Amtrak's New "Fresh Choices" Dining on CL & LSL

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Partially, you were not seated as in the past, you just sat here you wanted. On a crowded train or meal period, I could see that changing. Also, since there are limited options at breakfast, the LSA just brings you a breakfast box. I guess you could say regular or decaf/ tea or juice are options, but I think folks get the message.
 
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PVD said:
Partially, you were not seated as in the past, you just sat here you wanted. On a crowded train or meal period, I could see that changing. Also, since there are limited options at breakfast, the LSA just brings you a breakfast box. I guess you could say regular or decaf/ tea or juice are options, but I think folks get the message.
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Thanks PVD. Regardless of how each of us may feel about the changes themselves I think we can all appreciate your timely reporting and willingness to respond to further inquiries. I doubt I'll ever be a fan of this new dining system but I am still thankful of the information you've brought to our forum.
 
Appreciated, I guess as a side note I should be happy the wi-fi is decent today and I am running late enough to have the laptop up, I don't think I have the patience to do this on my phone. My trip home Sunday on the CL will at least give me a chance to see first the hand dinner/lunch items and let folks know if they are decent quality. I can't speak for peoples' likes and dislikes, that is unfair, but I can make a reasonable judgement of appearance and quality.
 
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It's not amtraks job to employee more food service staff than it needs. It's also not Amtraks job to provide a historic dining car experience.

It is amtraks job to provide food service for passengers on its trains. Parts of this program make sense to me, others do not.

The items in the boxed meals look pretty high quality to me. If some hot selections are added for dinner and breakfast, I don't see too many major problems. It's hard to judge this without knowing what the final goal is.
 
It's not amtraks job to employee more food service staff than it needs. It's also not Amtraks job to provide a historic dining car experience.
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Interesting point of view. Love the part about historic.

It is amtraks job to provide food service for passengers on its trains.
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No its not Amtrak job or responsible. Common sense maybe but not its job.

Parts of this program make sense to me, others do not.
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What parts make sense?

The items in the boxed meals look pretty high quality to me. If some hot selections are added for dinner and breakfast, I don't see too many major problems.
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You like but only with addiction?

It's hard to judge this without knowing what the final goal is.
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The final goal is to provide a service that people want to use again.

Growth of your customer base.

Responsible of tax payer funds.

Cut your expense to the point of losing revenue is not a worthwhile goal.
 
Not sure, with the existing crew stretched to the max, how they can add anything hot. Since reducing labor costs seems to be the target of all this, adding an additional person doesn't seem to be an option. Sounds like the two protein bars are your lunch. Not much available for anyone with food allergies, like soy or gluten. The breakfast sounds better than the dinner. Generally, an antipasto is an appetizer, though some places have an entree that is an antipasto salad.
 
Handing someone a boxed meal is being stretched to the max? If the 1 LSA can heat up items for coach passengers in the cafe, sometimes with a seemingly never ending line, it seems they should be capable of the same for sleeping car passengers.

No, you have choices from the lunch menu for lunch, not protein bars.

The Antipasto is not the only option... I can see some people wanting that option for lunch or dinner.
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
It is amtraks job to provide food service for passengers on its trains.
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No its not Amtrak job or responsible. Common sense maybe but not its job.
Parts of this program make sense to me, others do not.
Click to expand...
What parts make sense?
The items in the boxed meals look pretty high quality to me. If some hot selections are added for dinner and breakfast, I don't see too many major problems.
Click to expand...
You like but only with addiction?
It's hard to judge this without knowing what the final goal is.
Click to expand...
The final goal is to provide a service that people want to use again.
Growth of your customer base.

Responsible of tax payer funds.

Cut your expense to the point of losing revenue is not a worthwhile goal.
Click to expand...
- I thinks it's a responsibility to provide some sort of food service on long distance trains. You could do it greyhound style I suppose...

- the parts that make sense to me are advertising the option to eat in your room, allowing customers more flexibility in where and when they want to eat. Allowing free, open seating in the diner. Eliminating extra service staff, offering better free drink options.

I meant "the final goal" as... Is the final goal to served all cold meals? Or is the goal to serve hot meals as well, but this is an easier way to start a new program.
 
This question is for PVD. How many employees are actually just working in the diner/sleeper lounge? You mentioned an LSA came by and had you fill out room number/car number, etc., but then you mentioned an attendant came by and offered you refills. Was the attendant offering you refills from the diner or was it a sleeping car attendant who was helping out in the diner?
 
When I took the LSL in a roomette CHI-NYP in February, our SCA wasn't very nice or helpful, and though at first we thought he was just a bad employee, we gradually got the since that he was actually a nice enough guy who was stretched incredibly thin. At the end of the ride, we were running 3 hours late, and he was doing everything he could to make sure we were all comfortable, and that the makeshift dinner they had scrambled together for us (supplies were limited) was satisfactory. When we tipped him at the end of the trip, he was incredibly grateful, further validating to me that he was a good guy trying his best. This new system gives the SCAs significantly more workload, and I think it is going to take a toll on the SCAs, leading to worse service for customers.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
It's not amtraks job to employee more food service staff than it needs. It's also not Amtraks job to provide a historic dining car experience.

It is amtraks job to provide food service for passengers on its trains. Parts of this program make sense to me, others do not.

The items in the boxed meals look pretty high quality to me. If some hot selections are added for dinner and breakfast, I don't see too many major problems. It's hard to judge this without knowing what the final goal is.
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I guess part of the question is how many will not pay the kind of fares they now seem to think are fair if no traditional food is served as always. Amtrak is not a plane, its not a bus it is an expensive long trip. How many railroads removed their diners on long distance trains in the past? Not many. Most considered good service and food the way to encourage passengers, even if in those days it wasn't working. Times have gone around again and people are utilizing rail more today than they were for some time. Do we really want to discourage many of those potential customers?
 
cpotisch said:
When I took the LSL in a roomette CHI-NYP in February, our SCA wasn't very nice or helpful, and though at first we thought he was just a bad employee, we gradually got the since that he was actually a nice enough guy who was stretched incredibly thin. At the end of the ride, we were running 3 hours late, and he was doing everything he could to make sure we were all comfortable, and that the makeshift dinner they had scrambled together for us (supplies were limited) was satisfactory. When we tipped him at the end of the trip, he was incredibly grateful, further validating to me that he was a good guy trying his best. This new system gives the SCAs significantly more workload, and I think it is going to take a toll on the SCAs, leading to worse service for customers.
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My two last rail trips seemed to indicate a new dedication to customer service at least as far as standard service was concerned. The diner was woefully understaffed and food pretty bad, but the woman was doing all she could to help out. There was one older man who was also the cafe attendant heating the food. He however was extremely rude to passengers attempting to eat who came from coach. All were sent out of the car or told they could only buy items from the cafe counter. The last women we passed who he did that too passed us in the aisle with her microwave sandwich and chips. I told her she was probably lucky they wouldn't sell her a dinner in the diner at the cost and taste of the food. She chuckled and when on.
 
It was not one of the SCA. I believe it was one of the coach attendants pitching in to help. I think I added the S in error in my original post. She had one of the pots from the diner, and offered a refill and tried to pick up anything that need throwing out .
 
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PVD said:
Just back from breakfast, new diner 68019. One slightly frazzled but friendly LSA. Occasional assistance from SCA. Decent coffee quickly, but in a paper cup. The breakfast box food quality was not bad, but I have to question some of the selections. A Kind bar and a Kashi bar. Personally I like both, but why have both? The fresh fruit was pretty good. Blueberry muffin and banana nut bread. Bread was good, I hate blueberries so that was not eaten. Perhaps a more generic muffin with a few different little packages of preserves and a pat of butter/spread would be better. Yogurt with fruit and granola (very good, 7 oz instead of the more common 5.3 that has taken over the industry) Toppings not mixed in, better in case you don't want them. Extensive nutrition and ingredients list packaged with the meal, appreciate the effort, but if they printed it on both sides of the card instead of cramming onto one, you could read it without an electron microscope. Missed the opportunity to chat with coach passengers that I used to enjoy on this train since many used to come in for breakfast, and yes I miss hot food (probably more so if this was a winter trip), calorie count, fats and carbs high, so some work on selections is in order.
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How can anybody not like blueberries? They are nature's perfect food!

Kidding aside, those meals don't look very filling. Maybe they're designed to increase sales in the cafe car.
 
The muffin was pretty large, and it was a 7oz yogurt not a smaller one. If you ate the whole box of food it is doubtful (based on the product assortment and nutrition breakdown) that you would still be hungry. Whether or not people will want to eat that particular assortment completely is an entirely different matter.
 
PVD said:
The muffin was pretty large, and it was a 7oz yogurt not a smaller one. If you ate the whole box of food it is doubtful (based on the product assortment and nutrition breakdown) that you would still be hungry. Whether or not people will want to eat that particular assortment completely is an entirely different matter.
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On the eastbound Capitol Ltd (perhaps should be re-named the Capital Limited?), the problem is that blood sugar will peak and crash after a sugar-and-starch-heavy breakfast long before the scheduled early-afternoon arrival time in DC. And the actual arrival time is often later.
 
PVD said:
The muffin was pretty large, and it was a 7oz yogurt not a smaller one. If you ate the whole box of food it is doubtful (based on the product assortment and nutrition breakdown) that you would still be hungry. Whether or not people will want to eat that particular assortment completely is an entirely different matter.
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I was actually commenting on the dinner selections. The breakfast you described did contain a lot of food.
 
MikefromCrete said:
PVD said:
The muffin was pretty large, and it was a 7oz yogurt not a smaller one. If you ate the whole box of food it is doubtful (based on the product assortment and nutrition breakdown) that you would still be hungry. Whether or not people will want to eat that particular assortment completely is an entirely different matter.
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I was actually commenting on the dinner selections. The breakfast you described did contain a lot of food.
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I don't think it helped that most people are only seeing the antipasto salad, which to me would be of appetizer size, not dinner size. The other picture posted looked much better to me, looked like plenty of ?chicken? on one side of the box.
 
tricia said:
PVD said:
The muffin was pretty large, and it was a 7oz yogurt not a smaller one. If you ate the whole box of food it is doubtful (based on the product assortment and nutrition breakdown) that you would still be hungry. Whether or not people will want to eat that particular assortment completely is an entirely different matter.
Click to expand...
On the eastbound Capitol Ltd (perhaps should be re-named the Capital Limited?), the problem is that blood sugar will peak and crash after a sugar-and-starch-heavy breakfast long before the scheduled early-afternoon arrival time in DC. And the actual arrival time is often later.
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Since the east bound Capitol runs during the published lunch hours it would seem reasonable it would serve lunch. Let's what the actual practice is.
 
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