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  • Amtrak Diner and Food Service Discussion

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1550891  by John_Perkowski
 
mtuandrew wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:44 am Either: serve better food, get more sales, make more profit and start to narrow the food & beverage gap;

Or: serve crappy food, lose more sales, raise prices to cover the losses, lose even more sales, and under the cover of an unrelated crisis make the case for cutting food & beverage service altogether.
AMEN

So far, Amtrak has selected the latter v
 #1550895  by mtuandrew
 
Amtrak crews have proven in the past that they are capable of wonderful things without immense loss, and that given the freedom to experiment, they can cut the losses further. I would very much support a base-plus-profit model where Amtrak allows employees to manage the dining car, where they earn a moderate salary & benefits but share any potential profits above & beyond the cost of operation (HEP & water, not car inspection & maintenance), food & supplies, and salaries.

Otherwise, I hate to say it but Amtrak may as well bid out the service to Sodexo or a similar group. People still gotta eat, and I’ve had some good meals at Congressional and other Federal cafeterias.
 #1550899  by R36 Combine Coach
 
mtuandrew wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:04 pm Otherwise, I hate to say it but Amtrak may as well bid out the service to Sodexo or a similar group. People still gotta eat, and I’ve had some good meals at Congressional and other Federal cafeterias.
The Senate restaurants were privatized in 2008, I recall and even the Smithsonian food service is private (McDonald's).
 #1550922  by mtuandrew
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:49 pmThe Senate restaurants were privatized in 2008, I recall and even the Smithsonian food service is private (McDonald's).
OT, but McDonalds now only serves the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum. NASM’s downtown museum will be replacing it with a different restaurant when renovations are over in ~2023, and the other museums have different restaurants as well. Try the food at NMAAHC and NMAI sometime, you’ll thank me later!
 #1550925  by urr304
 
Well, VIA is only serving box lunches and water on the trains they are running, except the Prince Rupert run, so is that worse or better than Amtrak?
 #1550959  by John_Perkowski
 
Even if Amtrak kept food service in house, there are plenty of foods which can be made in expensively per portion by just one cook.
- Chili
- Ham and beans
- Pot roast
- Chicken stew

Amtrak needs to go back and look at how the ATSF SCOUT and the UP CHALLENGERS did it during the Depression.
 #1551188  by mtuandrew
 
Jeff Smith wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 9:33 am Hell, they could contract with Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc. and do better. Again, I point to VIA's Trans-con as a good example.
It isn’t the food itself - Amtrak could get the same quality food from Sysco or from local farmers markets - it’s that Amtrak refuses to let personnel cook it in a reasonable way.
 #1551218  by ExCon90
 
mtuandrew wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:48 am
Jeff Smith wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 9:33 am Hell, they could contract with Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc. and do better. Again, I point to VIA's Trans-con as a good example.
It isn’t the food itself - Amtrak could get the same quality food from Sysco or from local farmers markets - it’s that Amtrak refuses to let personnel cook it in a reasonable way.
Where there's no will there's no way.
 #1551672  by Matt Johnson
 
electricron wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:53 am
I did not realize the Meteor ever lost the diner, I thought it was just the Star that did.
I thought I read that it would lose the diner, presumably when the Star and Meteor started running on alternate days. Maybe it just hasn't happened yet - haven't been paying close attention.
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