Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Does it really cost $3.40 for a can of soda? How can it possibly cost so much, if Amtrak is buying in bulk? I smell BS.
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The $3.40 is the loaded cost of selling the can of soda: service attendant, inventory stocking & tracking, management overhead, all the embedded cost to run the café and diner cars, material losses, etc. The cost of buying the soda cans in bulk is a small part of the cost to stock and sell the soda cans.
As the excerpt states, Amtrak is improving the cost recovery for food and beverage sales. But very difficult to get to break even across all the trains. According to multiple posts I've seen, back in the hey day of passenger service on private railroads, food and diner service almost always lost money. I suspect the airlines don't make any money, even today with all the fees they charge, on food & beverage sales on the airplanes. Just the reality of suppling food and beverage options in transportation.