Does Metra still operate bar cars?

I was under the impression that Metro-North was the last commuter operator offering a purpose-built bar car in its fleet. The bar cars here are part of the EMU fleet owned by Connecticut, and only operate on the New Haven Line. They date to 1972 and are slated for replacement...

Here's some examples:

http://www.subwaynut.com/mnr/newhaven/newhaven3.jpg
(the car at left with the blanked windows- that's where the service counter is)

http://barcar.com

http://barcar.com/html/homepages/hp1/Index.html

Anyway, I was wondering if Metra still operated purpose-built bar cars?

-otto-

Metra still does... at the moment, however they soon will become a thing of the past: Metra taking out bar cars

Metra's bar-cars aren't purpose built, either, so in that classification Metro-North is indeed alone. What they do is simply take one car and switch off the door opening/closing mechanism, and the kiosk from which beverages are sold is set up in what would normally be the exit/entryway. There used to be two ex-C&NW club cars used by Metra as bar cars (think those were closer to being purpose-built than the rest of the bar cars), however I believe they were retired around a decade ago.

"Metra made the decision because of weak profits and a desire to add capacity on its trains, spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said."

Really??? Bar cars and bar sales are actually a profit center for Metro-North. What is Metra doing wrong?

"What they do is simply take one car and switch off the door opening/closing mechanism, and the kiosk from which beverages are sold is set up in what would normally be the exit/entryway."

We used to have that on the Hudson and Harlem Lines. We called it "bar cart" service, and the attendant would key out one set of doors and do business there. For some reason this service was phased out, and all "bar cart" sales take place on the platforms/track gates in Grand Central.

Too bad about the club cars. We had a fleet of cars like that right before the new Bombardier coaches arrived in 1984-1985. Although two Bomb cars were outfitted with small bars for service on the New Haven branches, we got no such luck in New York. Our trains run "dry."

I remember one train ride into the city when I was five. I told my dad I was thirsty, so he said, "Let's go to the bar car," and took me by the hand, leading my through aisles of grumpy commuters in filthy coaches. We pushed through a door into the next car and we entered another world! The car looked like (I would find out years later) an ex-DL&W tavern car, and there was an attendant behind the bar who sold my dad a cup of orange juice. The other patrons of the car were busily chatting it up over their cocktails and beers.

Those were the days!

-otto-

This is the basic Metra bar/"refreshment" car:

The last line in the Southtown article is perhaps the most telling:

"The bar cars will be taken out of service as Metra, which saw its highest ridership ever in 2006, replaces aging cars with new ones."

It makes more sense if you think about it this way. The new accessible cars would make the installation of bars more difficult/costly, accounting the wheelchair lifts already built into the vestibules. (To say nothing of the possibility that doing so would be some kind of ADA violation.) And with the number of seats already reduced compared to the "classic" bilevels, attempting to install a bar anywhere else in the car would be ill-advised, indeed. And we all know we can forget about even trying to get a bar car purpose-built...

Getting rid of them for the sake of capacity makes sense, but it's too bad Metra didn't (or couldn't due to contract limitations?) offer the service on on the Burlington or UP/NW, perhaps on one of the 11-car sets during the evening rush. The sales from those busy lines might've been enough to justify keeping the service...

Here's what I don't get: it's pretty common knowledge that liquor is the most profitable food. So why is it these commuter agencies cannot make money on bar sales? I understand the economics of a rolling bar are different than a corner neighborhood bar, can it be that hard to make money with liquor sales on a train? I don't think it can. I have the feeling this is a PR/Liability issue the railroad is dealing with to please the voting public and lawyers, while placating the rider/socializers with the dollars and cents argument.

If you get rid of the bar cars, then you'd have more commuters "sloshing" their way into the concourses to make it onto their trains on time I see people all the time running (and sometimes spilling) with drink in hand and just making their train

"So why is it these commuter agencies cannot make money on bar sales?"

Must be a Metra thing. LIRR and MN make a healthy profit from their bar sales. And they also sell soft drinks and little bags of chips and pretzels.

-otto-

I don't think they do well because prices are too high. Most of the people, myself included just bring food on board rather than paying 5 bucks a drink. Who in the right mind would pay 4.75 when you can pay 2.00 at the Walgreens you pass on the way to the station?

Might just be that the commuter operations in the east operate the bar services directly, and Metra contracts it out. Obviously if Metro-North and the LIRR are doing the former, they can probably charge less for a drink than a vendor who's paying Metra "rent" for space in a car - in addition to paying employees and buying stock. It's likely unprofitable for Metra because it is indeed cheaper to stop off at a convenience store in the loop and just get something to snack on during the trip home, and most commuters know this.

This all reminds me of a great story - my buddy and I had thrown a rager at the lake on friday night, and decided saturday would be spent downtown. After recovering, we took an afternoon train into town. We went to great lengths to conceal a case from said party, using a wooden case from the family's badminton set. Upon our arrival downtown:

Third friend: "Oh cool, badminton"
Me: "Nope, beer!" (thinking I was really smart)
Friend that rode in with me: "yeah, we hid it pretty good!"
Third friend: "you know, you're allowed to drink on the train"
Me: "Aw F*&*" (realizing I am not so darn smart)

I would miss those days, but the last time I threw a little event, the hangover lasted til tuesday...

byte wrote:It's likely unprofitable for Metra because it is indeed cheaper to stop off at a convenience store in the loop and just get something to snack on during the trip home, and most commuters know this.

Of course, that depends on where you stop at. Everything's a little more expensive downtown anyway, but you really tend to pay through the nose if you try to get a snack at the train station. On days when I cut it close, I've found that I've got to have at least 10 bucks on me if I wait until I get to the train station to buy a snack, and expect to have money left over...

I saw two on Milwaukee North trains today.