1.5 billion for Amtrak in stimulus with daily service mandate (Passed in Congress)

[John Bredin]

Speaking of dummy bookings, I just checked the Hiawatha and the full slate of 7 round-trips (plus the Friday late night northbound train 343) reappears Fri. May 21! Alas, just that route, not the Lincoln Service, all-Illinois routes (Quincy and Carbondale), or Wolverine.

 

[Cal]

Speaking of dummy bookings, I just checked the Hiawatha and the full slate of 7 round-trips (plus the Friday late night northbound train 343) reappears Fri. May 21! Alas, just that route, not the Lincoln Service, all-Illinois routes (Quincy and Carbondale), or Wolverine.

Still only 6 round trips on the Surfline. I hate seeing it so dead

 

[Cal]

It looks like traditional dining is coming back on May 24th to all western LD trains. On the 25th, train 4 shows traditional dining.

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

Traditional, Flex, Contemporary, etc. If it does indeed comeback in May it probably won’t be the same as the old traditional dining and they will have another acronym for it.

Amtrak is about to have an explosion of first time riders who have no clue what all the acronyms mean. My vote is the call the new service simply “cooked to order meals”.

 

[Cal]

Traditional, Flex, Contemporary, etc. If it does indeed comeback in May it probably won’t be the same as the old traditional dining and they will have another acronym for it.

Amtrak is about to have an explosion of first time riders who have no clue what all the acronyms mean. My vote is the call the new service simply “cooked to order meals”.

We'll see. I hope the new Amtrak management doesn't do that.

 

[MARC Rider]

Traditional, Flex, Contemporary, etc. If it does indeed comeback in May it probably won’t be the same as the old traditional dining and they will have another acronym for it.

Amtrak is about to have an explosion of first time riders who have no clue what all the acronyms mean. My vote is the call the new service simply “cooked to order meals”.

Um, even before they instituted flex dining, most of the meals weren't "cooked to order." In fact, about the only thing "cooked to order" was the steak. And good railroad food doesn't need to be "cooked to order," as all of the accounts I've read of the food served on VIA's Ocean will attest.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

In addition to the return to more traditional dining, will the lounges also be returning to more standard operation? While this hasn't had much impact on the western trains, the CL has been running without a SSL and the seating in the cafe on single level LDs has been operating as take-out only with no seating available.

 

[Cal]

In addition to the return to more traditional dining, will the lounges also be returning to more standard operation? While this hasn't had much impact on the western trains, the CL has been running without a SSL and the seating in the cafe on single level LDs has been operating as take-out only with no seating available.

Only time will tell

 

[Tony in Ann Arbor]

Michigan Service (Ann Arbor - Chicago is what I checked) resumes 3 per day commencing October 4th.

 

[Cal]

Looks like 13 round trips on the surfline are to return on October 4th

 

[JC_620]

All things considered, 2021 is turning out to be a pretty decent year for Amtrak/rail in America:
-Moynihan Train Hall supplementing the terrible Penn Station
-Restoration of LD routes in a time when many would have said those routes were nearing the end
-Sleepers return to the NE Regional Train
-Maine voted yes on a feasibility study to extend the Downeaster to Bangor (As someone who goes to Maine 4 months a year, this would be huge)

Perhaps we can hope for the California HSR Project to make progress, and Brightline to restart ASAP.

Yes but it also would be nice to get tri weekly service restored to the Gulf Coast on the Sunset Limited, or maybe even consider bringing back the Desert Wind for Las Vegas service but I realize that Rome was not built in a day so...

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Speaking of dummy bookings, I just checked the Hiawatha and the full slate of 7 round-trips (plus the Friday late night northbound train 343) reappears Fri. May 21! Alas, just that route, not the Lincoln Service, all-Illinois routes (Quincy and Carbondale), or Wolverine.

I believe that was the case before the stimulus passed. While I don't remember the exact date, I did some dummy bookings about a month ago and the Hiawatha was scheduled to return to it's full schedule in May.