Amtrak dining and cafe service

[user 14106]

Has there been any statement from Amtrak management that Amtrak actually aspires to restore the lost amenities of the Texas Eagle at some point in the future?

No. They generally only announce or indicate what they’re planning to do in the upcoming fiscal year and if they do say anything in the fall it would probably be just for trains they intend to do in FY24. I don’t have any official information but I suspect the lake shore limited would be next and maybe the crescent given it’s been running occasionally with a diner for training. If I had to predict I would not anticipate a restoration to the Eagle in FY24 but I’d be happy to be wrong in my prediction. The two I mentioned would be my guess for most likely for FY24 - maybe city of New Orleans.

 

[Rasputin]

The Texas Eagle ridership for Fiscal year 2021 and 2022 exceeds the ridership of the City of New Orleans and of the Crescent for those years.

 

[user 14106]

The Texas Eagle ridership for Fiscal year 2021 and 2022 exceeds the ridership of the City of New Orleans and of the Crescent for those years.

I’m personally skeptical of the city of New Orleans rumor. But those are the trains generating the most talk of restoration - lake shore limited definitely the most. As far as comparing ridership one has to look further than raw ridership - as mentioned the eagle gets a huge amount of its ridership from Chicago - St Louis. One would need to see sleeper revenue vs expense performance which isn’t available for public consumption anywhere I know if you’re talking about the reasoning for which trains are getting traditional dining.

 

[Septa9739]

What immediately comes to mind is the commissary situation. The commissaries in Chicago, NOLA, and soon New York are all already handling traditional dining. I have no idea what the San Antonio commissary situation looks like, but I imagine it isn’t so great. That would seem to give the Crescent and CONO an edge from the business perspective as economies of scale could play an important part in making the project long term viable. In this reasoning, despite its merits, I could see the Texas Eagle being the last to receive traditional dining. The Superliner situation could also be another headwind, since they are currently needed for axle count over the CN ex-IC main that the CONO operates over. I don’t know whether its a net profit or loss (I.e. if more staff were added), but my recent dinner trip to the diner on the Empire Builder saw a few hundred extra dollars being generated, so I‘m optimistic for the future.

 

[Skyline]

https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining.html

I did a search for "menus" but came up empty, so this is at least an enticement to travel Amtrak, right?

However, it is by definition a group of static sample menus, not necessarily matching what is actually served.

It seems to me that when Amtrak puts a revised menu into effect whether seasonally or for other reasons that it could simultaneously update the website. In most cases, train-by-train including effective dates. Then, it's almost a one-click effort to print the appropriate menus at home or work prior to boarding.

 

[user 14106]

What immediately comes to mind is the commissary situation. The commissaries in Chicago, NOLA, and soon New York are all already handling traditional dining. I have no idea what the San Antonio commissary situation looks like, but I imagine it isn’t so great. That would seem to give the Crescent and CONO an edge from the business perspective as economies of scale could play an important part in making the project long term viable. In this reasoning, despite its merits, I could see the Texas Eagle being the last to receive traditional dining. The Superliner situation could also be another headwind, since they are currently needed for axle count over the CN ex-IC main that the CONO operates over. I don’t know whether its a net profit or loss (I.e. if more staff were added), but my recent dinner trip to the diner on the Empire Builder saw a few hundred extra dollars being generated, so I‘m optimistic for the future.

You make a good point reference the commissaries and this very well could be a factor as well. I also agree that the superliner situation probably contributes to the ills of the eagle and Capitol limited.

 

[Rasputin]

I did a search for "menus" but came up empty, so this is at least an enticement to travel Amtrak, right?

However, it is by definition a group of static sample menus, not necessarily matching what is actually served.

It seems to me that when Amtrak puts a revised menu into effect whether seasonally or for other reasons that it could simultaneously update the website. In most cases, train-by-train including effective dates. Then, it's almost a one-click effort to print the appropriate menus at home or work prior to boarding.

The Acela cafe menu accessed on the Amtrak website link is the menu that was in effect on my trip in late May. The Acela first class menu (the top one with French Toast and Lasagna) was used on my trip in first class last week.

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

In my opinion the outright long distance hostility bordering on conspiracy stuff is largely a myth. Is the NEC priority 1? Certainly - but there have actually been some honest efforts to improve things on the food service front. The traditional dining and cafe improvements are an honest effort to improve passenger options. And I think many who want to say it’s The Penn central days all over again conveniently downplay the major issues with labor and supply chain that continue to plague the industry. I have little doubt there’s been some dumb decisions - RPA made quite clear that the cuts they made during the funding lapse would take years to dig out of and they were right - but on the other hand Amtrak warned Congress about their intents and how it could be avoided and Congress did nothing until it was too late so pinning it all on Gardner or Flynn or whoever you want to blame ignores the full picture - and no one at the time knew when or what the pandemic recovery would look like. People who believe that Amtrak could be running pre pandemic consists across the board tomorrow and have traditional dining rolled out to every train instantly aren’t living in reality. Yes trains like the Texas Eagle are lower in the priority list due to finite resources - it’s not a stealth attack on the train it simply isn’t the priority due to its historic performance. Putting more cars there at the moment would mean not putting them elsewhere.

Gardner goes to testify before the hostile or sympathetic to him (depending on what one believes) House Tuesday. Will he throw the LD trains under the perverbial bus as he has in the past prior to being CEO? Will he answer to basically everything we’ve talked about in this thread. Aurora Group has armed everyone on the committee with a great fact sheet and Q and A’s for Gardner. No telling what’s going to happen in the House. I’m really keen to see his reactions when a fiscal hawk says the long distance network should be zero‘d out. Regardless, I see Tuesday as day one in Amtraks future, routes, consists and dining included.

 

[user 14106]

I hope the hearing Tuesday will have substance. But the last hearing they did the freshman GOP house members, who largely take cues from think tanks simply punted to a panel member they invited from the heritage foundation who just continually torpedoed about Amtrak profitability. I thought Gardner actually did pretty well at that one pushing back on the Heritage guy. We’ll see how this one goes. I anticipate it will be more of the same - with democratic members touting the infrastructure bill and GOPers asking questions about Amtrak profitability.

 

[joelkfla]

The hearing can be watched live on YouTube:
https://transportation.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=406457

 

[ptf18]

What is the current meal service on the Capital Limited and the Cardinal please? I've heard its that (not so yummy) Flex Meal but some of my reads say both trains have returned to Traditional.

Thanks

 

[Sidney]

What is the current meal service on the Capital Limited and the Cardinal please? I've heard its that (not so yummy) Flex Meal but some of my reads say both trains have returned to Traditional.

Thanks

Flex for the foreseeable future

 

[zephyr17]

What is the current meal service on the Capital Limited and the Cardinal please? I've heard its that (not so yummy) Flex Meal but some of my reads say both trains have returned to Traditional.

Thanks

Flex.

 

[OBS]

You make a good point reference the commissaries and this very well could be a factor as well. I also agree that the superliner situation probably contributes to the ills of the eagle and Capitol limited.

There is no Commissary in San Antonio, never was, so has no bearing on anything. The TE Diner was always stocked for a r/t out of Chi.

 

[Skyline]

The Acela cafe menu accessed on the Amtrak website link is the menu that was in effect on my trip in late May. The Acela first class menu (the top one with French Toast and Lasagna) was used on my trip in first class last week.

That's good to note, at least for Acela.

There is a disclaimer on the Amtrak menu page that menus are subject to change, etc. so I'm wondering how reliable what is posted will be vs reality. Next trip on Amtrak, I'll print out what is relevant to my itinerary and compare. Even if there was good wifi on board, I doubt accessing menus via a QR Code and then viewing on a 3x5 screen would result in a favorable outcome.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

That's good to note, at least for Acela.

There is a disclaimer on the Amtrak menu page that menus are subject to change, etc. so I'm wondering how reliable what is posted will be vs reality. Next trip on Amtrak, I'll print out what is relevant to my itinerary and compare. Even if there was good wifi on board, I doubt accessing menus via a QR Code and then viewing on a 3x5 screen would result in a favorable outcome.

I am pretty sure what is posted for the Crescent with the flex menu is the exact PDF of what was on paper in our roomette last week.

 

[Rasputin]

There is a disclaimer on the Amtrak menu page that menus are subject to change, etc. so I'm wondering how reliable what is posted will be vs reality. Next trip on Amtrak, I'll print out what is relevant to my itinerary and compare. Even if there was good wifi on board, I doubt accessing menus via a QR Code and then viewing on a 3x5 screen would result in a favorable outcome.

On my long distance travels pre-pandemic, I almost always found the menus posted on the Amtrak website to be exactly the same as the menus offered onboard. I don't know about the current situation with the traditional and flex menus.

The only time I have noted a substantial difference between the online menu and the actual onboard menu was when the diner-lite car was operated on the Lake Shore on my trips in 2017 and 2018. Sometimes you would enter the dining car and be handed a handwritten menu for dinner which was totally different than what was posted online. However, the entrees were all good in our opinion so there were no complaints on our part. I remember that on one cross country Amtrak trip my wife thought that her dinner in the diner-lite car on 49 was the best meal of the entire trip, out and back. But unfortunately, that is ancient history now.

 

[Bob Dylan]

What immediately comes to mind is the commissary situation. The commissaries in Chicago, NOLA, and soon New York are all already handling traditional dining. I have no idea what the San Antonio commissary situation looks like, but I imagine it isn’t so great. That would seem to give the Crescent and CONO an edge from the business perspective as economies of scale could play an important part in making the project long term viable. In this reasoning, despite its merits, I could see the Texas Eagle being the last to receive traditional dining. The Superliner situation could also be another headwind, since they are currently needed for axle count over the CN ex-IC main that the CONO operates over. I don’t know whether its a net profit or loss (I.e. if more staff were added), but my recent dinner trip to the diner on the Empire Builder saw a few hundred extra dollars being generated, so I‘m optimistic for the future.

San Antonio doesn't have a Commissary! The Eaglette is serviced in Chicago for its 64+ Hour Roundtrip!

 

[TEREB]

We’re in a bedroom on train 98. Got on today in Hollywood. Dining car was open, where as is used to open once we we pass Ft Lauderdale. This time we decided to eat breakfast in the dining car.
This was table service. Served in a box. I did not expect that. Is this the way they usually do it?
I ate in my roomette on my April southbound trip, as well as all our other trips. So I don’t know what the norm is As soon as we got on, our room attendant took our lunch and dinner order.
We’re in a new car, 10 and the bathroom door won’t lock nor stay closed. Even with our luggage up against it. Train is really rocking, so pardon my typing.
Strange, we just passed a southbound Amtrak with a car that that the looks of an older non Amtrak train. Southern RR? I do remember riding in a car like that going from NY to Orange Va. yep, I’m that old. Lol

 

[joelkfla]

We’re in a bedroom on train 98. Got on today in Hollywood. Dining car was open, where as is used to open once we we pass Ft Lauderdale. This time we decided to eat breakfast in the dining car.
This was table service. Served in a box. I did not expect that. Is this the way they usually do it?
I ate in my roomette on my April southbound trip, as well as all our other trips. So I don’t know what the norm is View attachment 32737View attachment 32738View attachment 32737View attachment 32738As soon as we got on, our room attendant took our lunch and dinner order.
We’re in a new car, 10 and the bathroom door won’t lock nor stay closed. Even with our luggage up against it. Train is really rocking, so pardon my typing.
Strange, we just passed a southbound Amtrak with a car that that the looks of an older non Amtrak train. Southern RR? I do remember riding in a car like that going from NY to Orange Va. yep, I’m that old. Lol

You're seeing "Flex Dining." It's prepackaged reheated meals. Under Flex, the dining car is considered a First Class Lounge, and is supposed to be open for sleeping car passengers to sit in at any time. Flex Dining is widely disliked, and "Traditional Dining" with full table service, and meals prepared on board, is scheduled to return to train 98, the Silver Meteor, on June 26. It returned to the Silver Star a few months ago. Flex is still in effect on other eastern trains, and may or may not be replaced by Traditional Dining on those trains over the next few years.

The older car was either a privately owned car which the owner pays Amtrak to attach to the train, or a federal track inspection car.

And yes, the new sleepers have been having more than their share of maintenance issues. The interior fittings just don't seem to be built as well as the original ones. Too much plastic, IMO.

 

[TEREB]

You're seeing "Flex Dining." It's prepackaged reheated meals. Under Flex, the dining car is considered a First Class Lounge, and is supposed to be open for sleeping car passengers to sit in at any time. Flex Dining is widely disliked, and "Traditional Dining" with full table service, and meals prepared on board, is scheduled to return to train 98, the Silver Meteor, on June 26. It returned to the Silver Star a few months ago. Flex is still in effect on other eastern trains, and may or may not be replaced by Traditional Dining on those trains over the next few years.

The older car was either a privately owned car which the owner pays Amtrak to attach to the train, or a federal track inspection car.

And yes, the new sleepers have been having more than their share of maintenance issues. The interior fittings just don't seem to be built as well as the original ones. Too much plastic, IMO.

I’ve seen private cars in the past at the end of the train. I think we were in Jacksonville. They wouldn’t let us close enough to take a photo. This one was up front and coach cars, 2 behind it. I’ve seen elaborate private cars on the tracks ay DC.
I’ve been traveling by train since I was a baby, train travel is in my blood. I love seeing those old cars.

 

[TEREB]

I always avoided the beef because I read that it was too salty. Well, I ordered it today for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite tasty and not salty at all.
Only goes to show to take other people’s opinions with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

 

[Bob Dylan]

View attachment 32739
I always avoided the beef because I read that it was too salty. Well, I ordered it today for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite tasty and not salty at all.
Only goes to show to take other people’s opinions with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

I'd suggest checking the Ingredients Label, ALL Flex Meals are Sodium Bombs!

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

You're seeing "Flex Dining." It's prepackaged reheated meals. Under Flex, the dining car is considered a First Class Lounge, and is supposed to be open for sleeping car passengers to sit in at any time. Flex Dining is widely disliked, and "Traditional Dining" with full table service, and meals prepared on board, is scheduled to return to train 98, the Silver Meteor, on June 26. It returned to the Silver Star a few months ago. Flex is still in effect on other eastern trains, and may or may not be replaced by Traditional Dining on those trains over the next few years.

The older car was either a privately owned car which the owner pays Amtrak to attach to the train, or a federal track inspection car.

And yes, the new sleepers have been having more than their share of maintenance issues. The interior fittings just don't seem to be built as well as the original ones. Too much plastic, IMO.

The Crescent did not even have the "lounge" over Memorial Day weekend. You are living large with at least having a place to eat that is not the bedroom/roomette.

 

[zephyr17]

View attachment 32739
I always avoided the beef because I read that it was too salty. Well, I ordered it today for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite tasty and not salty at all.
Only goes to show to take other people’s opinions with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

That's good, I had the short ribs on the Lake Shore last November and they were too salty for my taste then and kind of all around not very good. Maybe they've adjusted it since.

Had a similar dog food presentation, though.