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Dec 10, 1970.
AMTRAK DINING CAR PRICES RISING Trains 21, 22, 58, 59, 421 and 422 now have a different menu than the rest of the long-distance trains. These trains use preplated meals prepared off the train and the prices appear substantially higher than rail travelers are accustomed to paying. This change is no doubt part of the DOT effort to increase Amtrak income, but could have the effect of reducing train patronage. On one of the two rotating menus, breakfast items consist of three choices with meat, each priced at $10, and one cereal choice at $6.75. At lunch, a cheeseburger is $7, a sandwich (type varies) is $7.25, barbecue chicken with potato wedges, corn and salad is $12, and soup (minestrone or chicken noodle) is $4. At dinner, a beef entree (braised or tenderloin) is $18; a chicken entree is $17.50; cod fillets are $16.50; cheese tortellini is $11; and an "evening special" is $12.50. |
Refuting some myths about long-distance
train travel
Long distance trains simply do not function in the imaginary ways that government train-haters claim they do. If these train-despising politicians and government lackeys would honestly examine the trains, ride them themselves and take note of who uses them and how, they might realize the falsity of their declarations. For example, in the matter of connectivity among trains, consider the following data collected by a correspondent this month on the westbound CAPITOL LIMITED, train 29: Of the 140 passengers boarding in Washington DC on March
14, 44% had taken another train to connect to No. 29.
Obviously, the connectivity among these trains was important to the ridership of all of them. Where were these people traveling? Listed here are the endpoints of the trips of those connecting to and/or from the CAPITOL: Winter Haven-Los Angeles
Note the great diversity of locations comprising the endpoints
of these people's trips. And these travel patterns are not exclusive
to Train 29-30. All the long distance
When a train-opposing bureaucrat says that
And when they claim that people on long distance
trains have an option of taking low-fare airlines, take another look at
VIA's CANADIAN is back partially on Canadian Pacific rails The VIA Rail Canada CANADIAN train has returned to CP tracks for about 200 miles of its eastbound route out of Vancouver, stopping at Matsqui, Agassiz, Katz and North Bend, then switching over to CN 10-20 miles east of North Bend, probably where CP makes its one change of the river side , location of a switchover track by bridges on both railroads. By the next stop, the train is on CN at Ashcroft. The CANADIAN leaves Vancouver at 5:30pm, so passengers would see the canyon from domes throughout the CP route, by daylight during Daylight Saving Time, especially in midsummer when daylight lingers until 11pm. The westbound train uses CN throughout, via Boston Bar
(opposite North Bend), Hope, Mission and Chilliwack to Vancouver. West
of North Bend the railroad is so near old Trans-Canada Route 1 that the
area is called "the CP curves". One can only imagine the shock of motorists
seeing a roaring freight or VIA train coming at their faces, day or night.
Since CP correctly guessed that Vancouver would be Canada's
Western port, they got first choice of right-of-way west of Kamloops, needing
to switch sides of the canyon only once. CN thought Prince Rupert would
be the port and built to there before Vancouver, so when CN did need to
go to Vancouver they had to take leftovers of ledges in the canyon, forcing
switching sides maybe 16 times.
Amtrak funding action in the Senate Spring-summer schedule changes for St. Louis-Kansas City coming Killing Amtrak slowly from within
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