Amtrak's Simplified Dining Service (SDS)
Steve Grande, Producer - Carl
Morrison, Editor
www.trainweb.com/sds
This work-in-porgress report is a compilation of e-mails, starting in the Spring of 2006, obtained by TrainWeb.com about
Amtrak's Simplified Dining Service (SDS).
(Note to those that have composed the e-mails republished here: If we have published your e-mail without having received
prior permission and you wish it removed, please notify us by sending e-mail to steve@trainweb.com and we will remove it
immediately. We do believe that we have contacted each person and received their permission to republish their e-mails
in this compilation.)
The e-mails fall into the following categories :
- commentaries
- photos
- links
- history
- reaction
- current status
- future plans
- reconfigured Diner-Lite cars
- extended hours on those cars
Disclaimer: Editorial changes may have been made to the feedback,
which sometimes inappropriately used the term "Diner Lite". When
changed, the Editor will follow the inappropriate words with the
correct words in [brackets].
It is TrainWeb's position to remain neutral on this change at Amtrak,
and provide you with the information that we have received.
Our lead article by Matthew Melzer follows.
The Implications of Recent and Ongoing Changes
in Amtrak's Food Service
Introduction and Report
By Matthew Melzer, Sun, 09 Apr 2006
Unlike other intercity and interstate transportation providers, Amtrak
must each year request an appropriated subsidy from Congress to support
the inherently unprofitable business of moving passengers. The funding
battle for Fiscal Year 2006 (which began on October 1, 2005) was a
particularly tumultuous one for rail advocates, who faced not only
record federal budget deficits and competing priorities, but also the
specter of a zero-budget request from a White House that wantonly
engaged in a vocal smear campaign against Amtrak. Congress came through
with just under $1.3 billion for Amtrak for FY2006, a record amount.
But these monies came with strings attached (since dubbed acts of
“micromismanagement”), such as fare discount restrictions and a mandate
to alter the finances of Amtrak's relationships with commuter railroads
hosted on the Northeast Corridor. All eyes, however,have been on
Amtrak's procurement of on-board food services. The appropriations bill
stipulates that, by July 1, 2006, the US Department of Transportation
Inspector General must certify that “operational savings” have been
achieved, or federal funding for both sleeping cars and food service
will end. Amtrak's supporters have maintained that this proviso is a
back-door attack on long-distance trains,
which would not be viable without sleeping car service, and especially
without decent food service. Amtrak states that food service is a “loss
leader,” a venture that does not turn a profit but is essential to
treating passengers well and retaining them as future customers. But in
July 2005, DOT IG Kenneth Mead (who has since resigned) issued an
inflammatory report that used dubious figures and sophistry to assert
that Amtrak could slash its way to profitability by cutting sleeping
and dining services, an argument that gained credence among certain
Congressional leadership and led to the mandate for “operational
savings.”
Amtrak did concede that it could achieve efficiencies in its food
service operations. For example, the terms of Amtrak's provisioning
contract with the institutional food provider GateGourmet became much
more favorable when a
renewed contract became effective New Year's Day, 2006. Amtrak is also
exploring bringing in private companies to operate the on-board food
service itself. These attempts have been met with stiff opposition from
organized labor; Amtrak's union employees have been working for several
years without a contract and see most attempts at “efficiencies” as an
affront to their livelihood. For example, in July, Amtrak eliminated
cafe cars from New York-Albany Empire Service trains. In late November,
Amtrak announced that a Subway Restaurant franchise would sell their
goods aboard Empire Service trains. Union workers were outraged,
especially since Subway employees received no railroad operational
safety training and were to act like passengers and take no corrective
actions in case of emergencies or other safety hazards. The Subway program quietly
died after just a few days. But Amtrak vowed to explore other such
relationships with the private sector. One strong rumor was that Amtrak
was in talks with Marriott regarding the operation of sleeping cars.
The most noticeable change in light of the food service proviso has
been the deployment of “Simplified Dining
Service” in the dining cars of long-distance trains. Simplified dining
involves keeping both the dining and lounge cars, but altering the
formal dining cars with reduced staffing. There are three servers
(including help from train attendants) and one chef. This means no use
of the griddle, and limited dishwashing due to new china and glassware
that's disposable but sturdy. Individual entree servings are prepared
off-train, reheated aboard in convection (not microwave) ovens, and
served with freshly cooked starch and vegetables. Reservations are
required for all meal periods, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Staggered seating (with reservations every 15 minutes),
along with longer meal periods and no dedicated crew dining table in
diner, will allow more passengers to be
served and hopefully lead to revenue enhancement from paying coach
passengers. Amtrak estimates that SDS will
save $10 million annually, mostly due to the 100 or so positions that
have been eliminated under reduced staffing. However, extra staff will
be deployed to diners when demand necessitates it.
Simplified dining began on Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans on an
experimental basis in December. Extensive feedback from employees and
customers has already led to improvements in menu offerings, food
quality, prices, and service delivery. By May 24, nearly all
long-distance trains will operate with SDS. The Auto Train and
recently-upgraded Empire Builder, however, will retain
full traditional dining. The Coast Starlight will continue to retain
its first-class lounge Pacific Parlour Cars, which are currently being
cycled through the Beech Grove shops for overhaul.
Amtrak hopes that the quality of SDS will continue to improve to the
point where passengers will not know the difference at all between SDS
and the traditional arrangement. However, much work remains to be done.
Passenger reviews of SDS have been mixed, with some items have been
received atrociously. The SDS project is dynamic, and Amtrak is
updating the menus periodically. For example, Amtrak learned that
pre-plated omelettes are unfailingly tasteless, and will soon make
fresh eggs available once again. Brian Rosenwald, who oversaw Coast
Starlight Product Line improvements last decade and last year's Empire
Builder relaunch, is working on this project. He and his colleagues
have stated that they're committed to making SDS a success. Managers
have been riding the system to test the menu and gather feedback from
passengers and crew. Most crucially,
Amtrak
needs to hear from as many passengers as possible regarding their dining
experiences. Amtrak won't be able to make every passenger happy, but
they may be able to mostly satiate the masses if they can identify and
rectify common issues that arise. The National Association of Railroad
Passengers is also working closely with Amtrak on food service changes,
and
NARP
urges its members to also send NARP their SDS experiences.
One moniker that has become inappropriately attached to the SDS project
is the “Diner Lite” concept. While diners serving SDS may be “lite”-er
in some aspects, Diner Lite pertains to a very specific proposal to
consolidate all food service functions (formal dining and informal
lounge service) into one car. Amtrak is building Diner Lite prototypes
with Amfleet II and Superliner cars, and hopes to test the concept in
service in 2007. Amtrak has recognized that some routes have such
volume as to warrant two food service cars. So, many routes that
currently have a diner and a lounge may continue to have two such cars,
they will just both be the same identical, all-purpose food service
cars.
But for the time being, there remains no such thing as Diner Lite. All
that has changed is the structure of continued service in the
traditional dining cars. If SDS turns out to be a failure, it would not
be difficult for Amtrak to revert to its previous practices. Food
service
had also deteriorated under previous “micromismanagement” during the
1980s, but subsequently improved after passengers made their voices
heard. This is why it's crucial for Amtrak's passengers to be as vocal
as possible regarding food service. We must make clear that we will
vote with our dollars and not give business to a company that fails to
properly nourish its passengers traveling long distances. At the same
time, rail passengers should vehemently oppose sinister market
distortions imposed by Congress that might be designed precisely to
cause Amtrak to hemorrhage riders. The traveling public deserves
transportation choices, as much as they deserve access to
healthy food served with a smile. We must press Amtrak and its funders
to deliver both, in a safe and effective manner.
Simplified Dining Service (SDS)
Table of Contents
Some closing notes:
On April 28, 2006, Acting Amtrak President/CEO David Hughes Addressed the NARP Board.
Regarding Simplified Dining Service, Hughes said failure is not an option.
If it isn't good, we'll fix it.
Regarding the next step, the physical modification of dining and lounge cars, Hughes said
we're building a prototype at Wilmington now.
