Amtrak Cancels its Newspaper Subscription

[neroden]

The domestic airline industry isn't profitable. It's never really been profitable. Right now, it's going through the same cycle of shrinkage, deferred maintenance, mergers, and seeking of government assistance which the railroads did in the 1950s-60s. The railroads mostly claimed to be profitable at that time, too.

But yeah, people put up with the airlines because they don't see any practical alternative. (I have an open schedule, so I have alternatives, so I don't fly.) And similarly, people riding the Empire Builder from North Dakota probably don't see any practical alternative either.

But the Auto Train is 100% a "choice rider" market. After all, there's always the Silver Service and car rental.

I'm not going to say that the Auto Train won't continue to fill up. There's an underlying demand for service, and the people who abandon it may be replaced by people with lower standards... willing to pay lower prices. But if Amtrak hadn't made these stupid moves, Amtrak would be able to get more revenue, I'm sure of that.

 

[fairviewroad]

So I hope some local circulation managers with an Amtrak station nearby will take the hint and plant a coin box there.

A bit OT but I think they'd sell more copies if their coin boxes accepted credit cards. If I can use my credit card to buy a bag of chips, a soda,

or rent a DVD from a vending machine (all items with roughly the same price-point as a daily paper), then I should be able to use the CC to

buy a paper. These days most single copies cost at least $1, and I've lost count of the number of times I haven't purchased a paper simply

because I didn't have correct change.

Newspaper industry, get on it!

 

[me_little_me]

More importantly, I'll have to bring my own "Shove this in the door so it'll stop rattling" stock. :angry2:

Use your smartphone, silly! It replaces the paper for the news. Why not the door? As to lack of TP, well, don't show me your smartphone afterwards. :giggle: :giggle:

 

[neroden]

Sorry, my fault. I tend to inject comparisons to other situations into threads, and they promptly get derailed. Too much holistic thinking, I guess.

 

[neroden]

Well, enjoy a trip without food then -- I guess some people do!

 

[jis]

And some people seem to be a bit hysterical about this whole thing too. Yes, people do differ.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

I would rather have Wi-Fi than a newspaper that gets crumpled up under the door to my room. Amtrak can get caught up with technology and please many more passengers. We live in a digital age, old news printed on paper is a thing of the past

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I doubt it. You have no idea how tolerant I am of such. Until Silver Service starts taking my car along, I will not use Silver Service instead of Auto Train. I'd simply fly if I did not have a whole pile of stuff to carry along and have to rent a car at the other end. Why waste a day traveling when I can do it in 2.5 hours? Unlike some folks here I actually love to fly, remember?

I'm guessing that the difference between you and "some folks" is that they're flying coach while you're flying in First or Business Class.

I would rather have Wi-Fi than a newspaper that gets crumpled up under the door to my room. Amtrak can get caught up with technology and please many more passengers. We live in a digital age, old news printed on paper is a thing of the past

I wonder why so many seem to think that the loss of one amenity is somehow connected to the gain of another. So far as I am aware there is absolutely no evidence that any new amenities are on the way or even being contemplated. Rather, all evidence thus far would indicate that this is a move intended to improve Amtrak's books through cost cutting. The only problem with that plan is that it has little chance of balancing the books unless and until most of the network has been discontinued, most of the hardware has been sold off, and most of the employees have been let go. Yet many of us continue to cheer on the cost cutting. Seems like maybe we haven't thought this all the way through yet.

 

[neroden]

Some of this stuff I really can shrug at, including the newspapers.

But the cuts to meal service are truly boneheadedly stupid. We've been through this "dining cuts" experience before, more than once, dating from before I was born to just last decade. It is a recipe for losing more money. Mindless, idiotic cuts are going to blow a revenue hole in Amtrak's budget when Amtrak can least afford it.

Good food service brings in ticket revenue. Replacing it with bad food service loses a *lot* of ticket revenue, and saves much less in costs.

There are improvements which could be made in the food service. For instance, eliminating the mess of paperwork which takes up a lot of the employees' time in the dining car. Mindless cuts to quality, however, will destroy revenue very fast and save next to no money.

 

[jis]

I doubt it. You have no idea how tolerant I am of such. Until Silver Service starts taking my car along, I will not use Silver Service instead of Auto Train. I'd simply fly if I did not have a whole pile of stuff to carry along and have to rent a car at the other end. Why waste a day traveling when I can do it in 2.5 hours? Unlike some folks here I actually love to fly, remember?

I'm guessing that the difference between you and "some folks" is that they're flying coach while you're flying in First or Business Class.

No I mostly fly coach, except for the few rare occasions when a comp upgrade happens to come through. Domestic First Class is simply not worth it for a 2 to 5 hour flight, so the only way I use it is if I get a free upgrade on a nice discounted Coach fare, not otherwise. My Florida round trips usually cost me well under $300.

 

[Anderson]

Ok, the thread should be mostly cleaned up. I moved the other posts dealing with the Auto Train into the Auto Train thread here:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/58879-auto-train-cuts/page-15

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I doubt it. You have no idea how tolerant I am of such. Until Silver Service starts taking my car along, I will not use Silver Service instead of Auto Train. I'd simply fly if I did not have a whole pile of stuff to carry along and have to rent a car at the other end. Why waste a day traveling when I can do it in 2.5 hours? Unlike some folks here I actually love to fly, remember?

I'm guessing that the difference between you and "some folks" is that they're flying coach while you're flying in First or Business Class.

No I mostly fly coach, except for the few rare occasions when a comp upgrade happens to come through. Domestic First Class is simply not worth it for a 2 to 5 hour flight, so the only way I use it is if I get a free upgrade on a nice discounted Coach fare, not otherwise. My Florida round trips usually cost me well under $300.

Are you saying that you fly coach internationally or are you simply leaving international travel out of the equation? I'm not bothered by a two or three hour coach flight that reaches most of the country (ex-TX). I may not love it but it's perfectly doable. But I'd like to find someone who has been fying for a long time and still enjoys 10+ hours of cramped knee-crushing coach seating with bossy attendants and disgusting bathrooms.

 

[FriskyFL]

What's a newspaper? ;-)

 

[jis]

I doubt it. You have no idea how tolerant I am of such. Until Silver Service starts taking my car along, I will not use Silver Service instead of Auto Train. I'd simply fly if I did not have a whole pile of stuff to carry along and have to rent a car at the other end. Why waste a day traveling when I can do it in 2.5 hours? Unlike some folks here I actually love to fly, remember?

I'm guessing that the difference between you and "some folks" is that they're flying coach while you're flying in First or Business Class.

No I mostly fly coach, except for the few rare occasions when a comp upgrade happens to come through. Domestic First Class is simply not worth it for a 2 to 5 hour flight, so the only way I use it is if I get a free upgrade on a nice discounted Coach fare, not otherwise. My Florida round trips usually cost me well under $300.

Are you saying that you fly coach internationally or are you simply leaving international travel out of the equation? I'm not bothered by a two or three hour coach flight that reaches most of the country (ex-TX). I may not love it but it's perfectly doable. But I'd like to find someone who has been fying for a long time and still enjoys 10+ hours of cramped knee-crushing coach seating with bossy attendants and disgusting bathrooms.

Actually till date I have never outright bought an international BC ticket either. I always buy a coach ticket, and then quite often exercising certain status privileges, manage to wangle an upgrade using some combination of miles and small upcharge. However, I also have no problem flying in Coach in the Y+ section. My knees do not get crushed at all and I can actually stretch out diagonally sort of similar to the old BC tilted flat seats and sleep as much as I want. There are certain advantages of being not too tall. Usually I can also wangle a bulkhead seat using my status, which makes it that much better, specially if it is a by a door bulkhead. I have not come across too many bossy attendants or disgusting bathrooms either. But of course whenever I can manage an upgrade that is really nice.
This might change as I grow older and the defect that I have in my backbone starts acting up. In my retirement planning I have specifically planned funds for at least one round trip to India in J.

For the purposes of this discussion involving flying as a substitute for a ride by Amtrak, of course intercontinental flying is of no relevance, so I was not including it in the context of this thread.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Are you saying that you fly coach internationally or are you simply leaving international travel out of the equation? I'm not bothered by a two or three hour coach flight that reaches most of the country (ex-TX). I may not love it but it's perfectly doable. But I'd like to find someone who has been fying for a long time and still enjoys 10+ hours of cramped knee-crushing coach seating with bossy attendants and disgusting bathrooms.

I know this wasn't aimed at me but I feel the need to interject. Flying international long haul coach is definitely all about the destination. I will glad spend 15 hours in coach on Air China with no IFE in English. Sure its uncomfortable the bathrooms get a little rough and the food is dismal, but its all worth it to me when you step out of the airport and are in a completely new part of the world. I will gladly continue to fly long haul international flights in coach. It's all about the destination. In fact this coming August I am intentionally adding several hours of flight time on my return from Southeast Asia, just so I can complete a flight around the world. I guess just like taking Amtrak its all about personal preference. I have flown both International Biz and First Class a handful of times on free upgrades, but still would gladly fly coach anywhere in the world at any time.

Sorry we were talking about newspapers on Amtrak trains. I don't think anyone has ever booked a sleeping car accommodation simply for the newspaper, so I wouldn't expect it to have any real impact on ridership.

 

[Palmetto]

What's a newspaper? ;-)

Something that gets delivered to the house and that I read just about every day. Call me old fashioned!

 

[montana mike]

Are you saying that you fly coach internationally or are you simply leaving international travel out of the equation? I'm not bothered by a two or three hour coach flight that reaches most of the country (ex-TX). I may not love it but it's perfectly doable. But I'd like to find someone who has been fying for a long time and still enjoys 10+ hours of cramped knee-crushing coach seating with bossy attendants and disgusting bathrooms.

I know this wasn't aimed at me but I feel the need to interject. Flying international long haul coach is definitely all about the destination. I will glad spend 15 hours in coach on Air China with no IFE in English. Sure its uncomfortable the bathrooms get a little rough and the food is dismal, but its all worth it to me when you step out of the airport and are in a completely new part of the world. I will gladly continue to fly long haul international flights in coach. It's all about the destination. In fact this coming August I am intentionally adding several hours of flight time on my return from Southeast Asia, just so I can complete a flight around the world. I guess just like taking Amtrak its all about personal preference. I have flown both International Biz and First Class a handful of times on free upgrades, but still would gladly fly coach anywhere in the world at any time.

Sorry we were talking about newspapers on Amtrak trains. I don't think anyone has ever booked a sleeping car accommodation simply for the newspaper, so I wouldn't expect it to have any real impact on ridership.

I think it was more like the proverbial "last straw that broke the Camel's back".

 

[delicious]

What's a newspaper? ;-)

Something that gets delivered to the house and that I read just about every day. Call me old fashioned!

Nothing wrong with that. But please do read it while riding your horse into town to use the telegraph.

 

[FriskyFL]

My New York Times gets delivered right to my smartphone and tablet, available anywhere, anytime. Print is dead.

 

[GG-1]

Sorry we were talking about newspapers on Amtrak trains. I don't think anyone has ever booked a sleeping car accommodation simply for the newspaper, so I wouldn't expect it to have any real impact on ridership.

Aloha

Considering how poorly the are delivered and since only a percentage of riders want them It seems to be appropriate that Amtrak cancel a system-wide subscription. It seems more appropriate that an attentive SCA would find out if his people want one they could arrange one from the next stop, and the tip would more than cover the cost.

 

[the_traveler]

Although I like to find out what is happening in towns I pass thru, I personally find it hard and inconvenient to read a paper on the train. Especially if it's a full sized paper that must be unfolded. I hardly read them, but many times found them in my room and on my seat if I was out of the room.

I will not miss them.

 

[Ispolkom]

My New York Times gets delivered right to my smartphone and tablet, available anywhere, anytime. Print is dead.

I can travel to either coast in less than four hours for only a few hundred dollars. Long-distance passenger rail is dead.

Nevertheless, some crazy people still prefer to travel by train, and some still prefer read a dead-tree newspaper. I would point out, though, that there are places on the Empire Builder's route where I'll be reading my Daily Inter Lake and you won't have cellphone coverage. Personally, I'm much more put out by the end of local papers on the Empire Builder than I am by the end of the wine and cheese thing.

 

[JayPea]

I won't miss the newspapers much. I have the Spokesman-Review online so I won't have to miss all the earth-shattering events that happen in and around the Spokane area. And I don't read the other local newspapers I have gotten in the past. As for the USA Today, I certainly won't miss it. In one of my more recent trips, in fact, the same edition of the paper I read in the Spokane Airport on a Saturday before flying to my uncle's to begin another Amtrak adventure was the same edition I read on the CZ on a Tuesday. Getting a fresh copy has been hit or miss at best.

 

[tonys96]

Sorry we were talking about newspapers on Amtrak trains. I don't think anyone has ever booked a sleeping car accommodation simply for the newspaper, so I wouldn't expect it to have any real impact on ridership.

Aloha

Considering how poorly the are delivered and since only a percentage of riders want them It seems to be appropriate that Amtrak cancel a system-wide subscription. It seems more appropriate that an attentive SCA would find out if his people want one they could arrange one from the next stop, and the tip would more than cover the cost.

Excellent thought!

 

[Anderson]

Sorry we were talking about newspapers on Amtrak trains. I don't think anyone has ever booked a sleeping car accommodation simply for the newspaper, so I wouldn't expect it to have any real impact on ridership.

Aloha

Considering how poorly the are delivered and since only a percentage of riders want them It seems to be appropriate that Amtrak cancel a system-wide subscription. It seems more appropriate that an attentive SCA would find out if his people want one they could arrange one from the next stop, and the tip would more than cover the cost.

Excellent thought!

Agreed...but I say this as someone who already does their best to treat the staff well.