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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. |
 Today Amtrak reaches its 35th anniversary.
Today the system remains skeletal in the views of some. In fact, in the late 1970s there were more Amtrak routes than there are today. A number of new routes were started and later discontinued despite good patronage and a demonstrated need for travel options in fuel crisis times. Shown above is the new spring-fall system timetable which became effective on April 24. (The publication says that it will be effective until October, without giving the exact date in October at which schedules will once again change.) The cover photo of the latest timetable is of the "Empire Builder, about five miles east of Marias Pass and five miles west of East Glacier Park, Montana." The page-one message is signed by "David Hughes, Acting President and CEO." His message is factual and bland. In part it reads, "As Amtrak completes its 35th year of operation in 2006, we look to the future with determination and commitment. We are determined to do the best job we can to deliver superior service to our customers, and we are committed to finding new ways to make your experience a better one so that we can count on you as a repeat customer." The timetable has few important changes other than new and rearranged Thruway Bus services in California. The 35 years have seen a constant struggle to persuade Congress to provide Amtrak with adequate funding. Rail advocates often cannot understand why the feds pour so much money into the other modes, which are clearly less efficient in fuel usage and less safe. The answer is that Amtrak lacks lobbyists on the order of those backing highway and airline interests. The National Association of Railroad Passengers, for example, has done a herculean job of helping keep the passenger trains in existence, but there is no way NARP or any other rail passenger lobbying group can come up with the massive sums that lobbyists from private industry pour into the coffers of Senators and Congressmen to protect and advance their interests. On its Website (www.amtrak.com) Amtrak has added an interactive route map, which draws routes across the country. Congress has now returned from its spring break and will
take up Amtrak funding in May.
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
Tunnel work is disrupting Coast Starlight service in Southern California VIA's CANADIAN is back partially on Canadian Pacific rails 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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