Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H1

[Sidney]

"First class" means something VERY different from what it once did.. I take the eastbound leg of the TE and I'm not sure how many more flex meals I can choke down. (Next travel is in May).

The meatballs and pasta in the earlier days of Flex weren't so bad, and I had fried cod once that was pretty good, but since then.......ugh

Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.

 

[Brian Battuello]

FWIW, I was offered a choice of Flex or Cafe on my recent LSL trip, but I think it was a rogue crew.

 

[railiner]

FWIW, I was offered a choice of Flex or Cafe on my recent LSL trip, but I think it was a rogue crew.

I wonder if their inventory control precludes them from doing that. Seems like every item in the Cafe must be accounted for, while the Flex meals are allocated to each sleeper passenger? Not sure if the crew has the latitude to make that substitution...

 

[joelkfla]

Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.

If you go thru New Orleans, you get 1 day of Traditional, though you do have to overnight in NOLA.

 

[fdaley]

I wonder if their inventory control precludes them from doing that. Seems like every item in the Cafe must be accounted for, while the Flex meals are allocated to each sleeper passenger? Not sure if the crew has the latitude to make that substitution...

I had thought separate accounting was the reason that cafe car items were not offered as an alternative to sleeper passengers. But on the westbound Lake Shore the past two summers, we had the H room to Albany and were offered our choice of cafe items for lunch after departing Boston. No flex meals were offered. Haven't done the eastbound Boston leg in awhile, but the last time we did, again with the H room, flex dinners were delivered to our room.

So apparently it is possible to offer cafe items in at least some circumstances. In the case of the westbound 449, sleeper passengers were offered lunch items before the cafe opened to coach passengers, and we were told we would not be able to order without a charge after that -- I'm guessing because the items given out to sleeper passengers were fully accounted for before cash sales began.

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.

I have been offered cafe food on the LSL and Silver's in the diner car as a substitution.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

For me - menu refreshing and variety is important. Not as important as bringing traditional dining to all LD routes - but important.

Refresh is important so if you travel twice on the same train 6-9 months apart - you don't have the same food.

Variety is important so if you travel on two different trains in a relatively short time frame - you don't have the same food.

I’m pretty much the opposite—I eat the same breakfast every day and always order the same things if I eat lunch out. However, I don’t mind Amtrak switching it up on the menu choices, on two conditions. First, they leave (or add and keep) some basic staples/favorites. Omelet/potatoes and French toast at breakfast, the steak and salmon at lunch/dinner, plus a pasta in marinara sauce for vegetarians. Second, they continue to put the menu online so people can plan ahead (I do that with the train and restaurants—always look at the menu and decide what I will have before I get there).

If they do those two things, as far as I’m concerned, they can go wild and switch up the rest of the menu as much and as often as they want.

 

[Rasputin]

I have been offered cafe food on the LSL and Silver's in the diner car as a substitution.

It is quite inconsistent for no valid reason and passengers never know what to expect. It seems that on the Lake Shore it has been like that for years.

 

[SKS1944]

"First class" means something VERY different from what it once did.. I take the eastbound leg of the TE and I'm not sure how many more flex meals I can choke down. (Next travel is in May).

The meatballs and pasta in the earlier days of Flex weren't so bad, and I had fried cod once that was pretty good, but since then.......ugh.

All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.

 

[jimdex]

All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.

Yes, but as I understand it, the VIA fares reflect that upgraded dining.

 

[Sidney]

Yes, but as I understand it, the VIA fares reflect that upgraded dining.

I’ve seen fares as high as $6000 for a berth from Toronto to Vancouver. Of course,like Amtrak, if you go by Coach for that length it’s usually $500 or less.

 

[user 14106]

A Viewliner 2 diner will return to the Crescent Q4 2024. A Sightseer lounge will return to the Texas Eagle Q1 FY2025

 

[Sidney]

I hope so. How about traditional dining? Any word?

 

[user 14106]

I hope so. How about traditional dining? Any word?

The official report doesn’t say it from what I’ve read so far - but it does mention “returning traditional dining to more routes.”

 

[Rasputin]

Last Fall some who claimed or purported to be "in the know" indicated that tentatively the Lake Shore would have a traditional dining service back by "late this year [2023] or early next year [2024]." Late 2023 has now come and gone and I haven't seen any traditional dining on the Lake Shore. It is now early 2024 and there is no traditional dining. This is getting to be a joke.

 

[user 14106]

There was never anything about that from official sources - only rumors.

 

[west point]

So, Here we are at the Ides of March. Friday NYP to final destinations almost all sold out. CHI, CLT coach sold out , Silvers close on coach rooms very close. NOw if Amtrak had more sleepers and coaches to these destinations the demand for diner service would be much greater. That way the "non revenue car" diners and lounges would be covered by more passengers. Many more seatings. Of course, that would necessitate intermediate servicing of the diners which Amtrak seems veery reluctant to do.
for part of each trip say 8 coaches = 500 passengers and 5 sleepers = ~ 100 - 125 passengers. IMO that would take a lot of seatings at about 45 minutes and of course several more OBS. Maybe continuous seatings 0600 - 2100? That IMO is a win. Maybe an abbreviated all-night seatings?

 

[Rasputin]

A Viewliner 2 diner will return to the Crescent Q4 2024. A Sightseer lounge will return to the Texas Eagle Q1 FY2025

Is this based on an Amtrak document and if so which one? Thanks.

 

[am1830]

Is this based on an Amtrak document and if so which one? Thanks.

The new five year plan, FY24-29:

Page 45

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...g/Amtrak-Service-Asset-Line-Plans-FY24-29.pdf

 

[user 14106]

The new five year plan, FY24-29:

Page 45

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...g/Amtrak-Service-Asset-Line-Plans-FY24-29.pdf

Beat me to it!

 

[user 14106]

The grant request does mention restoring Traditional dining to the Eagle as something they want to do in FY25 depending on the funding they get from their annual grant under the "Food service improvement" initiative- it's listed under the initiatives they'd like to do again depending on funding.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.

Not if you're in coach... I rode in coach this past summer and I can tell you that Amtrak Long Distance Cafe menu beats the VIA menu for sure. The quality on Amtrak has gone up and down, but I've enjoyed meals just as good on Amtrak as on VIA.

Glad to hear the Crescent is getting a Viewliner Diner back, one step closer.

 

[joelkfla]

I’ve seen fares as high as $6000 for a berth from Toronto to Vancouver. Of course,like Amtrak, if you go by Coach for that length it’s usually $500 or less.

Coach passengers don't have access to the diner, and I've read that VIA's cafe menu is even more limited than Amtrak's.

 

[OmahaRoad]

I'm on the Star to NYP currently; I had a successful bidup (I did near the lowest bid but it was successful) to a roomette. I boarded at Raleigh and did not expect to be offered breakfast (I've only done not-coach travel once before, a Superliner roomette on the flex dining CL in Dec 2023), but my SCA needed to turn/clean my room which had just been vacated, so I headed to the diner.

Let me say I am very glad they brought back traditional dining on the Silver services, and I was impressed (probably due to low expectations) with the Viewliner II dining car, and the Viewliner II sleeper that I am in! I had the Amtrak railroad french toast since it is apparently the classic, with the bacon side and orange juice. It ain't the Ritz, but I enjoyed it and especially liked the dining car layout (large windows great) and interior design features. Service was excellent, too! (I left a good tip, by Venmo, no less, since I didn't have cash and really wanted to say thanks for the great service, especially with me being the last person having breakfast).

I'll be taking lunch in my room since I'm working en route, but I am looking forward to seeing how it is! I ordered the monte cristo grilled sandwich which is a favorite of my SCA's. She brought me hot water/tea + honey which has been nice to sip while working and watching Virginia roll by. I know there's lots to improve with Amtrak, and traditional dining 150% needs to come back to all trains + be as open to coach passengers (which I usually am) as possible, but I try to be positive when things are good!

 

[dlagrua]

The Flex dining problem can be easily solved by just offering food that's actually edible.