Discontinued Ammenities

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denmarks

denmarks

Train Travel Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Messages
676
Location
Chico, CA
On my trip on the CZ last week I noticed that there is no longer a free newspaper for sleeper passengers. I also noticed that the bed is not put up or down unless requested. It used to be done during breakfast and dinner without asking.

There were only beverages in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. No chips. The only food was salad during the wine tasting.

What else seems to have been eliminated?
 
I've been tracking on LD trains since 2011 and I don't recall getting a newspaper except maybe the first year. That amenity has been gone for quite a few years.

As to the beds, that's probably just your SCA being extremely busy or not doing his/her job.

The new ML in CHI is not run by Amtrak, as I recall, so don't blame Amtrak.
 
I remember getting a newspaper on my first LD trip in 2010. I think they were gone by my second trip in 2012.
 
On #5 earlier this week, the SCA in the 31 car was offering some wrapped snacks and some candies to passers-by through his car.
 
Several amenities were eliminated on long distance trains in February 2014. These include:

newspapers, wine tasting, cloth table cloths, flowers in vases on dining tables, china place settings including china coffee cups, chocolate squares, amenity kits, and complimentary cranberry juice. Not all trains offered every amenity but if they did, they were eliminated.

As far as turn down and make up of beds, it seems this works at the discretion of the attendant. Some will do it automatically but most will ask you when you's like. the beds made or request that you use the call button.
 
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RalphCT said:
Several amenities were eliminated on long distance trains in February 2014. These include:

..., cloth table cloths ...china place settings including china coffee cups,... complimentary cranberry juice.
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On my trip last week there were cloth tablecloths for some breakfasts. Other than that there was a stack of paper that seemed to be waxed on the underside. They would just remove the top layer after each seating.

Plates were very thin plastic and coffee cups were paper. There was cranberry juice available.
 
MARC Rider said:
Johanna said:
I remember getting a newspaper on my first LD trip in 2010. I think they were gone by my second trip in 2012.
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They were still giving out newspapers in 2010? My recollection was that stopped earlier than that. I used to enjoy reading the Toledo Blade when I rode the westbound Capitol Limited.
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I was on the northbound Coast Starlight, Octoberish 2010. They gave us some little two-page paper from Klamath Falls or someplace. I remember there was an article about the Amtrak station.
 
There used to be lots of amenities that over the years Amtrak has had to eliminate to make it look like they were trying to get closer to breaking even. I will say that the newspapers seemed to have fewer and fewer people actually opening them. It used to be that coffee was 24x7 in the sleeper, with a selection of snacks and drinks available. All the SCA's used to be available for what ever you needed when ever you needed, with no time restrictions.
 
At one time they gave sleeper passenger's a snack pack with crackers. cheese, chocolates, etc...along with a small bottle of wine, IIRC. And they gave USA Today newspapers, except on Sunday, when there was no edition, they would give out a local newspaper from the trains route...
 
I remember the "Empire Builder" bottle of wine and two "Empire Builder" glasses. I have a large box of the glasses from taking so many trips and I kept one unopened bottle of the wine. These were on a white linen napkin on the table pulled out with a stainless holder of a flower. There was a cheese and cracker box for each person. The chocolate on your pillow at turn down.
 
Philly Amtrak Fan said:
Pillows (at least to coach passengers). Do I remember them being given out in coach correctly?
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Free pillows are provided in business coach. Comfort kits, which include an inflatable pillow, are sold in the SSL. It's been more than a decade, IIRC, since pillows were handed out free to LD passengers.
Many LD trains pre-Amtrak would rent pillows for 25 cents.
 
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I remember when the attendants would shine your shoes if you left them in the slot. I wonder how that would fly today,
 
Some amenities have disappeared in the last few years, the newspaper, the dinner chocolates, ice cream, the flower on the dining car table, 24/7 coffee in the sleepers and the availability of ice. For while the dinner menu was also being reduced but this year it looks like it went back to a large number of options.

As for the newspaper, hardly anyone reads them anyway and its all negative misleading information. I can do without that. Like most of the younger generations, I get my news online.

While I miss the other amenities, the two that bother me the most is the hard to find ice in the sleepers. They put out hot juice and many times no ice is near. A cup of hot juice is not pleasant. The other amenity I miss is the flower in the vase on the table. It was a nice touch. Think about it. That's one flower for each of the 30 tables and it is used all day for the couple hundred passengers that use the diner. So figure that out. The flower costs about 50 cents and they need 30 or them each day. That's the whopping cost of $15.Now if you amortize the cost per passenger, it amounts to about 8 cents per person but there's even more too it. Fares have soared so the plan is to charge more and give you less. That kind of "cost savings" really irritates me.
 
Re: Flowers.... didn't they use silk flowers?

All they had to do with those was vacuum off the dust, occasionally...
 
railiner said:
Re: Flowers.... didn't they use silk flowers? All they had to do with those was vacuum off the dust, occasionally...
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Maybe on some trains toward the end. I think those might have been provided by the crew. The examples I remember were small but real. Flowers and table cloths may seem like silly amenities to miss but they really helped to visually differentiate Amtrak dining from other experiences. Otherwise you're just sitting at some generic vinyl and fiberglass table/bench like you'd find in any number of bottom run fast food chains like Taco Bell and Long John Silvers.
 
AmtrakBlue said:
I've been tracking on LD trains since 2011 and I don't recall getting a newspaper except maybe the first year. That amenity has been gone for quite a few years.

As to the beds, that's probably just your SCA being extremely busy or not doing his/her job.

The new ML in CHI is not run by Amtrak, as I recall, so don't blame Amtrak.
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Doesn't matter who "runs" the ML. It is a facilty provided under the Amtrak name, funded by Amtrak, and done for Amtrak passengers. Amtrak is the decider of what the service standard is and what the offerings are.
 

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