July 1st Service Change Recap

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peconicstation

Service Attendant
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Mar 21, 2015
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With July 1st just under 2 weeks away, this is a good time to recap what changes are due to take effect July 1st.

As we all know the Silver Star will no longer offer a full service dining car, as part of a "test" to run through January of'16.

The lounge car will offer Amtraks National Cafe Car Menu as it's only food offerings.

It has been reported that the City of New Orleans will loose it's on-board chef, and it's meal service will mirror what is offered on the Cardinal.

Are there any other changes that take effect that day ?

Ken
 
Doesn't the star also transfer one sleeper to the meteor?
 
I heard that here, back when the diner news first broke...
 
CCC1007 said:
Doesn't the star also transfer one sleeper to the meteor?
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Dropping the Dining Car is the only change to the Silver Star on July 1. It will retain checked baggage service, two sleepers, lounge and four coaches. Whether it gets bumped up to three sleepers and five coaches over the holidays again is yet to be seen. I assume booking trends with the new fares between now and then will determine the holiday plans. If the Star does gain holiday capacity, it will be rather interesting to see one LSA take care of 325+ passengers. Let's hope they get the inventory levels right (keeping in mind that running out of some items towards the end-of-trip is exactly how the system is supposed to work.)
 
Thanks for posting this, we usually take the CONO once a year or so, was going to book an august trip. Think I'll pass now. If they're removing chefs off that train, wouldn't surprise me to see them do it on the TE too. If that happens, I'm all but out of train options. Hopefully this is a temporary trial and not the beginnings of another service related death spiral.
 
AmtrakLKL said:
CCC1007 said:
Doesn't the star also transfer one sleeper to the meteor?
Click to expand...
If the Star does gain holiday capacity, it will be rather interesting to see one LSA take care of 325+ passengers. Let's hope they get the inventory levels right (keeping in mind that running out of some items towards the end-of-trip is exactly how the system is supposed to work.)
Click to expand...
Hopefully it's someone who has experienced crowds because it can get overwhelming. That said, most of the average Regionals will have 275+. The busier ones out of Boston (93/86, 195/194, 95/94, 99/194, 171/176) on a very quiet trip will have 350+, on those weekend runs, expect to peak at over 500.

It's non-stop, with no end in sight, but it is possible to handle.
 
Keep in mind though that on the Regionals people often eat before or after their trip since its only a few hours on average. On a long distance train people often eat at least one meal if not more.
 
battalion51 said:
Keep in mind though that on the Regionals people often eat before or after their trip since its only a few hours on average. On a long distance train people often eat at least one meal if not more.
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This is a major point (a four hour trip is quite different from a twenty hour trip). Stocking also seems to be an issue...I believe that a Regional can, in a pinch, do a partial reload of food in New York or Washington. The Silvers can reload some stuff in DC if needed, but south of there I think the only maybe point to reload would be Savannah (and that's a big "maybe" since I don't recall if the Palmetto can restock there).
 
peconicstation said:
With July 1st just under 2 weeks away, this is a good time to recap what changes are due to take effect July 1st.

As we all know the Silver Star will no longer offer a full service dining car, as part of a "test" to run through January of'16.

The lounge car will offer Amtraks National Cafe Car Menu as it's only food offerings.

It has been reported that the City of New Orleans will loose it's on-board chef, and it's meal service will mirror what is offered on the Cardinal.

Are there any other changes that take effect that day ?

Ken
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with the food offerings on the Cardinal - what does this mean? Boxed lunches or no diner service at all?
 
DryCreek said:
peconicstation said:
With July 1st just under 2 weeks away, this is a good time to recap what changes are due to take effect July 1st.

As we all know the Silver Star will no longer offer a full service dining car, as part of a "test" to run through January of'16.

The lounge car will offer Amtraks National Cafe Car Menu as it's only food offerings.

It has been reported that the City of New Orleans will loose it's on-board chef, and it's meal service will mirror what is offered on the Cardinal.

Are there any other changes that take effect that day ?

Ken
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with the food offerings on the Cardinal - what does this mean? Boxed lunches or no diner service at all?
Click to expand...
Convection Oven - food prepped in the "cafe". Half the car is diner, half is cafe.
 
jimhudson said:
TiBike said:
That looks as good as or maybe better than what's in the regular dining cars.
Click to expand...
I've enjoyed my trips and meals on the Card! The bad part is the Diner Lite itself ( neither a Lounge nor a Diner) and the only less than good menu item, the French Toast " sticks"!
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Agreed. The food is not the worst problem; it's the layout of the cars. Some tables have no window next to them, and another 2 person table faces a blank wall. Also on the Cardinal trip I took back in 2010 (granted it may have changed), one of the tables with a window was used for plate, utensil and condement storage. There is little attempt to liven up the car decor wise; it's basically plain booths and vinyl walls. Included also is a "conductor office"; why would conducters use this space when they can easily take 2 two or more tables on the other side of the car from paying passengers? (In fairness, the space is small and unappealing.)
 
Not the best to me. Pulled out of Chicago one time and ordered ice cream and was told they forgot to put it on.Shoulda told me they ran out but being the first and only one in the dinner...boring car for sure but I only ride it to and from Cincinnati to Chicago.
 
Thanks for getting me up to speed on the diner-lite thing. It sounds like a single level attempt to mimic the Coast To Coast lounge failure in the Superliner fleet. The one on the Texas Eagle is a waste of space.
 
The TE DC and Cafe hours seem to be shrinking (DC 6:30 - 8:30 / 12:30 - 1:30 / 5:30 - 7:30), café is open until 10 PM with numerous 90 minute breaks and a very limited selection.
 
Lonestar648 said:
The TE DC and Cafe hours seem to be shrinking (DC 6:30 - 8:30 / 12:30 - 1:30 / 5:30 - 7:30), café is open until 10 PM with numerous 90 minute breaks and a very limited selection.
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Bad news for us here in Austin and Eagle riders!

Wonder if they are fixing to eliminate the Cafe LSA position like on the CONO and move the Cafe to the CCC??

On #22 last call for Breakfast was @ Austin ( 9:30am), Lunch started after the Temple stop ( 11:30@m) with last call @_Ft. Worth and Dinner started in East Texas after the Mineola stop.( LSA took Dinner rez after Dallas stop)

On #21, Lunch started after the Dallas stop( 1130@m) and Last Call was leaving Ft. Worth. Dinner started after Temple ( 5pm First Call) with Last Call after the Austin stop. ( 630pm)

The Cafe Hours were always until 1030pm on #21 and #22 with 1 hour meal breaks for the LSA which were announced with notice to allow passengers to stock up!
 
I rode #22 on the 18th (SAS-CHI). They finished breakfast before Austin, Lunch started just before 12:30, and last call was less than 60 minutes later. Dinner was either 5:30 or 6:30. Breakfast started at 6:30 the next morning and last call for the wait list was 8:15. They were out of some items on the menu from the very start. I have seen the café have twice the selection I saw on this trip.

With the rain, many of the seats in the SLC were soaked with dripping from the roof windows. The DC was not a CCC so they only used 4 rows of booths. Also, the SC was on the rear instead of next to the DC.

Also, the SCA said he was changing trains but refused to say why. He was excellent trying to anticipate everyone's needs.
 
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