Excuse me for not using precise enough language with the more metaphoric "dream". My expectation is that ice, like many services, would not be available in the middle of the night outside of crew service hours If I were boarding in the middle of the night and needed ice that night, I would plan ahead and take care of that need myself by bringing some along in a cooler, like Sauve850, assuming I could not wait until morning when the OBS crew comes on duty. I wouldn't expect to be able to buy a snack in the cafe upon boarding in the middle of the night, nor for breakfast service in the diner to be open. If I were hungry, I'd get a snack on the way. The FDA rule has been enforced, if spottily, for a few years now. A long time ago I stopped expecting an open ice cooler be available to the passengers for self service, though I was pleasantly surprised when there was one. It isn't that they took the ice away to provide poorer customer service, it was health regulation. I adapted by buying a cooler and asking for ice only once a day to fill it. What did you do to adapt? I ride quite a bit on long distance trains all over the country. I have always been able to get ice during crew service hours, although I have had to wait a bit sometimes, and the request was sometimes received grudgingly. But I got it. That is my subjective experience, I don't know of any metrics on it, so objective facts on the how frequently a passenger requesting ice fails to get it appear to be unavailable. Again, if I was met by "Do you know how far I have to walk" I would reply yes, I do know, you have to walk as far as the diner. And a mention that he'd either get a tip at the end of the trip or a report to Customer Relations, and let him choose. I am not the one you need to speak up to. I can't do anything about it. Customer Relations is who to talk to. Whinging here does nothing.
