Since I've been a bit critical of Diner Lite in my past few posts in this thread, let me take a moment to add a few thoughts.
First, thanks to Robert for his report.
Second, while I personally believe that Amtrak is barking up the wrong tree with this program, I am relieved to see that at least Amtrak is taking some time with the implimentation of this program and testing things out. Hopefully those tests and their findings will result in changes to how the rest of the cars are converted.
Amtrak seems to be taking a much more hands on and careful approach to introducing Diner Lite to the riding public, than they did initially with SDS which no pun intended, was basically shoved down our throats.
That said, I still don't think that this is the correct idea. As I've mentioned several times in other posts, by Amtrak's own admission, the rebranded Empire Builder is a rousing sucess. It has proved that you can't cut your way to profit, something that by and large Amtrak seems to be trying to do.
Yes one always needs to look for ways to improve things and to cut expenses when possible. But preferably one wants to do that without cutting services and amenities. Sadly too many of the programs and ideas coming out of Amtrak headquarters seem to only have one goal in mind, cutting expenses.
That doesn't lead to happy workers, it doesn't lead to happy customers, and it doesn't lead to actually cutting the losses that Amtrak is currently experiencing. If revenues drop at the same time that costs drop, then no savings has really been achieved. The losses remain at the same level, since even though you've saved money, you've also made less money.
I do realize that the SDS and Diner Lite programs are an outgrowth of the Congressional mandate to cut the losses on food service. But I'm sure that there were other possibilities, other ideas that could have been considered and weren't. Either no one was visionary enough to suggest or think of them, or those in charge simply discarded them out of hand in favor of the mentality "cut staff, cut costs" that seems to exist. And one thing that hasn't been mentioned so far in most discussions is the cost of converting these cars to Diner Lite. The cost is considerable, and one must consider the fact that in many cases, we are converting cars that are 30 years old. That's a lot of money being spent on an old car, for an unproven idea.
I keep returning to the Empire Builder, but it has proved that it is the best way to cut losses. Let's consider the numbers:
In 2005 the EB pulled in about $4 million more than it had in 2004, in 2006 the EB had raised revenue by $6.5 million from the prior year. The FRA allocated loss for the EB went from $15.6 million in 2005 down to $12.9 in 2006, while total overall loss from operating the train went from $43.1M in 2005 down to $35.1M in 2006.
Yes the train still lost money, but thanks to the improved service that was introduced in I believe the second month of the 2006 fiscal year, the Builder increased ridership, increased revenue, and decreased losses, all without cutting services or staffing. Clearly this is the correct answer, not Diner Lite and/or SDS.
