Armani

I just completed a very enjoyable trip on the Cardinal and CA Zephyr from Cincinnati to Martinez. We typically take 1-2 long distance trips on Amtrak each year for the past several years. Part of the experience is enjoying good wine while viewing the great scenery.

It appears that the bean counters have decided to eliminate glass wine glasses on the trains. I think this is very shortsighted and will cause a significant loss in revenue. I don't know many wine lovers who like to drink out of plastic glasses, and I noticed that nobody drinking wine in the dining car in contrast to my previous trips. The dining staff said the participation in their wine tastings has dropped dramatically when passengers learn they have to drink from plastic.

I hope they reconsider their decision because wine is an important part of the long distance travel experience for many of us. We met several international travelers on our trip and many of them couldn't believe that glasses weren't available, even in the diner. I suggest they at least offer passengers and opportunity to purchase a souvenir wine glass so we don't have to pack our own on future trips.

zephyr17

The "bean counters" didn't really do it. Congress did with their continued micro-management of Amtraks F&B.

It really isn't within Amtrak's own control. If you feel strongly about, write your congresscritter.

Armani

[QUOTE=zephyr17;24799899]The "bean counters" didn't really do it. Congress did with their continued micro-management of Amtraks F&B.

It really isn't within Amtrak's own control. If you feel strongly about, write your congresscritter.[/QUOTE

Although I agree that Amtrak is underfunded relative to other agencies, I doubt they get down to the details of operational costs of the cost of glassware. Wine is a high margin opportunity, but not many people will pay a premium for wine and drink it out of plastic. What is the cost to wash dishes? Whoever made this decision obviously doesn't drink wine. This was a very shortsighted decision and I hope that someone notices the lost revenue and reverses it.

ColdRain&Snow

Make no mistake about it, some in Congress DO get down in the weeds and micromanage Amtrak operations at that level. It is a shameful abuse of Congressional resources waged by incompetent ideologues.

Exhibit A: John Mica (R-FL) convened a hearing to excoriate Amtrak about the cost of its hamburgers. He brought audio-visuals to the hearing and later stood outside a McDonalds asking why Amtrak couldn't serve hamburgers as efficiently as they do. And worst of all, he didn't even have the correct pricing from the Dining Car and spread the misinformation across both spectacles he put on that day. We coined it Hamburger-gate. Mica and his ilk very much obstruct Amtrak's ability to run its operations, despite the fact that they have not so much as a shred of railroading experience among any of them.

NovaEngr

Disagree.

Congress certainly sets goals, such as lowering or eliminating losses in food and beverage. Ultimately, Amtrak makes the decisions as to how to meet those goals. The fact that they cut things like flowers and wine glasses, while remaining in the dark ages with things like inventory control and revenue handling, certainly calls Amtrak's decision making into question. Those huge, multi-copy paper meal order forms that are still filled out by hand in dining cars (in black ink only) is all anyone has to see as evidence that the biggest problem is within Amtrak.

schriste

These "international travelers" apparently have not been on their own long distance trains recently.

Took the Thello sleeper from Paris to Venice last year. Wine was served in plastic glasses. Dining car service was pitiful. Far worse that anything I have ever seen on Amtrak. The condition of the sleeper was also pretty worn... again far worse than anything I have seen on Amtrak.

Almost all sleepers and diners are now withdrawn from japan.

Vast reductions in European overnight sleeper trains over the past few years. Breakfast service cut back on remaining German sleepers. There are not many bright spots out there.

ColdRain&Snow

I don't see anywhere that I intimated that Amtrak hasn't contributed to its own problems.

Congress shouldn't be trying to run a railroad. Period. These Congressmen are petulant children playing trains with our national rail system. Mica et al. have precisely ZERO qualifications to make operational railroading decisions. And worse, they are not interested in improving our rail system. They are blinded ideologues who are trying to oversee its demise.

BTW, how does Amtrak pay for the deployment of a F&B POS system across the national network? Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Committee, in its infinite wisdom, is doing markup on its transportation budget where the Majority has slashed Amtrak's already anemic funding by another $262M. This is so very typical. Shamelessly force Amtrak to subsist on a starvation budget, and then turn around and blame Amtrak for the very problems this woefully inadequate funding creates.

fastflyer

Yet another item to pack in my Amtrak long-distance steamer trunk. I already bring my own wine and booze (and cocktail shaker). Now a set of wine glasses to boot. Keeping the locked trunk on the lower level luggage rack makes the experience like a visit to the "wine cellar" before every lunch and dinner.

As long as Amtrak continues to provide a bottomless ice bucket, I'll survive.

Miesque

I always bring my own stemware and wine since I typically do the sleeper car. I think the idea of having a souvenir wine glass for purchase is how they should have done it.

amamba

I bought a nice Coast Starlight souvenir wine glass onboard in the PPC about 3-4 years ago.

Reindeerflame

I bring my own stemware when I go camping, and I can bring my own stemware when traveling on Amtrak.

rittenhousesq

I assume this doesn't include Acela first class!

Eris

I thought this complaint was vaguely ridiculous (I am not a wine drinker), but at tonight's dinner on the Coast Starlight, my tablemate poured her tiny bottle of red wine into the plastic stemware, and ... it dripped slowly out the bottom. Our server quickly fetched a glass wineglass and transferred the wine from plastic to glass, commenting, "bah, I don't know WHY they're having us use these plastic cups." Not two minutes later, same thing happened across the aisle and up two tables.

Certainly penny wise and pound foolish. Also, messy.

SCEflyer

[QUOTE=Armani;24801077]The only problem with your proposed solution, is that the dishwasher positions have all been eliminated. You will note that everything in the place setting, with the exception of the silverware is disposable.

CMK10

All of these little changes serve to cheapen the brand in a way that takes a lot of the fun out of the experience. I travel once or twice a year on long distance trains myself and the only purpose of traveling by train is to travel by train. I'm already having to scrounge for my own newspapers and bring my own shampoo and now I'll have to drink out of a plastic cup. Great