New dining options (flex dining) effective October 1, 2019

[Anderson]

They were rolled out with the original cross country cafe concept from about 10 years ago. They were on many national menus also along with other appetizers such as chicken wings. Most of the time the dining car was “out” of the appetizers. I’m not sure if the staff didn’t want to serve them, or they stopped stocking them on certain trains. I do remember riding the lake shore limited and a table mate ordered the chicken wings.

They also got rid of a "standard" chicken caesar salad in the last Regional menu overhaul. Instead, the only salad option is some hipster crap with quinoa.

 

[SanDiegan]

OH MAN, what an idea!!!! Got My Vote!

Popeye’s chicken sandwiches ! People would be fighting to get on Amtrak

 

[erierail]

This topic is off the rails. trying to compare the LSA position on a long distance train to a convenience store worker is insane IMO.

Arnt these guys all union. That number probably reflects amtrak contribution to thier pension and health care. Most fast food workers are not offered many benifits

 

[Qapla]

This topic is off the rails. trying to compare the LSA position on a long distance train to a convenience store worker is insane IMO.

You're right, if that is the point gotten from my post about convenience stores then those following the comparison of the LSA to a store clerk are on the siding track - the comment was intended to compare the relative quality, diversity and availability of the food offered, not the people serving it ... along with the idea that convenience stores make a profit even with this low cost food service system.

 

[erierail]

This topic is off the rails. trying to compare the LSA position on a long distance train to a convenience store worker is insane IMO.

Indeed claims that LSA make 15.32 an hour. LSA supervisors, 32.00 an hour. Dont know how accurate this might be.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Indeed claims that LSA make 15.32 an hour. LSA supervisors, 32.00 an hour. Dont know how accurate this might be.

The average is.... $23 an hour. So yeah that fits with what Glassdoor says. I don’t think there is an LSA supervisor is there? An LSA is an LSA afaik.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I don't remember the particulars, but it seems like @ one time after the elimination of the Train Chief (??) Position , the Diner Steward was the " Supervisor" of the OBS on the Train.( under the Authority of the Conductor)

I dont believe this appliesd to the LSA in the Cafe also???

Any Amtrak employees have the Current info???

 

[me_little_me]

Sure, why not.

The convenience stores I go to have nachos, taquitos, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, breakfast sandwiches, lunchables, fresh fruit, a variety of cold sandwiches and other selections.

You forgot the healthy stuff - fresh donuts not just packaged muffins. Remember, fresh is healthy - even if it is all corn syrup and sugar along with trans fats.

 

[jis]

I don't remember the particulars, but it seems like @ one time after the elimination of the Train Chief (??) Position , the Diner Steward was the " Supervisor" of the OBS on the Train.( under the Authority of the Conductor)

I dont believe this appliesd to the LSA in the Cafe also???

Any Amtrak employees have the Current info???

Didn't that whole thing lead to a major kerfuffle with the Unions and the whole concept of OBS Supervisor was dropped?

Incidentally, in most other countries for reserved trains with significant OBS there usually is a Supervisor separate from the operating crew, something like the Chief Purser on an airline flight.

 

[OBS]

I don't remember the particulars, but it seems like @ one time after the elimination of the Train Chief (??) Position , the Diner Steward was the " Supervisor" of the OBS on the Train.( under the Authority of the Conductor)

I dont believe this appliesd to the LSA in the Cafe also???

Any Amtrak employees have the Current info???

Both things you stated are correct.

 

[Qapla]

We ate at The Olive Garden for lunch and they are having their "take home an Entree for $5" ...

It struck me that the take-home meal is reheated in much the same way as the new dining on the East LD Trains - and once heated, all things considered, I think I'd rather eat the $5 "frozen dinner" from Olive Garden than the overpriced meals people have pictured from the train

 

[user 14106]

I am currently on 448 tonight from SPG to BOS. I just went to the café car to get a beverage...…….I thought about asking the café car attendant about how flex dining is going but didn't have the heart to. I have to admit though I am enjoying the newly improved Amfleet 2 seating in my car. I also noticed sleeper Croton River is on 448 tonight....that's somewhat scary that car seems to be following me. I have slept on it twice two years ago on the Crescent (both directions) and it was on my train on the Meteor earlier this year both ways. It seems whenever I take a train with Viewliners Croton River is there.

 

[jiml]

You forgot the healthy stuff - fresh donuts not just packaged muffins. Remember, fresh is healthy - even if it is all corn syrup and sugar along with trans fats.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I know this subject has been beaten to death here, but up to this point I have been unhappy yet accepting of the changes. That is, until I read this story. Now I'm ticked. Data my...you know what.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tran...itional-dining-car-some-long-distance-trains/

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

What a crock. This isn’t what customers want. The surveys were a shame just like the bus survey they did for the SWC. Of course ridership numbers are steady it’s been 5 weeks! Correct me if I’m wrong the LS and CL are slightly down since it started quite a while before on them.

 

[neroden]

You are correct. LSL ridership and revenue went down a few months after each dining downgrade (it had several downgrades before the final atrocity). The ridership loss on the other trains will be visible in a year... riders just have not discovered the downgrades yet. The revenue and ridership crash has a natural time lag.

 

[ehbowen]

You are correct. LSL ridership and revenue went down a few months after each dining downgrade (it had several downgrades before the final atrocity). The ridership loss on the other trains will be visible in a year... riders just have not discovered the downgrades yet. The revenue and ridership crash has a natural time lag.

I'm afraid that Amtrak management is going to interpret these numbers in a "heads I win, tails you lose" manner. Ridership stays steady immediately after the food service cuts? Obviously they're fine with our customer base. Ridership goes into a steady decline throughout the following year? Obviously no one wants to ride long distance trains anymore; time for more cuts!

 

[user 14106]

They will view it as a success if the lower expenses make up for any revenue loss from lower ridership. What the ridership drop would have to be to make it a net negative not sure. Probably look at multiple years of Capitol limited ridership to see if its affect on the overall loss of the LD trains has decreased - if it has they’ll call a success (the best train to look at right now because the first year of the new dining on the LSL had no New York section so not a fare comparison and LSL ridership recovered a bit this year with the restoration to normal service.)

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

To take it a step farther I think Anderson is treating the dining cars as a diversion. He’s on record as wanting or scheming to dismantle the network, 5-10 trains. He was able to skate through yesterday’s major hearing and we only hear reports about the dining cars in the news. A quote on the importance of table cloths....really?

 

[keelhauled]

If Amtrak brass was hellbent on killing long distance trains, all they have to legally do is issue a discontinuance notice effective in 180 days. They fact that they haven't done so seems to me to indicate that their plans are at least somewhat less simplistic than a simple "long distance train=bad" equation.

 

[MARC Rider]

To take it a step farther I think Anderson is treating the dining cars as a diversion. He’s on record as wanting or scheming to dismantle the network, 5-10 trains. He was able to skate through yesterday’s major hearing and we only hear reports about the dining cars in the news. A quote on the importance of table cloths....really?

Tablecloths? There weren't any tablecloths on the Texas Eagle when I rode it down to the gathering, and they had traditional diner service? This isn't about tablecloths.

I don't know whether to pin such misleading stuff on Amtrak management or a lazy reporter who has decided what this is about without spending the time to contact other sources (like the RPA) privately before writing the story.

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

Read the article the counterproductive table cloth quote came from Jim Matthews of RPA.

“I got stacks of letters in my office from folks who really don’t want to see that pass,” Mathews said. “They understand that maybe we can’t have the big, thick filet anymore, but the idea of sitting at a table with no tablecloth … that’s just not what they were looking for and certainly not what they paid for.”

 

[Rasputin]

A quote on the importance of table cloths....really?

I don't know what the fetish is about table cloths. I dined recently at about 8 or 9 very good restaurants in DC including one that was listed in a recent New York Times article about the best new restaurants in DC. Only two of the restaurants used table cloths. The restaurant mentioned in the Times article did not.

The RPA's concern about the lack of table cloths is misguided and counterproductive. It is the quality of the food, period.

 

[jis]

RPA has no fetish about table cloth. It was a passing comment on examples of things that RPA surveys have thrown up. It is fine that some don't agree with a particular issue that keeps coming up in surveys. But that does not change the fact that they do come up in surveys. So maybe it is time to give up the fetish about others deemed fetish about table cloth?

 

[Rasputin]

RPA has no fetish about table cloth. It was a passing comment on examples of things that RPA surveys have thrown up. It is fine that some don't agree with a particular issue that keeps coming up in surveys. But that does not change the fact that they do come up in surveys. So maybe it is time to give up the fetish about others deemed fetish about table cloth?

Why would RPA even mention such a side issue such as table cloths (how about flowers, were they mentioned?) which is a distraction and only provides fodder to the enemies of long distance trains?