Is future of bar cars and bar service in question?

If drinking were not allowed on trains why use public transportation ???
MTA and every agency incourages people to drink and be merry and travel by public transportation, trying to stop that would only put people back in their car for entire way.
MNCR has had no lawsuits or incidents due to barcars, closing barcars won't stop drinking unless you want total prohibition ???

abaduck wrote:I'll probably have my own experiences to report, having joined the local volunteer fire dept..Mike

I know this is off-topic, but which house? Mamaro? Columbia? H&L? Volunteers? Halstead? Man, it's been a long time. Just heard Pop Watson, a hero of WWII at Guadalcanal and other places, died. He was H&L for years. Must have been quite a funeral for a hero. My dad worked with him for years with West County.

Sorry, back on topic. I'm not opposed to drinking on the trains, and have had a nip or two. Still, I'm sympathetic to Terminal, in spite of my previous comment concerning the LIRR board member being a kill-joy, which in hindsight, was in poor taste, and for which I apologize. I can tell the impact on a train crew can be pretty bad. And I also know that after a certain hour, I almost never took a train due to the drunks, but a car service.

For the most part, I think the drinking is reasonable, but yeah, a couple of morons will ruin it for everyone - on a train, at a ball-game, etc. And who wants to sit next to someone while you're reading the paper or working on your lap-top who may spill a beer on you? I've been in both positions, and while I don't think a ban is the right answer, tolerating drunks isn't either.

I think the solution is simply zero tolerance for bad behavior, with a potential punishment of banishment from the line or a little community service, like cleaning the late-night trains. Spend some time cleaning up someone else's puke while sober, that may do the trick.

Sarge wrote:

abaduck wrote:I'll probably have my own experiences to report, having joined the local volunteer fire dept..Mike

I know this is off-topic, but which house? Mamaro? Columbia? H&L? Volunteers? Halstead?

H&L #1 - they accepted me late last year(!) but I'm still held up from going out with the guys - waiting for a needed rule change - they need to change the rules to swear me in or whatever because I'm not a US citizen (yet!).

I hope they put out fires faster than they work in committee!

Mike

I'm in favor of the bar cars. I just wish other agencies would have picked up on them. I'd love to grab a beer and chat with fellow commuters on the way home. And I can't believe they DON'T sell breakfast on the way in. How hard would it be to put in a coffee urn, a couple trays of danish/bagels/etc.? That's money in the bank!

If you want to get more seats on the train, rip out the bathrooms and cross your legs. You want more ridiculous ideas? Take out the seats alltogether and put in poles and straps so people can stand like they're in a subway. You can get a whole lot more people in that way!

Has anybody ever thought that perhaps people take the train BECAUSE of the bar cars, and would otherwise drive?

Any open food or coffee from urns is subject to US health Dept.
Only pre packaged soda or booze is not subject.
trying to maintain sterile enviroments on Commuter cars is nearly impossible and would never pass US health Dept inspections.
so there for no breakfast or bagels.

I'll keep saying it until I'm hoarse... expand bar car service, keep them clean and cheery, and expand the service to AM breakfast on morning runs. IF they make money in the evenings with liquor, they'll make even more in the AM with coffee and donuts (even with health inspections). Besides being great public relations, it will actually bring in additional revenue.

-otto-

DutchRailnut wrote:Any open food or coffee from urns is subject to US health Dept.
Only pre packaged soda or booze is not subject.
trying to maintain sterile enviroments on Commuter cars is nearly impossible and would never pass US health Dept inspections.
so there for no breakfast or bagels.

I've never heard of the US Health Department. Do you mean the board of health?

If Amtrak is clean enough to sell food, I don't understand why Metro-North couldn't be that clean. Besides, those trucks that sell food at construction sites aren't exactly sterile either

Nester wrote:If Amtrak is clean enough to sell food, I don't understand why Metro-North couldn't be that clean. Besides, those trucks that sell food at construction sites aren't exactly sterile either :)

Those of us that work here sure know why Metro-North couldn't be that clean... ;-) And who says MN customers would be willing to eat from one of those construction site trucks?

Seriously...it costs lots of money to be that clean, and I'm sure that's one reason why Amtrak would like to get out of the food business on all its short-distance routes.

Jim

Those trucks at construction sites only have to comply with state level health dept.
If bar cars were to be used for breakfast and non packaged food they could not be open without an attendant just like the cars on Amtrak.
The health rules are way to strikt for commuter rail, to comply with on a 24 hour basis.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... mailedlink

It's interesting this hasn't come up in the discussion.
A short quote

"In response to critics of alcohol sales on Metropolitan Transportation Authority trains, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow today said he would create a task force to investigate not only whether liquor should be sold, but whether riders should be able to drink onboard at all."

Mr Pally's true non alcohol convictions revealed by NY post.

Link Here

December 26, 2006 -- The MTA board member leading the charge to ban the sale of booze on commuter rail platforms and trains works for a law firm that represents several of the restaurants and bars at Penn Station that would stand to benefit from the prohibition.

Long Island Rail Road bartenders, who fear their jobs are on the line, say it was only after Mitchell Pally was hired three months ago to handle "government relations" at the Weber Law Group, a Melville-based firm, that talk of the prohibition began.

"We've all been wondering where this whole thing came from, and when we checked the company's Web site, we thought we may have our answer," said one LIRR bar-cart attendant, who asked not to be identified.

Two words in each article to strike horror in the hearts of taxpayers:

Task Force

Yeah, let's study it for years, pay a few of our consultant friends who will take us out to expensive dinners on their expense accounts, and then do nothin.

Better yet, let's put CDOT in charge.

Maybe this summer I should conduct a fan trip... "Farewell to the Bar Cars!" We'll pull every bar car from service, assemble them all into one train, and conduct two trips between GCT and New Haven. You must be over 21 to ride this train...

... don't laugh! We may actually have to consider this if the dopey MTA board has their way.

-otto-

A little news on inebriated passengers to add to debate:

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 00341/1276

Having a fewe drinks and inebriated is two different things.
The trains we use to call the Puke Express or Vomit Comets are not bad these last few years.
Since they control time square with annimal style pens not much drinking is happening, you get in cage and if you had a few you are out of luck, no toilets and if you leave you won't be let back in.

Public transportation is for those that had a few drinks, not roads, and cars.
People that had to many drinks(inebriated) need to be in jail.