Chicago's new Metropolitan Lounge Information

[NorthShore]

But I'm surprised that Clinton Blue is a priority for accessibility, even being the obvious connection from O'Hare to Union Station, because its layout makes installing elevator(s) a real bear. It's deep as Chicago subway stations go due to the river crossing, and the escalators to the platform from the mezzanine are loooooong. As it is now, the stairs to the platform end up a good distance behind the escalators. If I recall the layout correctly, an elevator entrance (because elevators go straight down) would pretty much have to be a block away from the existing station entrance. And that would either be:

*one block east of Clinton -- Canal St., near Union Station -- but then wheelchairs would have to get around the escalators and I don't think the platform is wide enough, or

*the west end of the platform, which would avoid the problem of getting around the escalators but would be a block farther away from Union Station.

But, probably, right by the Greyhound station.

 

[NorthShore]

Extra credit and off-topic for Amtrak: I'd love for anyone to explain how to make North & Clybourn Red accessible, beginning with explaining exactly where the platforms *are* in relation to the station house.

A lot of underground "mezzanine" work. Expensive. You need an all-underground platform-to-mezzanine elevator on the southbound side, and a platform-to-mezzanine-to-headhouse elevator on the northbound side (possibly with a headhouse extension depending on the exact position of the platforms). The northbound side should be pretty easy. The southbound side will probably require temporary closure of Clybourn Ave., maybe Dayton St. as well., and maybe some property acquisition, to get the elevator in.

Are the tracks directly under Clybourn? Auxiliary entrances/elevators on either side of the street, perhaps with payment gates at platform level could work.

 

[Eric S]

Recall, Daley had some sort of plan for a new L line which would have, indeed, run under Clinton.

The West Loop Transportation Center, or Clinton Street Subway, was/is the project. At one time it was planned as a multi-level/multi-modal tunnel, with separate levels for buses, rapid transit, and mainline (Amtrak/Metra) rail. There is still some occasional discussion in planning circles.

 

[neroden]

Extra credit and off-topic for Amtrak: I'd love for anyone to explain how to make North & Clybourn Red accessible, beginning with explaining exactly where the platforms *are* in relation to the station house.

A lot of underground "mezzanine" work. Expensive. You need an all-underground platform-to-mezzanine elevator on the southbound side, and a platform-to-mezzanine-to-headhouse elevator on the northbound side (possibly with a headhouse extension depending on the exact position of the platforms). The northbound side should be pretty easy. The southbound side will probably require temporary closure of Clybourn Ave., maybe Dayton St. as well., and maybe some property acquisition, to get the elevator in.

Are the tracks directly under Clybourn? Auxiliary entrances/elevators on either side of the street, perhaps with payment gates at platform level could work.

The tracks are directly under Clybourn heading south from the station, and swerve east of Clybourn as they head north. I'm not sure exactly where the swerve starts; I think it's north of the station.

 

[TrainLoverJoy]

Am I the only one who will miss the old Metropolitan? It always represented the beginning of the adventure.

 

[neroden]

Well, for those of us starting in Syracuse, NY it wasn't the beginning of the adventure, it was a snooze in the middle of the adventure. It was nicer than nothing, but... I won't miss it when the new one opens.

 

[busboy]

I'm going thru Chicago on June 5, hope the new lounge is open by then!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Include me in the group that wont miss the current Metro Dungeon, er Lounge and the Bossy staff that ran the place!

I will miss the luggage room and the friendly Red Cap that ran it, but am totally looking forward to seeing the New Joint!

Hopefully New York and Washington will follow the same MO and replace the too small CAs that are in use now!

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I just had a really bad idea - since Amtrak's now in the process of cutting costs and ruining stuff (like the dining car, AGR, etc.), I wonder if they'll eventually stop giving all sleeping car passengers free access to the lounge?

For the most part, Amtrak stopped calling sleeping car passengers "first class" a long time ago. I could see them giving everyone access for a couple of years - just so everyone sees how nice it is and get used to using it - and then start limiting access to just those passengers with enough points / status. Those passengers traveling in sleepers who don't have status could buy day passes with AGR points or cash.

 

[Bob Dylan]

If they keep following the airlines model you can book it that this will happen sooner rather than later!

 

[neroden]

That would be... dumb.

Charging for the showers is already a revenue-generating add-on (and yes, I'm assuming they'll charge for the showers, if only to limit usage). Charging sleeper passengers for lounge access wouldn't really benefit Amtrak; it would just annoy sleeper passengers and reduce sleeper revenue.

One function of the Metro Lounge is actually to get the passengers who are on long layovers from one train to another -- I'd guess a majority of these are in sleepers on *one* of those legs -- out of the way of the other passengers. Without letting them in the Metro Lounge, that's more people camping out in the main circulation areas and main waiting rooms and blocking traffic.

 

[SarahZ]

One function of the Metro Lounge is actually to get the passengers who are on long layovers from one train to another -- I'd guess a majority of these are in sleepers on *one* of those legs -- out of the way of the other passengers. Without letting them in the Metro Lounge, that's more people camping out in the main circulation areas and main waiting rooms and blocking traffic.

Agreed.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I just had a really bad idea - since Amtrak's now in the process of cutting costs and ruining stuff (like the dining car, AGR, etc.), I wonder if they'll eventually stop giving all sleeping car passengers free access to the lounge?

&

If they keep following the airlines model you can book it that this will happen sooner rather than later!

&

That would be... dumb. Charging for the showers is already a revenue-generating add-on (and yes, I'm assuming they'll charge for the showers, if only to limit usage). Charging sleeper passengers for lounge access wouldn't really benefit Amtrak; it would just annoy sleeper passengers and reduce sleeper revenue.

More like that would be...entirely predictable. Charging for access to a lounge and/or requiring status is precisely how it works in the airline market. Charging for showers in lounges where they exist is precisely how it does not work in the airline market. Over the past few years Amtrak has made it as clear as possible that following the airline model is their current path, to the point of copycatting weirdly specific bans on fad toys.

 

[neroden]

I stand by my assessment of "dumb". Copying the airlines has been dumb since the Metroliner/Amfleet design fiasco. It's just dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

I'm not saying that Amtrak mismanagement won't do DUMB things. Maybe they will. They do have a record of doing dumb things. But they're still dumb.

 

[jis]

Just as a clarification and memory jog ... the Metroliner design fiasco was not Amtrak's doing. It predates Amtrak be several years. The same era also produced the gunslit windows on the Silverliners and the Jersey Arrows, and the followup from that on Comets.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I'm not saying that Amtrak mismanagement won't do DUMB things. Maybe they will. They do have a record of doing dumb things. But they're still dumb.

I agree - my word for it was "terrible." But I'm trying to remember the last time Amtrak spent millions of dollars on something non-essential, just because they wanted to make things better for their passengers. I'm no expert, but after 10 years or so of taking Amtrak trips every year, I honestly can't think of one single thing that's better now than it was 10 years ago.

I can see things like the Meteor / Star "experiment" carrying over to another train, especially one going through Chicago. "Your base price in a Roomette is X. Would you like to add meals in the dining car to that? Your new total will be X + $200. Would you like to add lounge access to that as well? Your new total is now X + $250." I strongly suspect that once they figure out how to add reliable WiFi onto the long distance trains, it won't be free. They'd probably charge for luggage if they could figure out how. Nickeled and dimed, just like the airlines.

 

[neroden]

Turns out by providing "free perks" (which don't really cost much to operate) you can often raise ticket prices by way more than you could if you charged separately. The Metro Lounge will have between 1 and 4 staff members to serve *all* the trains through Chicago, and will pull a large portion of the "waiting for a long time" passengers out of the traffic flow (a major benefit to Amtrak and Metra). I firmly expect no significant additional running costs. They'll probably be able to keep sleeper prices higher for every single train going through Chicago by giving "free" access to the Metro Lounge... and I'm sure this will raise more money than charging people individually will.

Maybe it would be different if there were really more profits to be made from the "cheap roomette" market than the "expensive roomette" market, but everything I've seen indicate that there aren't, particularly given the sleeper car shortage.

The only sane reason to price extras would be overcrowding (for instance, WiFi overloaded or excessive lines at the showers).

 

[RSG]

Am I the only one who will miss the old Metropolitan? It always represented the beginning of the adventure.

I will miss it, a little bit. I never knew its predecessor, which by all accounts had seen much better days by the time it was replaced; in addition to being called "God's Waiting Room" (this from a 70-year-old who noted he was one of the younger occupants during his trips, when writing about the experience online). It certainly did represent the beginning of the adventure (or in my case, the turning point; unless the destination was CHI).

I also appreciate the certain level of class they tried to impart, even though the choices in furniture turned out to be not the wisest. Still, it is better maintained than the Acela Lounge in Boston, as I noticed on a recent trip.

 

[RSG]

I just had a really bad idea - since Amtrak's now in the process of cutting costs and ruining stuff (like the dining car, AGR, etc.), I wonder if they'll eventually stop giving all sleeping car passengers free access to the lounge?

&

If they keep following the airlines model you can book it that this will happen sooner rather than later!

&

That would be... dumb. Charging for the showers is already a revenue-generating add-on (and yes, I'm assuming they'll charge for the showers, if only to limit usage). Charging sleeper passengers for lounge access wouldn't really benefit Amtrak; it would just annoy sleeper passengers and reduce sleeper revenue.

More like that would be...entirely predictable. Charging for access to a lounge and/or requiring status is precisely how it works in the airline market. Charging for showers in lounges where they exist is precisely how it does not work in the airline market. Over the past few years Amtrak has made it as clear as possible that following the airline model is their current path, to the point of copycatting weirdly specific bans on fad toys.

Except that Amtrak and the airlines are not synonymous when it comes to travel comparisons. The airline lounges have always been a perk for the upper-level frequent travelers and that is still the case in many instances today. Even the purchase of a high-priced First Class ticket doesn't guarantee complimentary access to the airline lounge.

In the case of Amtrak, the lounges have served a dual purpose: both as a perk for very frequent travelers and/or the well-heeled traveler looking to escape the riff-raff cluttering the main waiting areas and the everyday overnight traveler who needs to easily transition between trains while doing so in a separate class of travel which occupies separate cars in the consist.

I fully grant that some bean counters would like to think that the airline and Amtrak lounges are comparable, but when they try to make them so and endure the resulting backlash, it is they who I predict will need to do another kind of bean counting.

 

[RSG]

I'm not saying that Amtrak mismanagement won't do DUMB things. Maybe they will. They do have a record of doing dumb things. But they're still dumb.

I agree - my word for it was "terrible." But I'm trying to remember the last time Amtrak spent millions of dollars on something non-essential, just because they wanted to make things better for their passengers. I'm no expert, but after 10 years or so of taking Amtrak trips every year, I honestly can't think of one single thing that's better now than it was 10 years ago.

I can see things like the Meteor / Star "experiment" carrying over to another train, especially one going through Chicago. "Your base price in a Roomette is X. Would you like to add meals in the dining car to that? Your new total will be X + $200. Would you like to add lounge access to that as well? Your new total is now X + $250." I strongly suspect that once they figure out how to add reliable WiFi onto the long distance trains, it won't be free. They'd probably charge for luggage if they could figure out how. Nickeled and dimed, just like the airlines.

If you've noticed, Amtrak has already figured out how to start charging for luggage, albeit in a sleight-of-hand way: baggage which doesn't conform to the increasingly restrictive requirements for carry-ons is subject to a $20/bag surcharge. (I was advised by a Red Cap when departing one of the east coast stations in January to “not let the conductor touch my bags” lest I be assessed that surcharge.) Baggage which is overweight can't be checked at stations with scales at the ticket counter, thus technically subjecting bags to the carry-on surcharge.

I suspect this is to eliminate or discourage that which was happening to the airlines in the '80s, where people were bringing full-size sombreros and TV sets and trash bags filled with all sorts of odds & ends, but mostly as a convenience and housekeeping issue rather than a revenue generator.

But there's another difference between airlines and Amtrak: the nature of airplanes makes them ultra-sensitive to weight issues. Pilots must calculate their expected total load before they can make preparations for takeoff, as that directly impacts the lift and the anticipated fuel consumption, particularly in very warm weather. If airlines were truly thinking of both flight dynamics and economics, they would assign a maximum weight value per passenger and implement charges in excess of that maximum value. Of course this would require weighing all passengers as well as their luggage and it doesn't take a customer service expert to figure out how that would play out in today's hypersensitive society.

Additionally, I can't think of an airport with scheduled airline service that doesn't offer checked baggage service, whereas with Amtrak, I would say that the majority of their stations (and many of the trains) do not offer checked baggage service, due to the absence of being a staffed station (and absence of baggage cars, in the case of trains). So there are practical reasons why it would make little sense to ordinarily charge for baggage.

 

[RSG]

[..] They'd probably charge for luggage if they could figure out how. Nickeled and dimed, just like the airlines.

There's a reason airlines are nickel-and-diming. The cost of a coach ticket simply doesn't cover the operational costs. Indeed, I haven't seen much difference in the lowest ticket price between points of travel since I was regularly flying in the '90s. Denver-based aviation consultant Mike Boyd noted about ten years ago that the minimum cost for a commercial airline flight, on standard domestic routes, was $465/seat. Therefore, if there were empty seats on a particular flight, and/or passengers weren't paying a minimum of that amount to ride on that plane, the flight was losing money. How many tickets between major airports are sold for that amount and up on an average flight today, ten years later? Probably not many. Since the ticket prices haven't risen, as a whole, and costs have, airlines have had to find other ways to make up the shortfall. Thus the charges for everything which used to be free, plus the elimination of some amenities altogether.

Compare that to Amtrak, where, aside from the discussions around subsidies and farebox recovery, coach tickets are relatively stable and sales & promotions, while many, are not at the cutthroat level of the airlines. Accommodations charges are even more stable, with almost no discounts offered and yet still subject to capacity-controlled pricing. Yes, there will be a bean-counter somewhere who will say that everything should be provided on a cost-recovery basis, but as previously mentioned, that often tends to backfire in the real world. Simply rolling some costs into the fare or class upgrade will prove more profitable in the long run and eliminate the resulting customer backlash.

 

[slither]

When the project is done, where will the main entrance to the new lounge be in relation to the entrance of the existing lounge?

 

[zephyr17]

According to the floor plans posted eher, it looks to be opposite the new ticket windows which are going to be about where the Metro Deli was. If you are standing outside the current Metropolitan Lounge, head back out the Amtrak Passengers Only door heading toward the Great Hall (past the escalators, current ticket area). Would be on the left just before you get to Great Hall itself.

 

[Eric S]

The new location will be to the left of the small (19) on the map below. The entrance will be from the hallway above that space.

 

[VentureForth]

Include me in the group that wont miss the current Metro Dungeon, er Lounge and the Bossy staff that ran the place!

I will miss the luggage room and the friendly Red Cap that ran it, but am totally looking forward to seeing the New Joint!

Hopefully New York and Washington will follow the same MO and replace the too small CAs that are in use now!

Any promise that the Dungeon Master won't stay on?