Amtrak dining and cafe service

[railiner]

But it is still a big downgrade from the full traditional dining that used to be there.

Even "that" was a downgrade from when 48 seat diner's had a 4 cooks, 6 waiters and a steward...

With the door already closed, why in the world would they also demand that the curtain be closed?

The only reason that sounds plausible is so that people walking by don't see someone not wearing one, even though the door is closed, it might give the message that it's okay not to wear it, even though it is safe with the door closed....just a guess, not certain...

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I get the impression that fear of coach passengers or of communal seating is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the exception of course in certain parts of the country of the race issue.

What gave you the impression anyone had a fear of coach passengers or of communal seating?

 

[zephyr17]

In the past few years, I did notice that the number of people kind of freaked out by communal seating had increased. Including one lady that was completely offended at breakfast that I be seated with her (just two of us seated opposite each other, the dining car had just opened) and complained to the LSA that it was "her" table. The LSA said that Amtrak practices communal seating. Then she upped and moved across to the table across the aisle herself and the LSA told her to move back. She didn't go "full Karen" but she really didn't like it and ate and left as fast as she could without saying a word.

She was far from a "Millennial" unless she was very prematurely aged.

 

[Willbridge]

What gave you the impression anyone had a fear of coach passengers or of communal seating?

Some incidents like the one described above. Being told that only First Class passengers would be offered dinner in Train 6 departing Denver unexpectedly late (i.e., so that a meal in the station - the usual solution - wasn't practical). I would have understood being asked to take out the late meal but that was not on offer.

And as noted above it's not that coach passengers were not paying for the meals. And as coach meal reservations were taken last it's not that we were imposing on our betters. In the last two pre-pandemic years the stewards have run out of reservation slots before getting through all the coaches. So we have to ask the journalistic questions.

When was this policy made official?
What was going on in society at that time?
Where was this imposed?
Who were the people affected?
Why was this imposed?

 

[Rambling Robert]

It took ten seconds to think and I’ve liked communal dining ever since. I’ve been on Amtrak since 1975 and have always traveled coach.

Seating four at a table makes sense as does the option to have “room service”. It has been fairly democratic for coach passengers to take a reservation when available in the past.

in two weeks when I travel on the Lakeshore Ltd I plan to order delivered Indian curry and enjoy immensely BUT continuing on the Southwest Chief I’m hoping to have a lovely dinner in the dining car.

If not I’ll order a 2 inch thick steak in KansasCity and hope to have it deliver to the train.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Yeah, hopefully they continue to allow you eat in your room. I do think it would be reasonable to be allowed to dine alone in the later seating where enough tables are available. Obviously not going to happen most of the time.


I certainly do hope coach will be able to eat in the diner.

There has always been room service for meals - why would that be discontinued?

 

[Ferroequinologist]

For the prices they'll likely charge if Amtrak allows coach passengers to buy diner food they should let them actually eat in the dining car.

They need to avoid crowding as much as possible. It's much better to limit dining-cars to sleeping-car passengers. Hopefully enough sleeping-car passengers will opt for room service so as to avoid having to seat everyone together in the diner. Sleeping-car attendants need to encourage room service.

 

[Palmetto]

They need to avoid crowding as much as possible. It's much better to limit dining-cars to sleeping-car passengers. Hopefully enough sleeping-car passengers will opt for room service so as to avoid having to seat everyone together in the diner. Sleeping-car attendants need to encourage room service.

Full dining cars in the past were handled by the servers just fine, at least in my experience. Even the twin unit dining car on the Broadway Limited. But there were more staff in the dining cars, too. Amtrak seems hell bent on cutting, and service is bound to worsen as a result. Let's put the blame where it is due: on Amtrak management [and not on the coach passengers].

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Full dining cars in the past were handled by the servers just fine, at least in my experience. Even the twin unit dining car on the Broadway Limited. But there were more staff in the dining cars, too. Amtrak seems hell bent on cutting, and service is bound to worsen as a result. Let's put the blame where it is due: on Amtrak management [and not on the coach passengers].

I'm pretty sure Ferroequinologist is concerned about "germs", not staffing.

 

[Dustyroad]

If not related, maybe a minimum of two at a dining car table? I think the problem is the "squashing" in of 4 unrelated people.

I also would go to the dining room if I knew it would only be my friend and I in the same booth. But like you, not 4 people ''squashed '' together even though I'v had the 2 shots.

 

[Dustyroad]

In the past few years, I did notice that the number of people kind of freaked out by communal seating had increased. Including one lady that was completely offended at breakfast that I be seated with her (just two of us seated opposite each other, the dining car had just opened) and complained to the LSA that it was "her" table. The LSA said that Amtrak practices communal seating. Then she upped and moved across to the table across the aisle herself and the LSA told her to move back. She didn't go "full Karen" but she really didn't like it and ate and left as fast as she could without saying a word.

She was far from a "Millennial" unless she was very prematurely aged.

You were very decent to her. She should have stayed in her room to eat.

 

[deBASHmode]

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Non-communal dining means that you could (in theory) have a party of 1 taking up a full booth. The capacity for the Dining Car would plummet, and the economics of the dining car would get even worse.

I understand some people may not be totally comfortable with it - but they need to put on their "big boy pants" and try it out. Most people (but not all) have a bigger problem with the "idea" of communal seating than the actual communal seating itself.

For those who just truly can't stomach communal dining - you can always eat in your room.

IndyLions (hello from a born and raised Hoosier!), the info about dining car economics and room service is very helpful, thank you.

A gentle plea for compassion in our sharing:

For a much larger percentage of the population than people realize, different brain biology (aka neurodiversity) causes things like communal dining to be a nightmare.

Personally, I'm cursed with a neurological condition (misophonia) that makes certain sounds (chewing, crunching and smacking are most common) a living hell to be around. It's not a matter of "tuning it out" - it's how our brains are wired and it can take months or years of therapy most people can't afford to learn adequate coping skills.

Others may be tormented by situations where they are forced to truly interact with strangers as one would be at a 4-person communal table. You never know might be taking a big step by just being on a train journey at all.

It's not a matter of "big boy pants" for many, and an encouraging approach works better for all populations.

Thanks for listening,
Bash (looking forward to room service on my Zephyr trip )

 

[jis]

When was this policy made official?
What was going on in society at that time?
Where was this imposed?
Who were the people affected?
Why was this imposed?

I cannot vouch for causation, but there is a distinct correlation between the deadline by when the separated F&B P&L had to be made self standing and not using any federal funds for it (end of 2020), and the accelerated reduction in F&B staffing level and the fact that one of the largest cost components of F&B service is staff cost.

I suspect that the revenues brought in from Coach passengers according to some calculation did not cover the cost of the extra SA needed to serve people beyond the minimum required for Sleeper passengers.

If those correlated events had a causal connection among them then now that that Sword of Democles has been removed things should improve across the board as all that was dismantled can be rebuilt over a little bit of time. So we shall see.

I suspect that the COVID thing just delayed the recovery from the Mica fiasco by tanking revenues across the board with uncertainty about government support to keep the lights on. But that was its net effect. Even absent COVID we would have cycled down to the bottom until md-2020 and then started recovery with the rescission of the Mica clause.

Now one could ask why Congress and RPA and everyone else sat on their thumbs from 2015 to 2020 before actually acting on trying to fix the problem. It may have had something to do with the past experience with "glidepath to self sufficiency" which sort of went away, and people forgot how hard they had to work to make that happen, and what damage it caused while it was around.

 

[Dustyroad]

IndyLions (hello from a born and raised Hoosier!), the info about dining car economics and room service is very helpful, thank you.

A gentle plea for compassion in our sharing:

For a much larger percentage of the population than people realize, different brain biology (aka neurodiversity) causes things like communal dining to be a nightmare.

Personally, I'm cursed with a neurological condition (misophonia) that makes certain sounds (chewing, crunching and smacking are most common) a living hell to be around. It's not a matter of "tuning it out" - it's how our brains are wired and it can take months or years of therapy most people can't afford to learn adequate coping skills.

Others may be tormented by situations where they are forced to truly interact with strangers as one would be at a 4-person communal table. You never know might be taking a big step by just being on a train journey at all.

It's not a matter of "big boy pants" for many, and an encouraging approach works better for all populations.

Thanks for listening,
Bash (looking forward to room service on my Zephyr trip )

I'm sorry for your health issue. I also have health issues that prevent me from wanting me to be in close contact with others without my control who might not have been vaccinated. So I ''Will keep my little girl pants on '' until the vax numbers go up higher than they are now.

 

[Palmetto]

I'm pretty sure Ferroequinologist is concerned about "germs", not staffing.

Help me out. Where did he say or infer that? I couldn't find a reference.

 

[Cal]

There has always been room service for meals - why would that be discontinued?

I was not aware of this, I thought that pre-COVID only people with an accessibility issue were able to get room service.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Help me out. Where did he say or infer that? I couldn't find a reference.

Based on posts s/he has made in the past. And the fact that s/he seems to want everyone to eat in their rooms (said the SCA should encourage that they do).

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Full dining cars in the past were handled by the servers just fine, at least in my experience. Even the twin unit dining car on the Broadway Limited. But there were more staff in the dining cars, too. Amtrak seems hell bent on cutting, and service is bound to worsen as a result. Let's put the blame where it is due: on Amtrak management [and not on the coach passengers].

I'm not blaming anyone. With Covid there is a need for social distancing, so it would be safer to have as much space between people as possible in the dining-car. With everything opening up quickly I can see a surge coming. A lot of people here have already expressed their anxiety about sitting with strangers. Covid is not over yet.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I was not aware of this, I thought that pre-COVID only people with an accessibility issue were able to get room service.

Nope. Anyone could ask for room service.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I was not aware of this, I thought that pre-COVID only people with an accessibility issue were able to get room service.

I am not aware of such a pre Covid policy restricting room service to the handicapped. If there was one, it would be foolish to revive it with the risks posed by group dining with strangers and the anxiety expressed by some people on this site.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I also would go to the dining room if I knew it would only be my friend and I in the same booth. But like you, not 4 people ''squashed '' together even though I'v had the 2 shots.

Vaccination is not a guarantee that one is immune. You can be vaccinated and still get Covid but chances are that it will be milder. Keep in mind that the dining -car can be noisy and people may speak in a loud voice which will make spreading germs easier.

 

[Mailliw]

I don't see any issue with offering passengers a choice between private dining in their compartments or communal dining in the dining car.

 

[Dustyroad]

I'm not blaming anyone. With Covid there is a need for social distancing, so it would be safer to have as much space between people as possible in the dining-car. With everything opening up quickly I can see a surge coming. A lot of people here have already expressed their anxiety about sitting with strangers. Covid is not over yet.

Here-Here and Thank you.

 

[jis]

Vaccination is not a guarantee that one is immune. You can be vaccinated and still get Covid but chances are that it will be milder. Keep in mind that the dining -car can be noisy and people may speak in a loud voice which will make spreading germs easier.

There are very few iron clad guarantees in life. Having even a concrete roof over your head does not guarantee that a meteorite won't come crashing through it either.

In my thinking, vaccination, specially of the mRNA variety makes COVID for the vaccinated more or less equivalent to the Flu (I posted some concrete computation to show that a while back), and hence it is probably OK to behave like one did in the presence of the Flu over at least my lifetime. Of course that does not deny the fact that in the non-vaccinated subgroup, COVID is raging almost as badly as it was several months back in the general population. Indeed an overwhelming majority of the COVID case statistics now originates in that group. That also does not deny that there can be a very small percentage of breakthrough infections among the vaccinated, generally quite mild or asymptomatic.

 

[NYP2NFL01]

The last time I travelled on Amtrak (Capitol LTD - August 19, 2019), the Flex Dining was in effect. I was solo this trip. I ate in the dining car at a table by myself. I was kinda lonely. I missed having another person to chat with. I've had some really interesting conversations with the communal dining on Amtrak over the years, and have met some nice people and some interesting "characters"!