Millennials kill Amtrak's dining car

I’m sure the cheapo disposable plastic plates and utensils had nothing to do with it.

15 Likes

Just for clarification, who are “the millenials” in this story?

7 Likes

This is the sequel to “Baby Boomers kill affordable, enjoyable, and widespread North American train travel.”

50 Likes

You know what else the millennials are killing? Phrases like “going out of fashion”.

11 Likes

Airplane food on a train is still crap.

15 Likes

“Young people we can blame for our own screw-ups”. Same as with any other big corporation going through hard times because it got lazy and complacent.

Imagine if they hadn’t abandoned the ideals of their youth and given into Reaganism. Instead of this underfunded joke we might have a decent passenger rail system similar to those in Japan or continental Europe.

40 Likes

'zactly. People younger then you but old enough that you can seemly blame them for stuff.

8 Likes

Make Airplane Food Edible Again

7 Likes

Real Solution: Hitch up a few awesome food trucks.

22 Likes

The cabin is filling with smoke. :fearful:
But it smells delicious. :woozy_face:

19 Likes

I’d really like to see thier data on this. It sounds more like they didn’t want the expense of a car that wasn’t carrying passengers.

36 Likes

I’m pretty sure the shitty train system in the US is killing itself, but sure. Millennials.

31 Likes

32 Likes

My experience with the dining car is that some jackass opens up their laptop/briefcase and takes over 4 fucking seats.

6 Likes

So “Millennials”, who are often portrayed as having zero inhibitions about sharing every aspect of themselves on social media, “want more privacy” and “don’t want to feel uncomfortable sitting next to people they don’t know” IRL ?! Strange days indeed.

14 Likes

I’m already PO’d that Amtrak pulled their Parlour Cars from the Coast Starlight, although I did get to ride on the cars’ very last trip, which was so full of railroad geeks that they had both of their Pacific Parlour cars in that trip (usually one was used, while the other was getting serviced). Standing room only in the Parlour Car wine-tastings.

But blaming “millennials” is lame.

16 Likes

“Millenials” was mistranslated from the original Greek for “blame sponge”. It’s an abstract group that acquires whatever characteristics are required to deflect responsibility for a situation.

29 Likes

I worked on a new product launch that failed. In their wall street report, corporate ding dongs blamed:
1 customers didn’t understand how great the product was
2 employees didn’t understand how great the product was
3 something about relying on competitors as partners, really a shot at gov regulation.

No mention of the aforementioned ding dongs’ total misread of consumer needs and wants.

17 Likes

In the 1970s, there was a dining car on the trains I took on my weekly visits between NYC and Boston. One time I had a memorable champagne drinking party with an impromptu pair of passengers which resulted in an extremely wobbly walk home on Boston’s perceptibly moving sidewalks.

By 1980, those dining cars were gone, replaced by a kiosk that dispensed packages sandwiches and drinks. I don’t believe the Millennials can be blamed for that.

24 Likes

We had recently tried to plan to go cross country via Amtrak than road tripping but ultimately funds and timing killed that. As I had done a lot of research, these were some of the main concerns I had related to this:

The dining car over time has restricted and cheaped out on their menu it seems to the point that it feels like you get better variety and cheaper options in the cafe car. Beyond that it seems to be better just to pack your own food.

That isn’t even mentioning the whole ‘dining with strangers’ bit that has been covered. Normally that wouldn’t bother me but with fewer people and in a more ‘intimate’ setting it kinda irks me. I’d much rather just order my food and eat it in my reserved seat. Hell, I’d be willing to go get it and bring it back myself. I’m actually taking my first cruise next year and likewise will have a similar dining experience but at a much larger table with more people in my own group I am comfortable around. This doesn’t bother me nearly as much.

I know there’s been mention of concerns about available food storage on the train and running out of items as well. What would be nice is on some fuel or passenger stops have designated food counters or restaurants and let people stop long enough to get food and bring it on board. Let people order ahead on the train and have it ready to pick up on arrival. Some already do this if they trust the train timetable and delivery people and get food delivered straight to the station. Make something official. Makes it a lot easier to keep stuff stocked and means passersby can use them or people not necessary staying on but getting off or on. Part of the concerns about food stock on the train is consistency and planning ahead for passengers and what people will normally aim for. This could help significantly.

6 Likes