Was my letter to Amtrak too strong?

[Mystic River Dragon]

Thanks to all of you. I now have much food for thought. (Yes, that choice of words was on purpose! )

Manny--you make a very good point. I will have to see if there is enough travel money to take both over the winter and compare.

jis--I thought of that, too. I think you still follow NJ stuff, so you know that my two senators generally support rail, but that one of them has his own problems to deal with at the moment. My new congressman is of the opposite party, but I have already emailed him several times about transportation funding, and I don't want to send him so many letters all at once that he thinks I'm a cranky wackadoodle.

I do agree with others, however, that it is important to contact people who might have a say in the outcome. But I think I will compromise--I believe several people on here are going to test out the Star situation in person in the fall. I will wait to see what their reaction is, then hopefully have a trip of my own in the winter (I would do it from PHL going south, because you can pretty much stock up on food in Philadelphia for several months in the wilderness, let alone one overnight! )

I thank you all for putting up with my earlier snarkiness about this. I finally realized that I was so upset because they were messing with one of my two favorite trains. I love the Silver Star. (My other favorite is the Keystone from PHL to HAR, which is like sitting in a cozy chair in your living room and is a completely different experience than the Star, but just as lovely and peaceful for a short trip). And, on a serious note, I realize that I am very lucky to be able to eat at all when others have nothing, and I did not mean to sound so self-centered.

Now, back to work so I can save that travel money!

 

[R30A]

I am rather strongly of the opinion that this is exactly what Amtrak management wants to hear. I strongly suspect this is a test meant to fail. The more complaints they get, the more evidence they have that cutting dining cars is not a successful alternative.

 

[Ryan]

That is my belief as well.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I agree with R30A and Ryan.

 

[tommylicious]

i think your letter is aok

 

[Dakota 400]

After my October Amtrak journey, I wrote a snail mail letter to Mr. Boardman and received a snail mail response signed by Mr. Boardman. While e-mail messages may inform the company of what one wants them to hear, I do truly think snail mail has a better chance of getting more attention.

And, I would not be shy about keeping your Congressmen informed of your opinions as well, no matter how often one contacts them. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

 

[I always rode the Southern]

I thought your letter was very good. And I agree with your POV completely.

But for your opinion to have any impact, you would have to ride the train overnight without a dining car and THEN write them to say it sucks.

First way, you're just opining; second way, you're evaluating your actual experience--I think they would want the latter.

Why should my opinion, or any of us who have taken the star and avoided the cafe car not have any impact? Because the impact is loss of ridership, taking the train even once anyway, gives the wrong message on that basis.

The star is/was my train of logic/ choice before the change. I have no intention of riding it without the diner I don't need to experience it since there is no way I would eat any of the processed junk they serve in the cafe car. I have tried it, I hate it, and I try to eat as healthy as possible. If they upgraded the food, sure I would try it, but not as it stands. I'll use points for the meteor if necessary, and at least for the next few months I can take my car and ride the auto train for less factoring food and car rental in was.

 

[TrackWalker]

Well written letter.

For a wider audience I would also edit and expand it as a letter to the editor and send it to all my local newspapers and weeklies.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I think Amtrak may be collecting letters like the OP's to present to Congressional committees at the end of this "experiment." Also send a copy of your letter to your congressman and senators. They pay a lot of attention to letters from constituents and it can't hurt for them to know your feellngs.

 

[mycalpal]

I am so glad you took the time to write exactly what you wrote. Thank you. I grew up riding Amtrak in the Northeast and now take it every year cross country, back and around the country from California to New York and Boston and back. I would not pay the money for the "first class" sleeper service without the dining car. They cut the welcome reception on the Lake Shore Limited last year and it wasn't just a perk, the reception was only partial compensation for the lack of dinner service out of Chicago. To give the Amtrak crew some credit, the crew responded to welcome reception cut by starting the breakfast service an hour earlier last year, I don't know if they still do this, but I will find out next week when I travel. I, for one, will not continue to take these trips if the few remaining amenities, dining car service, station lounges and pre-boarding are cut.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

mycalpal--

Thanks for the encouraging feedback. I am sorting through the excellent suggestions above and figuring out my next steps. (Although we have gotten to our 90 degree summer days, which I'm sure you remember from living in the Northeast, so I am pretty much out of commission til it gets cooler and less humid!).

Also, I see that you are fairly new, so welcome ! As you can see, there are varied, but well-thought-out, opinions on this forum from an intelligent and welcoming group of people. It's the only forum I participate in.