TC_NYC
Service Attendant
I'm normally a simple east coast Regional and Acela rider (typically PVD-NYP/PHL) but I found myself booking a last minute business trip to Seattle and needed to get to Portland afterwords for another meeting. Airfares yesterday where going for $500+ and many flights where sold out so I booked an $80 Business class ticket from Tukwila (which is 10 minutes from the airport and walking distance from my hotel) to Portland.
First off business class on this train should be the standard for all Amtrak trains, including the Acela. 2-1 seating.
BC on this train doesn't include free drinks, rather it includes a $3 voucher for the cafe car. At least this is better than a cafe attendant randomly deciding that today you only get 1 can of coke for the PVD-NYP trip. Speaking of the cafe, it was popular. They had 2 attendants working it (the train was close to sold out) and they had a solid 10 minute line. They had so many better meal choices than the Northeast Regional/Acela. I had the Chicken Teriyaki bowl and it was great. If they started serving these on the LSL and CL people would stop complaining about the lack of hot meals. As I said, 2 attendants, not a hidden assembly of 10 sous chefs working in the back of the car. The presence of 2 attendants actually made the line move along a lot faster and made me go up again for another drink. I probably wouldn't have if the line was taking forever (as it does on the trains in the northeast). I absolutely loved the seating in the lounge car, Amtrak should adapt these style seats in all lounges nationwide instead of the bench seating that makes it hard to get any personal space.
Finally, the equipment itself is showing its age and the bathrooms look like they haven't been refurbed in 20 years, but I think it is still a fantastic concept. I loved how small the cars where which lead to them riding much more smoothly and the cars themselves where a lot more quiet. The inclusion of a cell phone area in the vestibule of the coaches was very smart and helps lead to the quiet coaches.
I look forward to another ride on the Cascades one day and hopefully seeing this equipment on more trains in the future.
First off business class on this train should be the standard for all Amtrak trains, including the Acela. 2-1 seating.
BC on this train doesn't include free drinks, rather it includes a $3 voucher for the cafe car. At least this is better than a cafe attendant randomly deciding that today you only get 1 can of coke for the PVD-NYP trip. Speaking of the cafe, it was popular. They had 2 attendants working it (the train was close to sold out) and they had a solid 10 minute line. They had so many better meal choices than the Northeast Regional/Acela. I had the Chicken Teriyaki bowl and it was great. If they started serving these on the LSL and CL people would stop complaining about the lack of hot meals. As I said, 2 attendants, not a hidden assembly of 10 sous chefs working in the back of the car. The presence of 2 attendants actually made the line move along a lot faster and made me go up again for another drink. I probably wouldn't have if the line was taking forever (as it does on the trains in the northeast). I absolutely loved the seating in the lounge car, Amtrak should adapt these style seats in all lounges nationwide instead of the bench seating that makes it hard to get any personal space.
Finally, the equipment itself is showing its age and the bathrooms look like they haven't been refurbed in 20 years, but I think it is still a fantastic concept. I loved how small the cars where which lead to them riding much more smoothly and the cars themselves where a lot more quiet. The inclusion of a cell phone area in the vestibule of the coaches was very smart and helps lead to the quiet coaches.
I look forward to another ride on the Cascades one day and hopefully seeing this equipment on more trains in the future.
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