric is a bit harder, since a large portion of it to the east is parkland and lakefront, and it runs at an angle through a grid pattern designed city, there is a lot of places to eat around the stations,

Museum Campus/11st, less than a block from Michigan Ave, numerous high end restaurants abound.

18th st, this one I’ll give you. It is there to access Solder’s Field and McCormick Place.

27th st, again not the best, however it is for again for McCormick Place access.

47th st. Lots of stuff just west of the station.

57th st. Lots of stuff around the Museum of Science and Industry.

University of Chicago/59th st. This might come to a shock, but Universitys have a lot of food options around them,

75th st, not much. Reflects the neighborhood.

79th st. A couple places just west of the station at Cottage Grove ave, and 79th st.

83rd st, Same as above.

91st st. Again same

95th st, Nothing. That reflects having the BRC on the north side and I 94 on the south. There is a little bit by Chicago State University, however the restaurants are on the west side of it, and the railroad is on the east side.

103rd, Judi’s Sports Bar is the bomb!

107th, not much, just a neighborhood stop.

Pullman, quite a few things east of the Pullman historical area

Kensington, Not much, still pretty industrial.

Riverdale, right next to CSX’s Barr yard and a steel mill…

Ivanhoe/144th quite a lot along 144th.

147th/Sibley Lots, however mostly fast food

Harvey East side is LB Steel/ a decent about west of the station.

Hazelcrest. Honestly I am not all that familiar with the area, however the east side is boarded by CN’s Markhamm Yard.

Calumet, same as above,

Homewood. A ton of stuff within walking distance,

Flossmore. Same as above, including a brewery in the train station

Olympia Fields, your first "cornfield station’ also bordered by a world class golf course.

Matteson, a couple of things, and walking distance to a railfan park

Richton Park, a few things, including an Aurelios Pizza

University Park cornfield, and the end of the line.

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I do know as I ride them. They all have food and drink in the stations.