Bottom line, if you want a shower you got to pay the piper. It would be pretty embarrassing to be led back to your coach wearing a towel.
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The showers, as I understand it, were on the west side of the Great Hall and down one level. The new Metropolitan Lounge is to be on east side (actually southeast corner) of the Great Hall.
NW cannonball
Conductor
I saw that CUS shower area, but so long ago, fuzzy memory -
I think that some train stations in Europe have pay-access showers available even now. USA truck-stops - sure. Far East stations -- likely.
On-train showers available for free for coach passengers on the train? Nowhere nohow.
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I don't believe anyone suggested that the showers would be free.
NW cannonball
Conductor
Right. On-train and free, never. Pay shower on-train, probably also not .
I'm imagining a Mica-manager in Congress saying "that shower is half the space of a roomette, it should get at least half the revenue that a roomette does! And what's this with free toilets in coach, huh? Toilets should be a revenue center too, people should pay at least a few dollars to use the restroom, "
Just kidding
<edit> doing some really rough math here, say we replace 2 Superliner coach seats with a pay shower, say $10 for a 10-15 minute shower time -- would need 40-50 users on an end-to-end western LD train run to break even, dunno the cost for more water on board.
Could that be a revenue booster? No idea.
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I was thinking of using a small area of downstairs cafe table to be shower room as the shower room can be monitored by cafe attendant for use. Keycard sold by attendant that would open shower room door then once inside room, card would activate water for a certain period. Towels and soap provided at time of purchase.
Two timers -
Room time fixed. No extensions. (15 minutes to wash and dry?)
Shower time - less than room time would be fixed but could be suspended so that you can wet yourself, suspend it, then restart to rinse. Same total time but longer in-shower time. (4 minutes of water?)
Good idea except where does the money come from for the conversions?
And the Cafe LSAs don't want to clean the Bathrooms that are there now. They keep them locked, usually have a Homemade "Out of Order" Sign on the door!
And the Cafe LSAs don't want to clean the Bathrooms that are there now. They keep them locked, usually have a Homemade "Out of Order" Sign on the door!
FormerOBS
Conductor
"The shower can be monitored by café car attendant" ??
Maybe this would be possible, but I suspect it would be impractical for the café attendant to close the service counter so he can clean the shower. That would often be necessary.
Tom
Maybe this would be possible, but I suspect it would be impractical for the café attendant to close the service counter so he can clean the shower. That would often be necessary.
Tom
KmH
Engineer
Neither the food, nor use of the shower is free.
The cost of those perks is part of the sleeper berth price.
Amtrak is conducting a pilot program whereby the food is separated from the cost of a sleeper berth and the sleeper berth cost has been reduced.
Food service for sleeper berth pax has changed (been downgraded) on the Cardinal and the City of New Orleans.
Ryan
Court Jester
Your title for the second link is misleading, nothing has changed on the Cardinal.
Devil's Advocate
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Personally I'd think that clean homeless people would be a substantial improvement over dirty homeless people, but maybe that's just me. Over in Japan they have showers at the airport with a subsidized cost of around $5 per person per use. They are also extremely clean by American standards because they pay someone to tidy up after every use. By Japanese thinking fewer stinky passengers is a benefit to everyone involved. Not sure why Americans prefer stinky passengers instead.
I hope you're not assuming that every last seat is sold in every coach, because that is almost never the case in my experience.
Sounds like something that's at least worth a try.
Presumably the money comes from a loan based on expected revenue from charging for showers. Obviously Amtrak would have to advertise it regularly and the staff would have to go along with it. I've never quite understood why the staff can't be bothered to clean the coach toilets regularly, but presumably that's something that management needs to address.
Although clearly some people would take advantage of the amenity, I'm just not convinced pay-showers for coach passengers would be all that popular or widely used. Only western long distance trains have routes covering more than one night, and even then only a small fraction of the passengers are actually on board for that long; Most people are traveling shorter distances between intermediate points. Further, how dirty do you really get sitting around all day in a coach seat? While a shower might be nice, its not going to hurt anyone to miss one night. I absolutely support added on board amenities (even for a fee), but it needs to be something that will produce revenue and which the passengers want and are willing to pay for (no "nickel and dime" charges, such as the airline model).
Wouldn't it feel sort of weird to go to the lounge (cafe) car to use the shower, while everyone else is in their eating, drinking, and socializing?
FormerOBS
Conductor
Be sure to wear your formal towel & an Ascot. Nobody will notice.
T
T
D.P. Roberts
Conductor
As with many issues related to rail travel, I think a comparison to the amenities offered by the airlines is in order. Since air travel far exceeds rail travel for cross-country routes, I think it's fair to say that people's expectations on Amtrak are similar to what they'd expect from an airline - especially for first-time travelers, an important Amtrak demographic.
Some high-end airlines have showers onboard, but that's unusual. However, many first class & business class passengers get free access to lounges at major airports - aside from free food, many of those lounges have showers, as well as massages and other pampering services.
Those lounges are free to many first/business class passengers, as an upgrade to those with the available points, or a charge (usually about $50, from what I've seen) to coach passengers who want to pay.
I have never seen a coach passenger lounge at an airport, but it's possible that they exist. Many people nowadays spend 24+ hours flying around the world in coach & never shower.
So, if airlines are any indication, it's doubtful that people in coach expect a shower or would be willing to pay for one, but it would be a coveted amenity in the higher fare classes. From that perspective, Amtrak is meeting expectations (although the quality of those facilities on Amtrak leaves MUCH to be desired compared to the airline counterparts).
Some high-end airlines have showers onboard, but that's unusual. However, many first class & business class passengers get free access to lounges at major airports - aside from free food, many of those lounges have showers, as well as massages and other pampering services.
Those lounges are free to many first/business class passengers, as an upgrade to those with the available points, or a charge (usually about $50, from what I've seen) to coach passengers who want to pay.
I have never seen a coach passenger lounge at an airport, but it's possible that they exist. Many people nowadays spend 24+ hours flying around the world in coach & never shower.
So, if airlines are any indication, it's doubtful that people in coach expect a shower or would be willing to pay for one, but it would be a coveted amenity in the higher fare classes. From that perspective, Amtrak is meeting expectations (although the quality of those facilities on Amtrak leaves MUCH to be desired compared to the airline counterparts).
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This is one of the reasons I break up long trips with a stay of a day or two in a town en-route. I try to pick an interesting town, but sometimes just a whistle stop with a cheap (much less than a sleeper) hotel room - with en-suite bathroom - can make a long trip a lot less stressful.
neroden
Engineer
It would definitely make sense to restore pay showers at major transfer stations. They'd get used.
Showers on board train are enough of a pain to manage that it probably makes sense to keep them as a sleeper perk.
If you think about it, most overnight Amtrak train rides are only single-overnight. Most people, even "morning shower EVERY day" people, can manage to wait to have their shower until they get off the train later in the same day.
Most of the the two-night Amtrak trips, and *all* of the three-night Amtrak trips, require changing trains. Putting pay showers in the key transfer points (Chicago most of all, but also possibly DC, LA, NY, New Orleans, Portland, Boston) would make a lot of sense. Maybe a private company could be enticed to do it. It could be profitable. And I see no problem with letting homeless people pay to use the showers too.
Showers on board train are enough of a pain to manage that it probably makes sense to keep them as a sleeper perk.
If you think about it, most overnight Amtrak train rides are only single-overnight. Most people, even "morning shower EVERY day" people, can manage to wait to have their shower until they get off the train later in the same day.
Most of the the two-night Amtrak trips, and *all* of the three-night Amtrak trips, require changing trains. Putting pay showers in the key transfer points (Chicago most of all, but also possibly DC, LA, NY, New Orleans, Portland, Boston) would make a lot of sense. Maybe a private company could be enticed to do it. It could be profitable. And I see no problem with letting homeless people pay to use the showers too.
seat38a
Engineer
DSC03891 by Brian H, on Flickr
Personally, some option like this would probably work for coach passengers. This is what is offered at Basel Station. One problem I see is that soon people will probably complain about the price and what is "fair" etc etc. $12.00 dollars to take a shower is probably well worth it if you have not bathed for couple days. At the same time, if your going directly to your hotel or home, why would you want to take a shower at the station?
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For $12 they must use Champagne instead of water! Yikes!
But there used to be pay toilets in bus and train stations and airports here!( most were 10 cents)
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More likely it's bottled water.
Americans do not seem to balk at absurdly high prices for potable water in bottles, so it's really a marketing issue.
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