Amtrak trials in-seat delivery, online ordering from the cafe car

Feeling peckish on your next Amtrak ride? You might not even need to leave your seat to grab a snack or drink.

That’s because the rail line is trialing a new order-at-your-seat service on select trains in the Northeast.

This new online cafe ordering capability allows you to place an online order from the cafe car and then either pick up your items from the cafe itself or have them delivered directly to your seat.

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You’ll need to input your car and seat number in order to receive a food delivery, so be sure to note where you’re sitting before you place your order.

While the prices of the online menu are the same as in the cafe car itself, this new convenience does come with an added cost. All online orders are subject to a $0.50 transaction fee, and those placed for delivery come with an additional $2 convenience charge.

If you’re ordering a bunch of items and don’t want to walk to the cafe car, this new service could definitely come in the clutch.

However, having a $2.50 bag of Rold Gold pretzels delivered to your seat for an additional $2.50 in fees might not necessarily make sense — especially if you’re paying out of pocket.

That said, this service is definitely most convenient for someone ordering hot food from the cafe car. You can preorder your meal and only get up from your seat once it’s ready, eliminating the need to wait in the cafe car while the attendant prepares your food.

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“Our customers who are traveling with family, have reduced mobility, and are seniors report that the at-seat delivery option is important and has improved their onboard experience,” Fred Gazzolo, Amtrak’s vice president of product development and customer analytics, said in an exclusive interview with TPG.

For now, this new Amtrak service is exclusively available on select Amtrak Acela trains operating in the Northeast.

If you’re on one of the eligible trains — currently including trains 2160, 2163, 2170, 2250, 2253 and 2254 — you should receive an email about this new feature a few hours before departure. If you don’t, you can always try going to one of these websites to see if you’re on an eligible train: cafe1.amtrak.com, cafe2.amtrak.com or cafe3.amtrak.com.

The online ordering system exclusively accepts major credit cards, and the transactions are processed securely via Square. It wasn’t immediately clear whether these online transactions post to your credit card statement as a dining purchase, but I’ll be sure to test it the next time I’m on an eligible train.

As someone who now frequently takes the Amtrak between New York and Philadelphia, I’m a big fan of this new development. Even though I rarely stop in the cafe car on these short trips, I like having the option of in-seat delivery.

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I’d love to see this functionality rolled out to more trains, and it’d be great if the ordering system were integrated with the mobile app.

Of course, the company is still just in testing mode, so it’s possible that these improvements are already on Amtrak’s radar.

“We’re in the midst of a 90-day pilot program that ends in mid-January. We are encouraged by the early feedback we are hearing from our customers and will make a full decision on future rollout following a thorough post-pilot evaluation,” Gazzolo said.