The first type of American: people who joyride the day's updrafts like marvelous, glossy crows. They easily recall the locations of treats encountered over their lifetime. They answer this question Glock-shot fast, as if they have been waiting to be asked it. They are happy.
The first clue could be if the server brings your check without it being requested. That's certainly a sign that the staff considers your meal done and isn't expecting (or perhaps wanting) you to order anything else.
While dozens of other countries have delivered fast, modern train networks, we are stuck with a skeletal system built largely on slow, 19th-century alignments. Even developing nations are passing us by. There is growing recognition at the federal level that things need to change, but substantial and comprehensive reform would require an act of Congress.
Have you ever watched a mile-long freight train rumble by and wondered how one locomotive can pull more than a hundred fully loaded cars? The locomotive weighs maybe 150 metric tons, and each car is about 100 metric tons, which means it's hauling 10,000 tons. I mean, if you weigh 170 pounds, this would be like pulling three SUVs totaling 12,000 pounds.
Restaurant owners like Panjwani are caught in the middle of a growing battle of new and established reservation platforms vying for their business. The two dominant players for more than a decade, OpenTable and Resy, are now facing a wave of fresh competition from high-end services and even delivery apps all trying to win lucrative bookings at exclusive establishments.
Our guests continue to tell us they value greater flexibility in how they spend their time on board, and Express Dining was designed with that in mind. The cruise giant says that the new dining experience is designed to offer a freshly prepared multi-course dinner experience in under an hour for groups of six guests or fewer.
The expense, return on investment, and volume of investors needed to make it a reality did not make sense. I thought, 'maybe it's time to do something new.' The amount of money you need to run a restaurant in Brooklyn or Manhattan at this point is so crazy. If you fail, the loss is massive. Here, we were able to do a major renovation, we have a 100 bottle wine list, and we can use the ingredients we want and serve them at a decent price point because our overhead is not as bad.
Many passengers assume that train food comes from prepackaged sources, but the meal arriving at your train seat or table could have been prepared hours earlier at a commissary or even cooked to order by a chef onboard. Train dining has significantly evolved from the era of vending machine snacks. Now, rail operators invest in specialized equipment, source from local suppliers, and develop menus months in advance.
Stepping inside the carriage is like being transported into another world, and one in which guests are invited to become part of the story,
Let's start with the biggest issue on the horizon: the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. Yes, the ultimate decision is about a year away. But sides are lining up for and against, and right now, the Surface Transportation Board, which is colloquially known as STB -- the railroads' economic regulator -- is considering the details of how the rules governing that decision will be applied.
The best train journeys in the world have an intangible allure about them. Since the dawn of time, the romance of railways has seduced poets, spellbound novelists, and dealt directors the perfect hand for capturing fleeting friendships, illicit affairs, and all manner of crimes and capers. A ticket is not just a permit to ride, it's permission to trespass on the intimacies of other people's lives.
LNER has unveiled the name and interior design of a new fleet of long-distance trains, which will be the first to carry the new Great British Railways branding when it launches in a few years time. LNER says demand on its East Coast Mainline route has continued to grow since the pandemic, with more than 24 million passengers travelling in 2024-25.
They operate when students can actually work. Evening shifts end after dinner rush, not at some arbitrary closing time. Weekend mornings pay well because most people want those hours off. Tips during Friday night service can match what other jobs pay for an entire day. Working in food service teaches you things textbooks can't. When five tables need attention at once, you learn to prioritize fast.
Indian long-distance bus operator LeafyBus has signed an agreement with Eicher Trucks & Buses for the deployment of 100 electric intercity sleeper buses on national routes in India. The programme is centred on the Skyline Pro E 13.5-metre electric sleeper coach and foresees a phased rollout, with 35 vehicles scheduled to enter service by March 2026, according to India Times.
Khan started Darjeeling Express as a pop-up at Soho pub The Sun & 13 Cantons in 2014 before taking on a permanent site in Kingly Court. She decided not to reopen there post-lockdown and chose instead to move the restaurant to a bigger site in Covent Garden, where she stayed until the summer of 2022. Following another pop-up stint, this time in west London, Khan moved Darjeeling Express back to Kingly Court at the beginning of 2023.
The latest NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker, powered by CGA intelligence, reveals groups' like-for-like sales last month were just 0.3% ahead of December 2024. It was flat at 0.0% in November, as some consumers tightened their spending in the run-up to Christmas. Across 2025, at-home sales growth rose above the UK's rate of inflation in only two of the 12 months.
IoT tech is seeing increased use and paying dividends, fuelling operational efficiency, improving front-of-house guest experiences and reducing downtime in the kitchen, according to research from MachineQ. The 2026 restaurant readiness: ops meets tech report, conducted by independent research firm Censuswide, took the opinion of more than 400 US-based quick service and fast casual restaurant leaders about the effects of technology in their industry, highlighting how technology adoption is transforming day-to-day restaurant operations.
Three of London's mainline terminus stations have announced more dates for the Railway 200 themed heritage tours that they were running last year. The tours will run once a month from January to March next year at London Bridge, Victoria, and Waterloo stations and will be led by Network Rail and historian-author Rachel Kolksy. They will last around two hours and involve walking around each station and the surrounding areas. The tours will cost £25 per person and dates are below. London Bridge station Tickets
Selecting your favorites and getting to go back for seconds and thirds allows you to sample a little bit of everything and even discover new-to-you dishes. There are a number of tips you need to navigate any buffet so you don't waste time and money, the most important of which is the order in which you eat. Leave starches for last to keep from filling up so you can have more room to enjoy more big-ticket items.
I spent 12 hours in a regular seat on an overnight train from Berlin to Vienna. For less than $50, I got a reclining seat in a seating carriage with five other people. I've traveled on Amtrak sleeper cars in private rooms, but I didn't adjust well to the shared space. I got exactly zero hours of sleep on an overnight train from Berlin to Vienna in October 2022.