Dear Auto Train Passenger, In an effort to be good stewards of the federal funding received to operate our Amtrak service, a number of steps are being taken to eliminate losses in our Food and Beverage department over the next five years. Some of the changes being made to accomplish this include the discontinuation of select amenities offered on Auto Train. Effective March 14, 2014, the Sleeping car lounge will be removed from Auto Train and replaced with an additional Coach car to allow greater seating capacity for our passengers. Additionally, complimentary wine served with dinner will be discontinued as well as the on-board wine and cheese tastings for Sleeping car passengers. Passengers will continue to receive all regular meals in the dining car at no additional charge, and passengers may purchase cheese and cracker trays and other snacks, as well as liquor, wine and beer, in the Lounge car. While it is never easy to tell you, our valued customers, that we are eliminating some of the amenities, these changes are necessary in order to reduce costs, increase revenues and preserve passenger rail service across our country. If you have any questions or comments about these changes, feel free to contact me using the “contact us” link on the Amtrak.com home page. Thank you for traveling with Amtrak. We appreciate your patronage. Sincerely, Mark Murphy General Manager, Long -Distance Services Sadly - all true
