Thanks for posting this article.
“...$9.50 to buy a cheeseburger on Amtrak, but the cost to taxpayers is $16.15. Riders pay $2.00 for a Pepsi, but each of these sodas costs the U.S. Treasury $3.40. “
I see the problem. And solution.
AMTRAK meet CHICK-FIL-A. Their food is better and much cheaper.
A lot of airlines stumbled upon that solution ages ago, to the point where the food companies are named in the airlines’ advertising.
There are several reasons for this ~ (1) Maintenance of the supply chain is a whole 'nuther game when the store moves on rails and the supply delivery point is a building ~ rather than the other way around, the store sits there and the trucks pull up.
Oh, did i mention the other reasons ~ customer reluctance to pay more than $10 for a $16 hamburger ~ you did see what the airlines did ~ they cut out those meals!
The best solution is to simply let local vendors sell at railstops ~ third world style. I noticed that the Russians have gone to that entirely, and they have some vast distances to be covered ~ no effort by their rail services to feed anybody. ,P>You drive one of those California roach coaches up on the platform and he'll sell stuff you never dreamed of at a much lower price. Then, he can drive away and there you are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrRex42rJzI Doing it Indian style ~ this guy is making omlets ~ on the station platform.