An internal Amtrak memo that was posted on Train Orders.com had confirmed that all eastern long-distance trains except the Silver Star will adopt the “contemporary dining” model effective Oct. 1.
Full-service dining will be removed from the New York-New Orleans Crescent and New York-Miami Silver Meteor.
The Silver Star is an exception because it does not provide meal service to sleeping car passengers as part of their fare.
The Chicago-New York Cardinal will gain a Viewliner dining car that will serve as a sleeper class lounge car in the same manner as is done on the Chicago-New York Lake Shore Limited.
Although the Cardinal has not had meals prepared on board for several years, it did have a more expansive menu than the Lake Shore or Capitol Limited had after both switched to the contemporary dining model last year.
The net effect of the changes is to standardize food and beverage service on eastern long distance trains while reducing the number of on-board employees assigned to the Crescent and Silver Meteor.
The Cardinal and the Chicago-New Orleans City of New Orleans will not have a net loss of on-board jobs, but two of the positions will be reclassified as lead service attendants.
The Crescent will see a reduction of 16 positions while the Silver Meteor will lose 14 positions.
The Amtrak memo said onboard meal preparation will be replaced by a small variety of ready to serve meals that will be included in the sleeper class fare and delivered to the train just prior to origination.
All eastern long-distance trains will have two food service cars, one of which is reserved for the exclusive use of sleeper class passengers. The other is a café car open to all passengers.
Sleeping car attendants will, upon request, continue to deliver meals to passengers in their rooms.
Amtrak also plans to continue the practice of the sleeping car attendant asking passengers shortly after boarding their preferred dining times and giving reservations in 15-minute increments.
The lunch and dinner offerings on all trains will include Asian noodle bowl, red wine braised beef, chicken fettuccini with broccoli, and Creole shrimp and andouille. Dessert is available upon request.
Breakfast is described as a deluxe continental breakfast that includes muffins, yogurt, fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, cereal, oatmeal and breakfast sandwich.
Sleeper class passengers and business class passengers will each receive one complimentary alcoholic beverage and unlimited soft drinks.
Business class, which is available only on the Cardinal, does not include meals.
The consist of the Cardinal will be one Viewliner baggage car, three Amfleet II coaches, one Viewliner sleeper , one Viewliner sleeper-lounge, and an Amfleet I café-lounge with 18 business class seats, Amfleet café module and 24 booth seats.
The A end of the café car pointed toward the coaches to reduce foot traffic through the business class section.
The Cardinal onboard crew will continue to be based in New York.
The City of New Orleans will have consist of Superliner equipment, including two coaches, a baggage-coach, a Cross Country Café that will serve as the sleeper class lounge, a Sightseer lounge that will serve as the café car for the entire train and a transition sleeper.
The Crescent and Silver Meteor will have similar consists of three Amfleet II coaches, one Amfleet diner lite car that will serve as the café car, a Viewliner dining car that will serve as the sleeper class lounge and a Viewliner baggage car. The Crescent will have two sleeping cars while the Silver Meteor will have three.
The assignments mean that Amtrak will have in revenue service at any given time 13 Viewliner dining cars of the 25 that is owns.
The memo also detailed the plans for changes in Auto Train food and beverage service in January 2020.
Complimentary breakfast and dinner for coach passengers will be eliminated in favor of an expanded café car menu sold through a Cross Country Café.
The Amtrak memo said the café car will provide “a festive environment during the trip,” although it is not clear what this is supposed to mean.
Food trucks will be selling meals at the stations in Lorton, Virginia, and Sanford, Florida.
Effective Oct. 1, one coach will be replaced by a sleeping car with additional sleeping cars being assigned during peak travel periods.
Food service for sleeper class will be provided by seasonal menus with variety of entrée selections for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There will be a selection of cocktails, beer and wine to go with coffee and soft drinks. Amtrak said that a wine service is also being introduced for sleeper class passengers aboard the Auto Train.
The changes in onboard service aboard the Auto Train will result in 25 onboard service positions being eliminated.
Tags: Amtrak, Amtrak dining cars, Amtrak dining service, Amtrak's "City of New Orleans", Amtrak's Auto Train, Amtrak's Cardinal, Amtrak's Crescent, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited, Amtrak's Silver Meteor, dining on a train
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August 12, 2019 at 10:38 am |
Lead Service Attendant positions usually pay a lower hourly rate than many dining car positions, and LSA assist, which one of those two that will be on the “Cardinal” after the changes, makes slightly less than the LSA in-charge.