From The Editorial Board, The Albany Times-Union; January 4, 2018
Rail passenger service remains an essential travel mode for many New Yorkers, especially on one of Amtrak’s busiest routes, the section that connects the Albany-Rensselaer station with New York City’s Pennsylvania Station. So why for the past 12 years can’t those fare-paying customers buy something to eat or drink on board?
The removal of dining options on the run to New York dates to 2005, when Congress, in its ongoing battle over subsidies to Amtrak, the nationwide rail passenger system, insisted any food service on trains should at least break even. This came just as the states were handed partial responsibility for maintaining service within their borders. In New York, this food desert is only on the trains that originate in either Albany or Manhattan. You can’t buy even a bag of pretzels or a bottle of water.
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