Business Class Offered Aboard Cardinal Effective January 19, 2016

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People are forgetting about the Adirondack which is a prime candidate for BC!

I agree that the Lake Shore would be an excellent LD choice also, not so sure about the Card however!
 
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Business class on the LSL is pretty logical, really, thanks to the presence of BC on the rest of Empire Service. I think:

(a) it would have to be a half-and-half car; I doubt the demand is there for a full BC car, and half-and-halfs get used on the rest of Empire Service

and (b) it would have to go to New York for service consistency.

This would provide a cafe on the New York-Albany portion of the run, which is highly desirable.

The full lounge is still needed west of Albany because it gets used very heavily overnight (really), and that should head to Boston as it does now. West of Albany, the half-and-half car could be staffed and the full lounge unstaffed. (There have been some periods when the LSL ran a cafe from Boston and a cafe from NY, one staffed and one unstaffed, so they know how to do it.)
 
Having ridden the LSL as well as Empire Service a number of times, mostly to or from NYP, but also LSL to/from Albany and Chicago (driving down from LPL and leaving car) I agree with you assesment 100 %.
 
I like the idea of BC on the Cardinal--if someone wants to go, for example, from New York to Staunton, that could be an uncomfortably long ride in coach but not worth springing for a roomette.

I also like the idea for the Adirondack--I have avoided that train, even though I realize it has beautiful scenery, because it sounds much too crowded. With BC, you would at least be guaranteed a seat.
 
AmtrakLKL said:
I'm hearing some chatter that business class will expand to another eastern LDSL train soon. Not much in the way of details, just that it is coming. It's refreshing to see Amtrak trying new things to raise revenue.
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It may come at the expense of an existing service.
 
Ryan said:
All remaining single level diners? :ph34r:
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I suspect Thirdrail7 is writing about the limited supply of Amfleet I club-dinette cars with the BC seating on 1 side. If another eastern LD train gets the club-dinette car, a corridor train may have to lose the fancy 2x1 BC seats. However, if a state supported corridor train gets the full length BC Amfleet I car instead with 62 BC seats instead of 18 BC seats, that may be fine with the state DOT overseers because the additional BC seats can generate more revenue and thus reduced subsidies.
 
afigg said:
Ryan said:
All remaining single level diners? :ph34r:
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I suspect Thirdrail7 is writing about the limited supply of Amfleet I club-dinette cars with the BC seating on 1 side. If another eastern LD train gets the club-dinette car, a corridor train may have to lose the fancy 2x1 BC seats. However, if a state supported corridor train gets the full length BC Amfleet I car instead with 62 BC seats instead of 18 BC seats, that may be fine with the state DOT overseers because the additional BC seats can generate more revenue and thus reduced subsidies.
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I was thinking something on the same line, but being unfamiliar with all the different types of cars and the corridor trains, etc, didn't want to post anything.
 
The Empire Service trains that don't go past Albany have B/C but AFAIK the café is unstaffed. There are probably a few split cars that could be swapped out on those sets. Albany to Penn and back a few trains with some work tables might be very attractive and it may well be worth reconfiguring a few full BC cars to include that.
 
PVD said:
The Empire Service trains that don't go past Albany have B/C but AFAIK the café is unstaffed. There are probably a few split cars that could be swapped out on those sets.
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Very logical place to put full business-class cars; no point in having the half-cafe if it's not staffed, that's a waste.
 
PVD said:
The Empire Service trains that don't go past Albany have B/C but AFAIK the café is unstaffed. There are probably a few split cars that could be swapped out on those sets. Albany to Penn and back a few trains with some work tables might be very attractive and it may well be worth reconfiguring a few full BC cars to include that.
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neroden said:
PVD said:
The Empire Service trains that don't go past Albany have B/C but AFAIK the café is unstaffed. There are probably a few split cars that could be swapped out on those sets.
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Very logical place to put full business-class cars; no point in having the half-cafe if it's not staffed, that's a waste.
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The fleet is (pretty much) uniform for a reason. There are almost no consists that run exclusively NYP-ALB-NYP. There are a few sets that tend to stay local for a day or two however, if you remove the cafe, you rob yourself of the ability to combat a disruption. In other words, ALB 234 turns for NY 283 . You need the cafe car in the consist. ALB 236 turns for NY 235, so under your plan, the cafe car is removed. Sounds good, but now 234 has an equipment problem. Under the current, uniform fleet, 236's equipment can be moved up to represent 283. In your case, that equipment is useless as 283. You'd have to cut the extra coach and try to dig up a replacement cafe...which are quite elusive.

With a cafe in every consist, any set can represent any train, at any time, at any location. There are MANY days where the answer is "whatever is ready first, goes first."
 
Thirdrail7 stated the why it gets done that way in NY. However there no reason we tax payers can't make Amtrak do it right for the people who are traveling. It's not like New York has no say in the matter anymore.

I am planning to make the NARP ESPA meeting in March. Too bad there is nobody from the State of New York Rail Division going to be there.

Ask the question before, but do we have one point of contact for NY state's Amtrak service?
 
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Just-Thinking-51 said:
Thirdrail7 stated the why it gets done that way in NY. However there no reason we tax payers can't make Amtrak do it right for the people who are traveling. It's not like New York has no say in the matter anymore.
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Um...who do you think is behind the decisions? Do you really think Amtrak would use the valuable split club car if they had a choice? NYS has their assigned pool and this is how the utilization was worked out. The P32s are in their pool which is why they are coming out of the shops with an Empire State seal and Phase III paint. Even the pointing has to go through NYS.

Personally, I would love to take the split clubs off the ALB trains.
 
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I think Amtrak made the decision. A long time before NY state was paying for the service. If the cafe cars are not in service, offer NY a full 2+1 car instead. More tickets to be sold, no more expensive to run than the cafe car.

Even if you need to refit a coach into a 2+1 business car, the increase revenue will cover the upgrade.

Heck sweeten the deal by add B-class to the LSL.
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
I think Amtrak made the decision. A long time before NY state was paying for the service. If the cafe cars are not in service, offer NY a full 2+1 car instead. More tickets to be sold, no more expensive to run than the cafe car.

Even if you need to refit a coach into a 2+1 business car, the increase revenue will cover the upgrade.

Heck sweeten the deal by add B-class to the LSL.
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I'll attempt this one more time.

NYS has an assigned equipment pool. They've had it for quite some time. What happened a "long time ago" is no longer relevant. They decide their consists. If NYS wants to pay for full business class cars, they certainly have the means and the option.

Additionally, the 2+1 cars have been gone for years and I can't see NYS paying to refit a full coach into a 33 seater.

Ideally, the 53 seat cafe car would still exist and solve a lot of problems system wide.
 
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AmtrakLKL said:
I'm hearing some chatter that business class will expand to another eastern LDSL train soon. Not much in the way of details, just that it is coming. It's refreshing to see Amtrak trying new things to raise revenue.
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Well? Are you starting a new thread?
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
"B-Class will be on the Lake Shore Limited soon"

Per Amtrak, of course your "soon" and Amtrak soon may not be the same.

ESPA/NARP 2016 meeting.
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Good. Given the immense coach traffic on that train, and the high fares, that should rake in quite a lot of money.
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
Thirdrail7 said:
There is definitely something coming before that. :ph34r:
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And that something is called a V2 Crew/Bagged car, and a V2 dinner for in service testing. The lack of a real winter, and a early spring not helping the testing.
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Um...no. I wouldn't bring that up in the business class thread as I would bring that up in the viewliner thread. There is a LD train that will soon feature business class. If no one brings it up, I will post it provided it shows on the website.
 
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