Many of us are interested in the possible removal of the dining car on the Coast Starlight. It’s possible. The following list of articles outline the steps Amtrak seems to be taking in this direction.
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Amtrak is Swapping Dining Cars on Some Trains for :”Airline Food”
By Eillie Anzilotti, FastCompany 4/20/18
Amtrak to Cut Dining Cars on Trains That Stop in Toledo
By | BLADE STAFF WRITER 4/21/18
Amtrak has been chipping away at the dining car for some time. The following articles summarize the history:
Although I’m very happy with the quality of Amtrak dining car food, I fondly recall the 60s and early 70s–including the early Amtrak years–when cooks actually cooked in the diners. In 8/64, as I rode SP’s Coast Daylight, the waiters announced lunch by walking the entire train ringing xylophone-type chimes.
In the 60s, SP downgraded their service in the hope (or so it was widely suspected) that patronage would decline, thus bolstering their case to the ICC & Calif PUC for discontinuance of the trains. I wonder if Amtrak is now doing the same.