Food Service Being Improved Again

[Amfleet]

While I'm not going to type out the whole article, I just read in my April 2004 NARP News that more changes are comming to food service on the Three Rivers and Cardinal. Those trains will no longer be serving Acela Express First Class meals, but instead two entrees off the general full service dining car menu will be avalible. The new entrees are to be packaged in kit form and warmed up in onboard convection ovens. This comes after many passengers felt that the Acela Express style entrees offered had too small portions for an overnight trip. Even better is that the new meal service will be offered to coach passengers at the same price as found on a regular dining car menu. No longer will coach passengers be stuck with the Stouffers meals offered in the past. The article also notes Amtrak is looking into similar menu improvements on the Palmetto and Carolinian.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I saw the same thing, Amfleet.

It is to be hoped that most of us here belong to NARP? We should seriously consider it, if we do not.

As to the menu, when I was on Acela last year I really enjoyed the food ....but I guess it was kind of small. Guess I had forgotten its smallness as it was quite tasty.

 

[saxman]

I am a member of NARP. It is nice to see whats going on in Congress about rail travel. Everyone on this forum should join like Bill said above. SeeNARP for details.

I'm glad to see some menus are getting better.

 

[Viewliner]

I'm glad to hear that meal service is further improving. Now if only we could get a full dining car on both routes...

 

[PRR 60]

Can anyone confirm or deny that at least some of the meals in the full service dining cars are being prepared the same way? That is, partially pre-cooked by the commissary (Gate Gourmet) and then warmed in convection ovens on the train for final serving. This is the same as airline meal preparation (for those who remember hot meals on planes). Even today, first class airline meals, prepared and served in the same manner, are pretty good.

It may seem blasphemous to rail purists, but if the food on the 3R is good and the food on Acela FC is good, then why not do the same thing on the dining cars at least to a degree? If it does not degrade quality and it saves money, then why not? It might also provide a consistency to the product that can be a little hit and miss right now.

And while I’m at it, I can never figure out why Amtrak runs its own food service anyway. Remember, Amtrak is in the train business, not the restaurant business. Let food people provide the food and let train people run the trains. Novel idea? Not really. Didn’t the AT&SF contract all the on-board food service to Fred Harvey Co.? If it made sense in the 1950’s for the Sante Fe, perhaps the best passenger RR of all time, why not today for Amtrak?

 

[Amfleet]

Except for items that are cooked to order (like eggs, burgers, and steak), I believe most everything is pre-cooked and then warmed in the kitchen. In my opinion it has streamlined food quality found throughout Amtrak's dining cars and allowed for faster production in the kitchen. So in a sense the idea of pre-cooked items and cooking items to order have both been put to use in dining cars.

As for contracting out a company to run Amtrak dining cars. I don't agree with that one bit. Look what happened when Amtrak contracted out other companies to perform maintenance. It was a complete disaster. Amtrak is the train business and the customer service business just as the airlines are in the flying business and also the customer service business. Imagine if airlines started contracting out other compainies to supply on board flight services and cabin attendants? It would turn into a complete disaster as the airline would have little control over the contracted companies ways of service and security.

 

[AlanB]

As for contracting out a company to run Amtrak dining cars. I don't agree with that one bit. Look what happened when Amtrak contracted out other companies to perform maintenance. It was a complete disaster. Amtrak is the train business and the customer service business just as the airlines are in the flying business and also the customer service business. Imagine if airlines started contracting out other compainies to supply on board flight services and cabin attendants? It would turn into a complete disaster as the airline would have little control over the contracted companies ways of service and security.

Alas, I have to disagree with you Amfleet.

It all comes down to picking the correct company to outsource to. Consider the Downeaster service, where Amtrak does not provide the cafe car service. The choices for food and it's quality and the typical service on the Downeaster lounges seems to far exceed the quality of food & service provided in a typical Amtrak staffed cafe car.

 

[amtrakmichigan]

Alas, I have to disagree with you Amfleet.
It all comes down to picking the correct company to outsource to.

I will have to disagree with you Alan The key word in what you said is finding the CORRECT company to run operations. The problem is how many tries would it take for Amtrak to find the right compant to do the job. We all know when it comes to business deals the sales guy will tell you everything that you want to hear and then some to sell his company to you. After a company gets a contract many times performance and quality goes down the drain, or certain details of service are forgotten about because the company has a contract now. In the meantime food service is falling apart with passengers felling like they got ripped off for a bunch of junk food and nobody is happy. Most likly it would take years for Amtrak to find the correct company after a lot of trial and error. Amtrak for the most part has a good food service system. Can it be improved ? Yes ! Should they scrap the food service business? No !

If passengers on the Three Rivers think the Acela type food is too small of portions but the food quality is very good, then why screw with it??? Just simply increase the portion size or give two portions and increase the price slightly.

 

[AlanB]

Alas, I have to disagree with you Amfleet.  

It all comes down to picking the correct company to outsource to.

I will have to disagree with you Alan The key word in what you said is finding the CORRECT company to run operations. The problem is how many tries would it take for Amtrak to find the right compant to do the job. We all know when it comes to business deals the sales guy will tell you everything that you want to hear and then some to sell his company to you. After a company gets a contract many times performance and quality goes down the drain, or certain details of service are forgotten about because the company has a contract now. In the meantime food service is falling apart with passengers felling like they got ripped off for a bunch of junk food and nobody is happy. Most likly it would take years for Amtrak to find the correct company after a lot of trial and error. Amtrak for the most part has a good food service system. Can it be improved ? Yes ! Should they scrap the food service business? No !

If passengers on the Three Rivers think the Acela type food is too small of portions but the food quality is very good, then why screw with it??? Just simply increase the portion size or give two portions and increase the price slightly.

Amtrak doesn't need to go looking for the right company. They already know where to find them, they're on Amtrak's Downeaster trains.

Now I'm not suggesting that Amtrak should indeed outsource either, I have mixed feelings about the idea. There are pros & cons to either alternative, in-house or outsourcing. I was simply responding Amfleet's post that it wouldn't work. He gave an example of a failed outsourcing, so I gave an example where outsourcing did work and worked very well, and still does to this day!

In all fairness, I should also mention that Amtrak does not hold the contract for the Downeaster food service. The company that runs the food service was picked by NNEPRA (Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority). NNEPRA actually pays Amtrak to run the trains and they contract out the food service on the train.

However returning to the topic at hand, finding the right company isn't about salesman. It's about Amtrak not trying to low-bid the job, they shouldn't be high bidding it either, and it's about putting into place the right contracts.

Contracts that spell out what is expected in terms of quality and service (Q & S), what the penalties are for failure to achieve the right level of Q & S and they should be big penalties, and Amtrak's ensuring that they monitor and enforce the terms of the contract.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Does anyone know when the improved meal service is supposed to take effect? I sure hope it's before June 2nd!

Thanks!

 

[Jeff O]

I have had many food experiences on Amtrak-most of them were average. The service the lsl dining car was excellent. However the food service on the Adirondack to and from Montreal were downright horrible.

One trip that stands out in my mind was about two years ago leaving Montreal with the A/C barely working they ran out of food and drinks before they got to Albany having not packed much to begin with. The Food Svc attendant insisted and lloked like he enjoyed making you guess what he had left. He actually yelled at an English passenger for saying "please just tell me what you have...."

Needless to say it was cruel and unusual punishment not to mention dangerous for some, I am diabetic and I was lucky to find a candy bar in my wifes bag or I would have had low blood sugar.

I witnessed this myself and am not making it up.

It's magical moments like this that make the public (me) think maybe outsourcing isnt a bad idea.

 

[F59 PHI]

When will the card get its diner back?

 

[battalion51]

I think that's slated for the October schedule change.

 

[Amfleet]

I think that's slated for the October schedule change.

Amtrak's Reservation site is stating it will return this summer, but with the new meal service it may be stalled.