Trip Report: October 24 to October 31, 2006
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
GrandLuxe Express to Denver
Monday, October 31, 2006
Sacramento to Klamath Falls
I am happy to report that our return journey to Klamath Falls was uneventful, unless you call arriving into Klamath Falls only 45 minutes late an event. Truly some changes are being made, apparently due to that letter from Amtrak to the Union Pacific Railroad.
However, the Amtrak Thruway bus was waiting at the Klamath Falls Station to pick up passengers transferring to the eastbound Empire Builder at Pasco , Washington, a 12 hour trip, including rest stops. Two of our passengers that we shared a table with at breakfast were scheduled to ride this bus. Initially the bus was only called out when No 14 was so late into Klamath Falls that there would be no chance of making a connection with the Empire Builder. Now, if you call Amtrak reservations wanting to travel from stations on the Coast Starlight route to stations on the Empire Builder route from Pasco east, they automatically book you on the bus.
I would never recommend that to our clientele; rather I always recommend laying over in Portland or Seattle . On our next trip we have arranged a three night layover in Portland, to enjoy being pampered by The Westin Portland, a quiet island of a resort in the middle of downtown Portland.
Although the October 30 Amtrak Timetable no longer lists the Pacific Parlour Car as one of the amenities of the Coast Starlight, there was a Parlour Car on this train. When I inquired of the Parlour Car attendant, he replied that they say one day it will be taken off, the next day, it will not be taken off. Nobody knows what is going to happen.
We enjoyed another well prepared breakfast as we passed Mt. Shasta. For Mt. Shasta aficionados, being behind on No 14 is an advantage.
Note: There has been a lot of fuss, initiated by the Republican Congress, to make dining cars profitable, something which has never occurred in the history of American, or indeed, any passenger rail services throughout history. Dining cars are not restaurants, they are on trains so that people (most of whom eat three times a day), will ride the trains. Can you imagine a cruise ship dining room that is expected to be a profit center? Can you imagine anyone going on a cruise ship that had second rate or third rate food service? This is what happens when politics and ideology replace business acumen.
Amtrak is giving its best shot to satisfy Congress, and by contracting out to a different catering service, Gate Gourmet, many of the meals we enjoyed were actually superior to the on-board prepared meals of the past. We do miss the linen and glassware, but the substitute paper ware is so attractive, it could initially be mistaken for linen. And on the Coast Starlight, they are still using linen napkins and real glasses for water or wine, as well as real cups for coffee.
I will reprint below, Amtrak's Internal Memo regarding Diner Lite. Notice when reading this that there is a reference to the possible loss of Sleeping Car service as well, if it does not show a profit.
Operations, Simplified Dining Service, Service Advisory
Train Service and On-Board Service Employees
Issue Date: 02-14-2006
Background
It is estimated that in FY06 Amtrak's Food & Beverage Service will lose nearly $120 million system wide on revenues of $79.2 million, and expenses of $198.8 million (food and labor) resulting in a deficit of $119.6 million. Of the Food & Beverage expense (198.8 million), over 60% is for the wages and benefits of On-Board Service employees.
The FY06 Appropriations legislation states that unless Congress and the Department of Transportation certify that Amtrak has achieved operational savings by July 1, 2006, Amtrak will be restricted from using appropriated funds to subsidize the net losses from F&B and Sleeping Car service on any Amtrak route.
Progress in achieving these savings will be monitored by the Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and then reported quarterly to the House of Representatives & Senate Appropriations Committees.
Controlling costs and maximizing revenues in the F&B service is critically important. As a result, Amtrak has a number of strategic initiatives to reduce costs and increase revenue. One of these initiatives is called the Simplified Dining Service. This service is an internal change in the way Dining Car operations are organized and managed on all Long Distance Trains.
Advisory
Effective February 15, 2006, the Simplified Dining Service will be instituted on the Capitol Limited and the Sunset Limited. The Service has been in place on the Texas Eagle and the City of New Orleans since December and will be re-launched as a result of significant comments and suggestions from both employees and customers.
All Long Distance trains (excluding Auto Train and the Empire Builder) will be transitioned to this service by June 1, 2006.
The annualized savings expected from Simplified Dining Service is in excess of $10 million. These savings are primarily a result of an estimated staff reduction of 100 positions. Generally, the Dining Car crew will be reduced from a crew of 5 to a crew of 3. Additional crew positions must be added based upon the anticipated number of meals to be served per meal period, not consist or passenger counts.
In addition to the Simplified Dining Service, Amtrak Transportation and Customer Service Departments Strategic Reform Initiatives include: renegotiated and new vendor contracts; modified equipment; and integrated Lounge Car, Cafe Car and Dining Car food service on long distance trains. These initiatives are specifically identified by the DOT as establishing reform. The new contract with Gate Gourmet became effective January 1, 2006, and contains a number of changes which are very beneficial to Amtrak.
As a result of the Simplified Dinning Service implementation, the following changes will take effect:
The Dining and Lounge Cars are to open immediately for service. The collection of tickets is not a reason to delay the opening of either the Dining Car or Lounge Car and no announcement is to be made advising customers to wait until the tickets are collected.
Cafe/Lounge car service should be open upon passenger boarding, at the initial terminal. No exceptions . (Just like the old Super Chief)
Normal hours of operation on the Cafe/Lounge car of long-distance trains are 6:00 a.m. until midnight, unless otherwise indicated on the train manifest. Short-distance trains must offer continuous hours of operation. During normal dining car hours of service, crew member and deadhead employees are prohibited from eating in the dining car. A crew table during normal dining car hours is no longer permitted. Employees may eat before the beginning or after the end of the scheduled dining car hours.
Dining car hours for lunch will be extended from 2:00pm to 3:00pm.
Although these are general guidelines, they may be subject to some variation by specific train, minimum meal service periods for Dining Cars are as follows, unless otherwise directed by an Operations Service Advisory:
Breakfast 6:30am - 10:00am
Lunch 11:30am - 3:00pm
Dinner 5:00 pm - 9:00pm
A standardized reservation system called Staggered Seating will be used in every Dining Car, system wide. The Staggered Seating system provides customer with options for reservations at 15 minute intervals, and reduces the number of customers per seating to 8. Every 60 minutes a total of 24 customers are seated and served. During the 4 hour dinner period, a total of 96 customers can easily be accommodated.
Reservations are now required for breakfast, lunch and dinner.* The Lounge Service Attendant (LSA) is responsible for contacting all customers to arrange their lunch and dinner reservations. The LSA and all Train Attendants, both coach and sleeper, will work together to arrange customer's breakfast reservations.
End of memo.
*So far, breakfast reservations have not been initiated, only lunch and dinner.
