Pere Marquette business class ending May 25
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:05 pm
I had tickets in June for Business Class on the Pere Marquette. This morning, I noticed that they had been arbitrarily changed to coach and the Amtrak app said “service cancelled.” I called Amtrak and the rep said the car was removed and “it doesn’t say why.” She offered to refund the BC portion of the fare.
I did a little sleuthing and it appears that BC disappears on May 25. I sent a Facebook message to MARP to see if they knew anything. Whoever answers the Facebook messages emailed MDOT, who replied that the train was switching to single level equipment for the summer and that Business Class would be back in the fall.
This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. In the past, it was normal for the PM to switch to single level equipment in the summer. When it did, they assigned a cafe car with business class at one end.
Business class costs next to nothing on the train (given that a cafe car is already on the run), so it has to boost revenue. The coffee and newspapers cost little. It takes little time to turn half a car of seats. The biggest cost is the use of the Metropolitan Lounge, and a lot of the westbound passengers don’t even use it. So why cancel it?
Are there none of the cafe/business class cars available, resulting in the substitution of a cafe-only car?
Is it possible they are eliminating food service altogether? That could be a big cost savings in the short term, but damaging to ridership in the long term.
Is a single level train with cafe car too long to fit in the GR station?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I hope it is nothing, but in the current environment I am concerned about amenities and the future of the train.
I did a little sleuthing and it appears that BC disappears on May 25. I sent a Facebook message to MARP to see if they knew anything. Whoever answers the Facebook messages emailed MDOT, who replied that the train was switching to single level equipment for the summer and that Business Class would be back in the fall.
This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. In the past, it was normal for the PM to switch to single level equipment in the summer. When it did, they assigned a cafe car with business class at one end.
Business class costs next to nothing on the train (given that a cafe car is already on the run), so it has to boost revenue. The coffee and newspapers cost little. It takes little time to turn half a car of seats. The biggest cost is the use of the Metropolitan Lounge, and a lot of the westbound passengers don’t even use it. So why cancel it?
Are there none of the cafe/business class cars available, resulting in the substitution of a cafe-only car?
Is it possible they are eliminating food service altogether? That could be a big cost savings in the short term, but damaging to ridership in the long term.
Is a single level train with cafe car too long to fit in the GR station?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I hope it is nothing, but in the current environment I am concerned about amenities and the future of the train.