It costs $131 for a New York City round-trip ticket on Amtrak's Pennsylvanian passenger train.
Now, for an extra $390, or $195 one-way, you can nibble on barbecued crushed beef and black bean empanadas; move to the reading room and choose a book from the private library, or simply sit in a rear glass-enclosed observation room and sip cognac.For lunch, would you prefer the miniature Peking duck crepes, sir, or will it be the cold poached filet of sole? Very good! And for madame?
That's $521 for 800 miles and 20 hours of railroad elegance - totals for the round trip - for the luxury service Amtrak introduces Aug. 1 for a six-month experiment it hopes will someday spread nationwide on select routes.
Amtrak has rented a private coach to operate as the "Keystone Classic Club" hitched up as the last car on the Pennsylvanian.
The Keystone Classic Club will operate four days a week - eastbound on Thursday and Saturday and westbound on Friday and Sunday - although the Pennsylvanian runs daily in both directions.
Amtrak picked the Pennsylvanian for the experiment largely because the 11-year-old passenger train is the most successful state-subsidized train operation in the nation, averaging 16,500 riders a month, and producing $1.7 million more in revenue than expenses last year.
"We needed a route long enough to allow a passenger to sit back, relax and enjoy all of the services we'll be offering, and we needed a route with scenery," Amtrak spokesman Howard Robertson said. "Pittsburgh-New York has some of the best scenery in the East."
Riders can take the Keystone Club between any two points on the line, but the flat $195 one-way fee - no matter the distance traveled - is in addition to the regular train fare.
Amtrak's experiment with the Keystone Classic Club follows private endeavors to provide luxury train service.
A private company has been operating the American-Europe Express - the U.S. equivalent of the luxurious Orient Express - since November 1989, hooked onto the Chicago-Washington-New York Amtrak train.
Although rail advocacy groups like the Keystone Association of Railroad Passengers Inc. are usually supportive when Amtrak tries new offerings, some mixed feelings are apparent this time.
"Ridiculous ... outrageous" are two words used by Bob Abraham of Monroeville, Pa., vice president of the state rail passenger group, to describe the cost of the Keystone Classic Club service.
He said Amtrak would have better served riders by adding the "club car" service it offers in the busy New York City-Washington, D.C., corridor, including wider seats, complimentary beverages, hot airlines-style meals served at seats, pre-boarding and other amenities.
"The Keystone Club is a unique travel experience, but at that price, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, if at all," Abraham said.
The Keystone Classic Club car was built by Pullman Co. in 1954 as the first all-stainless steel car. It was rebuilt earlier this year, when the observation room was added.
The dining room is separate, and will feature gourmet meals. A sitting/smoking room also is separate. Amtrak will take reservations for a maximum of 10 riders at a time.
Amtrak board member Paul M. Weyrich recently told the National Association of Railroad Passengers that "If this sort of thing works, it will not only bring in revenue that will help the other end of the train, but it will change the image of the system where people will begin thinking of Amtrak as something which no community should be without."