My suggestion?
Dome cars on LD trains.
Real domes with 360 degree views.
Not those fake domes that can't look over any of the other cars.
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Coach
-a shower would be nice, one in each car.
-a small "soundproof" lounge for parents to bring screaming kids or for telephone calls
-reserved ASSIGNED SEATS (PLEASE!)
Great suggestions and great idea for a thread.
The only suggestion I disagreed was the one for more video screens. While it would be nice its absolutely unnecessary in this era. Proof positive is my recent trip on Cathay Pacific. The First Class seat has a screen larger than my laptop linked to thousands of audio and video options. And yet I never watched even a single show, in either direction no less, over the course of thirty odd hours. Between my phone and my tablet and my laptop I had more media than I could possibly watch in ten trips and it was all perfectly select just for me, by my very own brain. Thousands of options that have nothing to do with my sensibilities is a waste of time in the modern era. That really made me rethink any initiative involving Amtrak installing video screens. If you walk down any LD train youll see dozens or even hundreds of screens. Having Wi-Fi would be great though. Even airlines have it now, even over oceans in some cases.
Sleepers
-limited laundry service for bedrooms
-personal movie screens for videos and game rentals
-a box lunch option for meals (brought to room)
Eh? Id pass on all of that, even before considering the costs and logistics. The main thing I want for sleepers are cleaner and more modern furnishings. They're generally old, ugly, and dirty to my eyes.
General
-wi-fi on all trains
-vendors that walked the aisles selling soft drinks, candy bars, sandwiches (sometimes it's the power of suggestion)
-onboard newsstand; can't tell you how many times I see people with puzzle books and wish I'd brought one; I thought the café car sold decks of cards years ago, they could expand on that with a few books/magazines.
Besides Wi-Fi I dont find any of that to be a compelling improvement.
Wi-Fi on every route would be nice, but it would be extremely difficult in the remote areas some of the LD routes travel through. I can't even get cellular bars through some stretches near the Raton and Glorieta Passes.
I hear that a lot, but Im not sure that its really the technological nightmare that is often assumed. I cant get any cellular bars on modern aircraft and yet about half of those same aircraft do have Wi-Fi thats fast enough to actually be useful.
I like the boxed lunch option, the strolling vendor option, and the shower option for coach. Although, I can't imagine how nightmarish that shower room would look.
There are many more passengers in coach, per car, than there are in the sleepers.
I find the concern over the state of the showers to be rather odd. Rather than had icky showers well just have everyone sit in their own filth for days at a time? Besides, shouldnt the staff be cleaning those showers? What else does a coach attendant do besides sit on their arse?
Assigned seats at the time of booking.
Agreed. I think the failure with assigned seats on Acela may not be all that relevant for LD trains. Acela is a short ride, which is the whole point for its existence, last I checked anyway. Its also stuck in a part of the country where folks seem to take pride in ignoring the rules, and each other for that matter. So its not a huge shock to me that few folks cared to sit in their selected seats or leave when the rightful passenger showed up.
