Elimination of diners on western Amtrak long distance trains?

[cpotisch]

I think it's the better bet that dining car service will be eliminated systemwide. Such a shame. Just booked a trip on VIA.

Can we learn from other countries how to make dining cars an advantage for travelers choosing rail? https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/fv-dosto-dining-car-unveiled.html

I get that the food and service on Swiss Federal probably blows Amtrak out of the park, but I'm not a fan of the design of those new diners. It's just too cramped looking and airplane-esque, IMO.

 

[bretton88]

I think it's the better bet that dining car service will be eliminated systemwide. Such a shame. Just booked a trip on VIA.

Can we learn from other countries how to make dining cars an advantage for travelers choosing rail? https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/fv-dosto-dining-car-unveiled.html

On the flip side, Czech Railways, who supposedly has the best dining cars in Europe, is converting their restaurant cars to "bistro cars." This is widely seen as a massive downgrading of the service.

 

[jis]

Using Swiss Railways as an example for doing anything would seem to be more applicable to Regional Rail Service like NEC or California in this country. It is not really that big a country with that long an individual train ride involved in most cases. Most of it is very spectacular though, but enjoyed much better from open cars of local trains than hermetically sealed A/C Restaurant Cars on prestige trains. Just my personal taste mind you.

 

[jrud]

Another thing that seems to have changed is passenger mobility, judging by the folks I see waiting for trains at CUS. A 45 minute meal stop would never work for many of them.

I've ridden EB, SWC, and CZ numerous times but will never again take a LD ride if the diner is eliminated. I've always considered the diner part of the travel package even if I had to pay for the meal.

The Swiss SBB article talks about using the train’s differences from other transport methods as selling points rather than eliminating them in the name of economy. In many cases the door to door time is going to be longer on a train. So what can be used to differentiate the train to someone who is not a rail fan? Food? Scenery? Comfort? ??