Silver Star - Dining Car ?

[Ryan]

Seriously?

You don't think that the interior of a ViewDiner isn't preferable to the 70's cave era Amfleet Cafe?

Not to mention, the kitchen area can be used to provide better food service than a refrigerator and a microwave.

 

[cpotisch]

Seriously?

You don't think that the interior of a ViewDiner isn't preferable to the 70's cave era Amfleet Cafe?

Not to mention, the kitchen area can be used to provide better food service than a refrigerator and a microwave.

I 100% feel that the interior of a ViewDiner is preferable to an Amfleet cafe. Completely. I just mean it might not be worth it if modifications to layout or service would have to be made. The AmCans have the snack selection easily visible and accessible to customers. ViewDiners have the food prep area completely enclosed. Not saying its a huge deal, just that Amtrak might not want to bother making any effort towards a better cafe experience on the Star. If they think that it won't affect ridership or revenue, they won't care in the slightest. I could be wrong and it might make tons of money to add a ViewDiner, but otherwise, I doubt they care.

 

[keelhauled]

Amfleet food service cars have been converted into coaches, if they can convert the four Amfleet lounges and use the Viewliners it'd probably be worth it. The diners are coming whether they want them or not.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Who said the VLII was replacing the cafe car?

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[dlagrua]

The way I view all of this is that Amtrak will decide to keep/add a dining car when they believe that its beneficial for business. Take the Cardinal for instance; it has been without a dining car for years. The fares are high, the sleeper prices exorbitant (IMO a poor value) and it completely sells out many months of the year. Its doubtful that we will ever see a dining car on this train again especially due to the small consist in the "off season" .

As for the Silvers, Amtrak will probably do an extended yearly revenue comparison between the two trains before deciding if both will have new diners. On other trains, its also anyone's guess what will happen but the direction doesn't look good right now. . Speaking for ourselves; if the dining car service is further cut back, we will undoubtedly start doing more road trip vacations After many hours on a train or on the road its vital for us to sit down at a table, relax, avoid the fatty unhealthy fast foods and enjoy a hot meal. Even if its Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans food, its better than what Amtrak offers in their cafe/diner lite cars. The new CEO must learn that unlike with air travel, passengers who travel on LD trains are on them for extended periods of time and meals are important to some of us. If Amtrak keeps charging more and providing less; is this the success formula for the LD trains?

 

[Walt]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

Amtrak is already usually slower than cars or busses, and that would only make it worse. I think what many people here seem to forget or ignore is that Amtrak is primarily a method of transportation, not a vacation, and if it is going to continue being funding or even receiving more funding it should act this way. I do, however, think there are certain situations where Amtrak should allow passengers to get off and get a meal, if only to bring back on the train. For example, passengers continuing on LD trains through extended stops could be informed about the food options in or near the station and guaranteed that the train will not leave until a set time, even if it is late (maybe a minimum of 30 minutes). Even if there is not much near the station, passengers could order food to be delivered as some people have already tried at extended stops. In addition to this strategy, I would encourage Amtrak to add some additional items to the cafe car menu, especially if Viewliners are used for the service. I understand that some members here would ride less or no longer ride, but I doubt it would have a significant impact on trains that are already usually near sold out, especially if capacity improvements and lower costs for Amtrak allow for lower fares or at least flash sales like the one that just occured.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

Yeah, because everybody lives like its the 1890's.

 

[IndyLions]

In regards to Dining Car service - we are all ignoring the Giant Elephant in the room...Amtrak dining car employees make too much money for what the food service market will bear. These days, being a chef/maitre d/manager/etc can be a great career. But let’s face it - what Amtrak needs are short order cooks and servers working their way up - not making a career on the train. Offer long time employees a buy out and start over with different rules and market-based wages. Didn’t the airlines do that a while back with flight attendants?

They’ve already reduced dining car costs other ways - I think market based wages are the inevitable next step. That or eliminating dining car service altogether.

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[Walt]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

Yeah, because everybody lives like its the 1890's.

Good point. Lets get rid of all the 1890's modes of transportation like stage coaches and trains.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

Yeah, because everybody lives like its the 1890's.

Good point. Lets get rid of all the 1890's modes of transportation like stage coaches and trains.

Nobody here is saying that any mode of transportation that existed in the 1800s should automatically be eliminated. However, both mechanically and operationally, modern trains are much different to those from that time period. We need to accept the evolution that has made modern train travel reasonable. As much as we like travelling on Amtrak, I think we can agree that using 100+ year old trains would be a ridiculous method of modern intercity transportation.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Seriously????

Great idea! Let's cut all Amtrak employees wages, ( except for the Suits since it's well known that they are the brains and the worker bees are the muscle) pay the servers in the food service cars minimum wages plus tips, and the other OBS and short order cooks $10 an hour like the fast food workers!

The Conductors and Engineers are way overpaid too, so cut their pay in half and people will still line up to take these cushy jobs! And get rid of those expensive pensions and insurance, it'll save a bundle!

The Huge savings can then be used to buy new equipment so we can add more trains that no-one will want to work on and make them more like buses and cheapie airlines!

This will really impress the so called "Budget Hawks",Labor bashers, and Amtrak Haters in Congress, and the sheeple that vote for these charlatans!

The new Amtrak slogan: " Cut your way to Prosperity on the backs of the help!"( Sarcasm turned off!)

 

[xyzzy]

No one can predict the future with certainty. What we can say, I think, is that restoring a traditional diner to the Silver Star seems improbable... perhaps highly improbable.

 

[Lonestar648]

I think before Amtrak will reduce wages, they will eliminate the Dining Cars.

Returning the DC to the Star is a problem for management since they have to justify the rise in sleeper fares with meals provided.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Personally, I think we need to go back to the old days where the train was required to make a one hour+ stop, every four hours, so that any/all passengers can get off and find a local restaurant to get something to eat. To save that one hour+ stop, was the drive to add a dining car to LD trains, and not the potential revenue from it.

Yeah, because everybody lives like its the 1890's.

Good point. Lets get rid of all the 1890's modes of transportation like stage coaches and trains.

Perhaps you missed my point. I'm saying stopping trains for 30 or60 minutes so passengers can jump off and buy food somewhere is not an idea consistent with 21st century travel. It worked well in the 19th century before the invention of dining cars but would be totally impractical today. It would drive people away from train travel. It wouldn't be useful for regional or intercity trains where the time of transit is important. For LD trains it would add even more hours to a long train trip, discouraging travel.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Straight from the top:

Q. Will Train 91, the Silver Star, ever see dining car service restored?

A. No.

Tops change over time

So no Top in its right mind can make an eternal promise, unless theya re suffering from a god complex, in which what they say does not matter. They are probably delusional anyway.

Let's just make this easier for everyone. As long as the current group (CEO, COO, CAO,CFO) is running Amtrak, full service dining car options will not return to the Star. I don't even anticipate diner lite returning to the Star. Even if we get a new CEO, the rest of them will attempt to block the return.

I'd expect more to follow before I'd expect restoration of these services to trains without them.

 

[dlagrua]

Seriously????

Great idea! Let's cut all Amtrak employees wages, ( except for the Suits since it's well known that they are the brains and the worker bees are the muscle) pay the servers in the food service cars minimum wages plus tips, and the other OBS and short order cooks $10 an hour like the fast food workers!

The Conductors and Engineers are way overpaid too, so cut their pay in half and people will still line up to take these cushy jobs! And get rid of those expensive pensions and insurance, it'll save a bundle!

The Huge savings can then be used to buy new equipment so we can add more trains that no-one will want to work on and make them more like buses and cheapie airlines!

This will really impress the so called "Budget Hawks",Labor bashers, and Amtrak Haters in Congress, and the sheeple that vote for these charlatans!

The new Amtrak slogan: " Cut your way to Prosperity on the backs of the help!"( Sarcasm turned off!)

I don't believe that the suggestion was to cut food service employees wages. The point was that Amtrak food service people get paid much higher wages than at any restaurant. Its fine to treat people fairly but the high cost of diner labor may factor in to cancellation of the service. If this happens all food service workers go on the unemployment line. Further cut backs in the labor force could be coming.. Don't want to see it, and I oppose it, but Anderson is a corporate guy and this is how they think. They care only about PROFIT not people. That's the sad reality of it. .

 

[Ryan]

I don't believe that the suggestion was to cut food service employees wages.

I think that it was. Let's go to the videotape.

But let’s face it - what Amtrak needs are short order cooks and servers working their way up - not making a career on the train. Offer long time employees a buy out and start over with different rules and market-based wages.

Sure sounds like it to me.

 

[cpotisch]

Having hour long stops st a quarter of the stations would tack on a ton of time to the schedule. The Silvers would add 5 or more hours to the schedule, the CZ would add 10, etc. LD train travel would become unjustifiable lengthy for many people. I have a better idea: What if we just have a special train car in the consist that serves people food while the train IS IN MOTION.

 

[Bob Dylan]

In case it was missed, CEO Anderson put out a memo to all the Employees with a mention that agreements had been reached on contracts with most of the crafts that included nice raises for the members.

Now we just have to keep pushing for the Suits to not eliminate the Chef positions and utilize the New Diners on all ofthe Single Level LD trains as they were meant to be used,ie the LSL,Cardinal,and Starvation. (even though Thirdrail hints this is a Longshot)

 

[jis]

... utilize the New Diners on all ofthe Single Level LD trains as they were meant to be used,ie the LSL,Cardinal,and Starvation. (even though Thirdrail hints this is a Longshot)

Thirdrail basically said that this is a shot in the opposite direction

Shooting into your own barracks instead of at the enemy in the new world order.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

At this point, im just hoping long distance trains themselves survive.

Delta's target customer is not the low budget no frills customer. So hopefully we will see a plan that makes sense for the long distance trains.

We don't need chefs to have a quality long distance experience. But we do need decent food and beverage service options. In my opinion from personal experience the Silver Star and the City of New Orleans do not offer this.

 

[Lonestar648]

The way the food is prepared now on the Dining Car, you really do not need a qualified Chef. An experienced Line Cook can handle the work. There is not a staff of line cooks to manage, which is one of the duties of a Chef, besides creating the menu. A line cook is preparing the meals per instructions. I think that is what is happening now.

 

[jis]

Yeah, there certainly is no flexibility for anyone on the train to decide on a menu, other than choosing to eliminate things from the prescribed menu (as things run out).

 

[PVD]

Chef is a job title, what are the job qualifications and responsibilities associated with the title at Amtrak, not what do we associate with the broader concept in the restaurant/catering world?