By William C. Vanutono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age Magazine; January 17, 2019
After months of having to endure cold boxed food—what some critics dubbed “Unhappy Meals”—on two Amtrak long-distance route, the New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited (Trains 48/448 and 49/449) and Washington D.C.-Chicago Capitol Limited (Trains 29 and 30), sleeping car passengers on those trains have had hot food choices restored to the menu.
When Amtrak, under President and CEO Richard Anderson (a former airline executive whose reputation with employees and customers was, according to some accounts, less than favorable), instituted cold food in a box and called it “Contemporary Dining,” there was a huge outcry. Apparently, the often-vocal complaining, which involved Amtrak unionized employees, worked. What Amtrak is now calling “Contemporary Dining Improvements” includes three hot entrées and “deluxe breakfast choices.”