No Coach food on 19(12)

[basketmaker]

I always bring some food and drink when I get on an Amtrak train, but many simply won't know they could be stuck without food if things go wrong.
Giving away free food to hungry passengers seems the kind thing to do if payment options fail?
I have been a coach passenger in the past, when the diner failed, free food was brought to the train from KFC...

They did that on a trip several years ago but it was McDonalds. I have seen Domino's and several local pizzarias deliver to the various trains that folks have ordered prior to arrival. Only time I brought edibles was a big loaf of sourdough bread I picked up at Fisherman's Wharf. Munched on it all the way back to Fulton, KY.

 

[JWM]

This whole thing is ridiculous. When it comes to pax trains, we are a third world country. Amtrak never had a clue about operating dining cars. For example, the Santa Fe could, and did, serve 350 passengers dinner out of a 36 seat dining car. Ok, they had six waiters, a steward, and three in the galley one of whiom was a dishwasher/stacker. They were unionized, too. It's not the employees' fault either. When we get back to what hopefully is normal, the 80 seat Superliner dining cars, with adequate staff, can serve a lot more. It's so frustrating to this 71 year old who grew up with riding some great trains.

 

[JWM]

They don't give a fig. I'm sure the only thing stopping them would be the massive complaints to congress critters by constituents and then the critters would shove the problem down Amtrak management's throats.

Amtrak management is simply too incompetent, too uncaring, too matter-of-fact about how they treat their paying customers. Simple as that. They don't have any concept of customer service whatsoever.

Maybe "let them eat cake"?

 

[MARC Rider]

It's now been 12 days since the original post, and from the comments, you would think that Amtrak is utterly unable to provide even the most limited cafe car service to coach riders. In the real world, however, the Crescent has been running every day (even if behind schedule), and the cafe car appears to be operating perfectly well. Was this melt down on the 12th a one-off? Can one make global assertions about the competence of Amtrak management on the basis of this melt down? Who knows?

 

[TheVig]

It's now been 12 days since the original post, and from the comments, you would think that Amtrak is utterly unable to provide even the most limited cafe car service to coach riders. In the real world, however, the Crescent has been running every day (even if behind schedule), and the cafe car appears to be operating perfectly well. Was this melt down on the 12th a one-off? Can one make global assertions about the competence of Amtrak management on the basis of this melt down? Who knows?

I learned a long time ago. You can run a train through a carwash of rainbows and sunshine, however someone will find something to complain about.

 

[Rasputin]

Can one make global assertions about the competence of Amtrak management on the basis of this melt down?

These meltdowns seem to happen on a periodic basis somewhere in the system. So, the answer is yes.

 

[MARC Rider]

These meltdowns seem to happen on a periodic basis somewhere in the system. So, the answer is yes.

Sure, they have problems running out of food items, and the selection could be better, but I've never seen them where they can't take your money.

 

[CTANut]

They could buy a tablet and card reader for $200 or less per attendant. That is what some fast food places do when their registers go down.

 

[CTANut]

This is an example
https://squareup.com/us/en/hardware...25&pdv=c&pkw=square+terminal&pmt=e&pub=GOOGLE

 

[johnmiller]

We went on the California Zephyr over Thanksgiving. The vent fan for the grill was out, and they didn't fix it before we left Chicago. So, us "First Class" passengers had microwaved food as the only options for two plus days. We had come up to Chicago on the City of New Orleans from Memphis, so the microwaved stuff was all you could get there. After close to three days without any decent food, we were pretty fed up.

 

[Sidney]

We went on the California Zephyr over Thanksgiving. The vent fan for the grill was out, and they didn't fix it before we left Chicago. So, us "First Class" passengers had microwaved food as the only options for two plus days. We had come up to Chicago on the City of New Orleans from Memphis, so the microwaved stuff was all you could get there. After close to three days without any decent food, we were pretty fed up.

Why wasn't it fixed before leaving Chicago? Another truly incompetent Amtrak move.

 

[johnmiller]

Why wasn't it fixed before leaving Chicago? Another truly incompetent Amtrak move.

December 2017 was the last time before this that I had ridden Amtrak more than six hours. And I quickly found out that there was a reason for that. After Richard Anderson and this other guy killed off a lot of Amtrak, I am guessing that there is little reason to ride it anymore.