# If Amtrak were to remove 1 onboard amenity from LD trains, which one?



## Adrouault (Jan 10, 2018)

Amsteak?

Personal temperature controls?

Coffee in sleeper cars?


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## AmtrakLKL (Jan 10, 2018)

I don't think there are any working personal temperature controls. 99% sure those thermostats in the Viewliners are just for looks.


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## dlagrua (Jan 10, 2018)

What amenities?? Sleeper passengers "pay through the nose" for what is provided. Coffee and meal costs are built into the cost of the ticket. As far as I am concerned there are no amenities. Amtrak under Joe Boardman removed what little there was two years ago as part of his plan to "make the dining cars profitable". .


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## Blackwolf (Jan 10, 2018)

AmtrakLKL said:


> I don't think there are any working personal temperature controls. 99% sure those thermostats in the Viewliners are just for looks.


Placebo for sure.

Last time I can remember the controls actually doing something was in February 2012. Both our Viewliner and Superliner bedrooms on the LSL and EB worked _perfectly._ The controls on the CS that same trip left us shivering.

Strangely, this was also the same trip that we arrived early into every single station; almost an hour early into Chicago; almost 1.5 hours early into Portland and an hour early into Sacramento. One cannot ask for a better Amtrak trip.


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## John Bobinyec (Jan 10, 2018)

Turn-down service.






jb


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## George K (Jan 10, 2018)

"Personal temperature controls?"

I don't think I've ever had one that worked.


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## Shortline (Jan 10, 2018)

The SCA.


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Jan 10, 2018)

Morning paper...

... Oh wait!


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## George K (Jan 10, 2018)

Shortline said:


> The SCA.


I'm not a total newbie with overnight travel, but I've ridden enough to have problems lowering the top bunk on occasion. It's probably unreasonable to expect pax to do that on their own, along with making their own beds for the night and stowing all their stuff for the next day.


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## Steve4031 (Jan 10, 2018)

I rarely use the juice and coffee in the sleeper. I suspect many do though. I do drink the bottled water.

Overall I most want a consistent experience. Clean equipment with working heat and air-conditioning. And employees that do their job well without attitudes and frivolous made up rules.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## jebr (Jan 10, 2018)

The bars of soap in the shower. Never use them and ever since they got rid of the full amenity packs it just feels cheap to still have the bars of soap from some off brand that I don't recognize. Even Super 8 uses Matrix soap and shampoo in their rooms.


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## Palmland (Jan 11, 2018)

There are no amenities except the very necessary coffee.

I do wish the PA speaker would either be removed or have a working volume control. The repetitive and often strident announcements are beyond annoying.


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## Bob Dylan (Jan 11, 2018)

dlagrua said:


> What amenities?? Sleeper passengers "pay through the nose" for what is provided. Coffee and meal costs are built into the cost of the ticket. As far as I am concerned there are no amenities. Amtrak under Joe Boardman removed what little there was two years ago as part of his plan to "make the dining cars profitable". .


This!


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## snvboy (Jan 11, 2018)

charge for checked baggage. Yes, it's a key differentiator from the airlines. But it's an amenity that I rarely use, and unless you are bringing the kitchen sink isn't even remotely useful to me on a Superliner. Viewliner, that may be a different story. But Amtrak keeps eating away at this amenity anyways by the incremental un-staffing of stations resulting in the incremental un-checking of baggage at those stations.


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## City of Miami (Jan 11, 2018)

George K said:


> Shortline said:
> 
> 
> > The SCA.
> ...


I, too, would eliminate the position of Sleeping Car Attendant. I get no benefit thereof. I'll bet other passengers would be agreeable if you lowered the price $100+/night to compensate. If you need help with luggage Red Caps are usually available for $5 or so, otherwise you just have to cope, or not. I think repositioning the lower seat cushions would be more challenging than the top bunk but a little maintenance and WD40 would go a long way to easing that problem. Most of us know we can get by without the SCA because WE HAVE DONE IT.

I also would ditch the free coffee, agreeably, if there were no SCA to prepare it.


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## AKA (Jan 11, 2018)

City of Miami said:


> George K said:
> 
> 
> > Shortline said:
> ...


. 
If you ever had to travel in the H room you would not want to eliminate the SCA ! You may not need the help,but some others do .


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## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 11, 2018)

I don't think we should give Amtrak encouragement to eliminate anything--they're doing an excellent job of getting rid of amenities on their own!

However, if one thing had to go, I think I would choose the juice in the sleepers, because you can get it at breakfast, and it turns warm when it's kept out by the coffee.

The two most important things to me are the SCA and the coffee--they are truly the last nice touches left of any past elegant travel, but more than that, they are necessary for some of us. It would be difficult for me to pull the two chairs together and make up the bed, especially when the train is moving, so it must be even more so for someone older or more frail. And for those of us who need coffee first thing to avoid a caffeine headache, the coffee station is crucial. Even having it start at 6:00 a.m. is too late for me--5:00 a.m. would be perfect.


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## Chatter163 (Jan 11, 2018)

I would suggest that this thread be removed. Let’s not give the Amtrak planners and Congress any ideas.

Sent from my iPad using Amtrak Forum


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## AKA (Jan 11, 2018)

I concur


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## Anderson (Jan 11, 2018)

There was a serious proposal in the single-level PIP to look at a program of two SCAs for three sleepers (splitting one in the middle), and you could probably extrapolate that to three SCAs for four sleepers plus coverage for any pax put into a bag-dorm (since there might occasionally be one or two spaces and if the rooms are simply "standard" roomette modules then there's no reason_ not_ to sell space in car "9819" or whatever designation gets applied to it).


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## SarahZ (Jan 12, 2018)

Shortline said:


> The SCA.


No.

Most of us know how to make the beds and put them back, but I can't imagine putting this on the average, every day passengers. You'd also have to trust people to put the bedding away properly and clean their room before departing so those boarding can use the room. And who is going to clean the bathrooms and shower room?

Even with an SCA, other passengers often ask me to help them with various things in their room. On my last trip, the lady across the hall constantly knocked on my door or _opened my curtain_ to ask me to help her with things, answer questions, etc. When I told her the SCA could assist her, she complained that the SCA wasn't answering the call button quickly enough.

At one point, she honest to god asked me for a wake up call. (Hahahahahaha, no.)


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## Asher (Jan 12, 2018)

Pretty slim pickings in the amenities dept. to begin with. Get rid of. SCA,no,the worst is 10x better than none at all. Coffee, hell no! Clean rest rooms, don't think so.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jan 12, 2018)

Is a clean restroom an amenity?


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## A Voice (Jan 12, 2018)

Green Maned Lion said:


> Is a clean restroom an amenity?


Really can't say I'd want to see a clean restroom removed, if it is.

Seriously though, if anything we need to be advocating for *not* fewer but greater and improved amenities aboard Amtrak, which can support increased patronage, (appropriately) higher fares, and thus greater revenue.


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## JayPea (Jan 12, 2018)

A Voice said:


> Green Maned Lion said:
> 
> 
> > Is a clean restroom an amenity?
> ...


This.


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## Philly Amtrak Fan (Jan 13, 2018)

I doubt the original OP was advocating eliminating amenities. If the OP was doing so he/she might be thinking like me, trying to cut something that might not seem like a big deal in order to save something that is a big deal. Maybe he/she wants to save this amenity so he/she wants to try to eliminate the more useless ones. Or maybe saving money could allow the money to be used on other things like adding routes. Would you cut a certain amenity to bring back the Broadway for example?

Most AU members don't have any concept of a budget. They feel just ask Congress for money until the cows come home. How's that working for you? Maybe if Amtrak is more frugal with its money we can afford the more important stuff (cough... Broadway) instead of wasting money on stuff "we don't need".


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## A Voice (Jan 13, 2018)

Philly Amtrak Fan said:


> I doubt the original OP was advocating eliminating amenities. If the OP was doing so he/she might be thinking like me, trying to cut something that might not seem like a big deal in order to save something that is a big deal. Maybe he/she wants to save this amenity so he/she wants to try to eliminate the more useless ones. Or maybe saving money could allow the money to be used on other things like adding routes. Would you cut a certain amenity to bring back the Broadway for example?
> 
> Most AU members don't have any concept of a budget. They feel just ask Congress for money until the cows come home. How's that working for you? Maybe if Amtrak is more frugal with its money we can afford the more important stuff (cough... Broadway) instead of wasting money on stuff "we don't need".


More frugal? Are you serious? Amtrak has been on a starvation budget since sometime around May 1, 1971; It's hard to be more frugal than starving. That's not to say there aren't excesses; The railroad is perennially top heavy with management, and merely being a political animal tends to drive up costs and complexity (but 'public transportation' exists for valid reasons). Nevertheless, Amtrak has long been forced into frugality. There is little to no fat (or even 'meat') to cut; The network and frequencies are already skeletal - and yet you propose cutting some vital bones (and still expect the skeleton to remain standing)?

How is asking Congress for more money "until the cows come home" working out? Nobody knows - it's never been done. Even passenger rail advocates timidly suggest that Amtrak be another Lazarus, and just be fed with the _scraps_ which fall from the rich man's (Congress') table. Even politicians who ostensibly support Amtrak argue against asking for too much money (though some are likely showing their true colors with such an unworkable approach).

Being frugal is generally a positive strategy, but again, there are limits. Amtrak would actually benefit from some 'excesses', like checked baggage, reasonable price & quality of food service, and expected perks to premium service (sleeper or business) travel. But all of those are things which Amtrak has instead cut in the name of saving pennies (while dollars fly over their heads...).


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## Shortline (Jan 13, 2018)

Relax, my SCA comment was tongue in cheek. Of course they need them, it would be pandemonium on board without them. I know, I've seen it. (I assume there was an SCA somewhere on the train, but damn sure wasn't in the car....)

And as to the coffee and juice-Do they still do juice? My last trip didn't have any, and didn't have any in either sleeper coming up to DC from Birmingham last night. I guess I'll see what they have on the Capitol, and Southwest Chief over the next few days.


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## Bob Dylan (Jan 13, 2018)

They still have the "Worst OJ Money can buy" in the Sleepers depending on the SCA.


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## George K (Jan 13, 2018)

Bob Dylan said:


> They still have the "Worst OJ Money can buy" in the Sleepers depending on if the SCA decides to buy some.


FIFYNNTTM


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## Green Maned Lion (Jan 13, 2018)

Shortline said:


> Relax, my SCA comment was tongue in cheek. Of course they need them, it would be pandemonium on board without them. I know, I've seen it. (I assume there was an SCA somewhere on the train, but damn sure wasn't in the car....)
> 
> And as to the coffee and juice-Do they still do juice? My last trip didn't have any, and didn't have any in either sleeper coming up to DC from Birmingham last night. I guess I'll see what they have on the Capitol, and Southwest Chief over the next few days.


Theyve never had juice. They had this orangish flavorish liquid barely adeqiate for a fourthrate bottom shelf screwdriver.


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## neroden (Jan 14, 2018)

AmtrakLKL said:


> I don't think there are any working personal temperature controls. 99% sure those thermostats in the Viewliners are just for looks.


Viewliner thermostats work, I can testify to that. I like 'em a lot and I've used 'em a lot (I like my room hot).

Superliner thermostats don't work; never had one work. I suppose they're all broken, or just a poorer design.

As for "removing one amenity", I'd remove the "amenity" for the staff of closing the cafe and dining cars early so that they don't have to clean up and count stock while the train is in the station. This strange procedure is unique to Amtrak and is widely perceived as a customer disservice. If it requires rehiring the missing staff at the station who used to do this stuff... then it requires that.


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## PVD (Jan 19, 2018)

I believe that the temp control in the VL sleepers regulates the supplemental electric strip heating, not the overhead airflow temp. It has worked in any cars I've ridden. Agree about the SL ones, not sure what they are supposed to do since I've never had one that seemed to make a difference.


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