I signed the petition, though I thought it was a bit wordy and didn't make the greatest argument about why restoring dining car service to long distance trains is an important public priority. Here's a sample letter I'm composing to send to Mr. Anderson, with copies to my representative, senators and the relevant House and Senate committee chairs. (I did resist the temptation to include "Such lousy food! And such small portions!"
) Suggestions would be appreciated, and I may change this some after I actually have a chance to sample the new food regime:
Dear Mr. Anderson:
I have been an Amtrak customer since 1971 when the company was founded. I am currently a Select Plus member of Amtrak Guest rewards and ride frequently. Although I mostly ride the Northeast Corridor, I also frequently ride the Carolinian, the Atlantic Coast Service, the Vermonter, Empire service, and I make 1 to 2 long-distance trips a year. Over the past five years, I've noticed a deterioration of on-board service on many Amtrak routes. While I understand the need to prioritize safety, state of good repair of equipment, and on-time performance, adequate on-board service is also essential to maintain the attractiveness of passenger rail as compared to other transportation modes.
In particular, on-board food service is very important for travelers making trips longer than four hours, especially if traveling during meal times. Although most major rail terminals have some outlets where take-out food is available, a large percentage of Amtrak travelers board at stations where such facilities don't exist. Some passengers may be able to prepare their meals at home of their outbound trip, but the vast majority of them won't be able to do so before their return trip. It thus seems that having high quality on-board food service is essential for Amtrak to maintain its competitive edge.
The deterioration in on-board food service is found mainly in the dining car service on longer trips, and I fear the the implementation of the new "flexible dining option" for the eastern trains will further accelerate this decline. During the past five years, I've noticed that certain management decisions, such as reductions in staff, limited service hours, and inadequate stocking of food items has made the dining experience less attractive and has reduced the potential for Amtrak to increase it's earnings from food and beverage sales. The overhead costs of maintaining a dining car are constant. I have observed that the procedures in place resulted in far less earnings then were possible.
In fact, I have personal experience of this unfulfilled demand. On a recent trip on the Silver Service, I was riding coach, and was unable to secure a dining car reservation. I was not the only coach passenger in this position. I remember in the early days of Amtrak, dining car service was faster and more efficient, allowing a higher throughput of customers than is now the case. This may help explain why the dining cars are not performing as well as everyone would like financially.
The flexible dining in its current implementation needs some major changes if it is to provide the kind of attractive on-board food service need to maintain Amtrak's competitive edge. I have noted some of the problems on recent trips I have made on the Capitol Limited and the Cardinal:
1. Flexible dining is not available for coach passengers. I understand there are plans to make it available, and these should be put in place as soon as possible.
2. The dining car is severely understaffed, which results in slow and inconsistent service, which is now only being provided to sleeping car passengers, who are paying a large premium for the service. Poor service at high prices could drive away sleeping car passengers, who provide a significant source of revenue for these trains.
3. The quality of the food served is not as good as it could be. Most of it is unhealthy with excessively high salt and sugar content. Ingredient lists of the food items are not readily available, which is problematic for people with allergies or other dietary restrictions.
4. There is not enough of a variety of items from which to choose. While it is true that most of these trains are relatively short overnight trips, my Chicago to Baltimore trip on the Cardinal involved service of two dinners and a lunch, all from the same menu. Also, it is quite common for items from the already limited menu to be out of stock (sometimes early in the trip), reducing food variety even more.
I understand the desire to economize on food service, especially in light of Congressional mandates regarding its profitability. However, profitability can be achieved by increasing revenue in addition to cutting costs. My experience over the past five years suggests to me that Amtrak's management is solely concerned with cutting costs and is not thinking of ways to increase revenue. There are many examples in the transportation industry of profitable carriers providing good quality on-board food service. Surely Amtrak can learn from them and provide a better product than is available now.
Sincerely yours,
LJB
