Amtrak Passengers Filed Thousands of Food Service Complaints Last Year

Taking the train is, without a doubt, the morally superior way to travel. Planes, cruises, and cars are significantly worse for the environment, and let’s be honest, buses just aren't that.. exciting. Plus with the return of whimsical and luxury train service, taking the train doesn't even need to be a purely economical decision. The most popular train in the US, by far, is Amtrak. In 2023, Amtrak had 28.6 million passengers, an increase of 24% in ridership compared to 2022.

But even if trains are the cooler way to travel, not everything is hunky dory, 100% of the time. This can be evidenced by the nearly 10,000 customer complaints that Amtrak received in 2023, according to records obtained by Thrillist via FOIA request. One of the biggest gripes for customers? The food on Amtrak trains. Amtrak's records show that last year, 2,933 dining service complaints were filed.

The majority of Amtrak dining service complaints were under the pretty general "Food Service Unsatisfactory" category.

These included issues with taste ("The pancakes (microwaved) were very tough and tasted terrible," one complaint detailed), or the fanciness of the meal service ("We were VERY disappointed to find that there was only a cafe car. I paid for first class and expected to have a dining car," another complaint said).

Another significant portion of dining service complaints (245 complaints) fell under the umbrella of "Food Selection." These complaints typically included details pertaining to cafe cars that were either totally sold out or unexpectedly closed. "Third trip. Maybe it will be my last," one complaint read. "No food or drinks; cafe car closed through most of the trip. Quality and availability of food is marginal. Not what I experienced in previous trips. Bragged about Amtrak. Will not so much anymore. Disappointing trip. Cannot even get water."

But 54 of the dining service complaints were a bit more serious—these complaints detailed potential cases of listeria and E. coli contamination. Several of these complaints were related to a documented FDA recall of sandwiches and fruit cups that were sold on Amtrak in January 2023. Here's one such complaint from January 26, 2023: "I recently booked a trip from Sanford, Florida to Virginia on Amtrak," the complaint said. "I have never been so sick in my entire life from eating the food provided on your train. I just received an email from [an] Amtrak representative explaining that the food had listeria in it."

But not all of the food poisoning complaints were linked to a documented outbreak; for example, the one below was sent in regard to a trip taken in February 2023: "I ate your signature steak dinner at 6:15 pm yesterday evening. No appetizers, no dessert. I want to inform you that I got food poisoning and was up most of the night with vomiting and diarrhea. The texture of the steak was different from before, like it had been over tenderized."

Amtrak, for its part, denied that the food poisoning complaints were connected to food sold on the trains.

"Amtrak has Public Health Standards and Standard Operating Procedures in place, which exceed FDA requirements, to safeguard public health and prevent foodborne illness," an Amtrak representative said in a statement to Thrillist. "We investigated all 54 food poisoning complaints from last year and did not find any instance where an issue was related to food purchased onboard any of our trains. In addition, the Amtrak Public Health Team regularly conducts internal audits and trainings to support continuous improvement across our national network, including Certified Food Protection Manager Certification Training."

It is important to note that the 54 food poisoning complaints made in 2023 accounted for just 0.00019% of all riders last year. And while, ideally, there would be zero food poisoning complaints—seriously, who wants to experience the onset of diarrhea and vomiting in the Northeast Regional—those are still pretty low odds. Even the overall number of complaints is pretty low—the filed complaints only account for 0.034% of Amtrak's ridership. Plus, Amtrak's got plenty of positive reviews, alongside the customer complaints.

"The onboard food and beverage experience is an essential component of customer satisfaction," the Amtrak representative told Thrillist. "In FY24 YTD, 70% of on-time customers rated our food and beverage service between 8-10 on a 10-point scale. These Customer Satisfaction Index scores drive us to continuously evolve and invest in our menu offerings to delight our customers. With that objective in mind, we’ll be unveiling three new upgrades later this spring, including a Cafe Acela menu refresh, a new, rotating menu for the Metropolitan Lounge at Moynihan Train Hall in New York City and new STARR Restaurant items for the Acela First Class menu."

So, while riding Amtrak isn't totally perfect, it's still a pretty convenient and reliable experience. But if you're particularly fearful of foodborne illness, maybe pack your own sandwich. And clearly, Amtrak is going to use its $2 billion in new funding to spruce up the cafe cars in the coming years.

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