Even before its Viewliner II fleet is fully deployed, Amtrak is beginning the engineering process for its Viewliner III cars. There has been mixed reaction to the removal of toilets from the Viewliner roomettes. While some passengers loved the convenience of having the toilet in their room and were upset that they now would need to trudge down the hall to a shared restroom, others were happy that the functions of sleeping and using the bathroom were now separated. Amtrak has instead come up with a new concept, (from the folks that brought you the diner/lounge) the diner/restroom. The restrooms will now be totally removed from the sleeper and coach cars, and put throughout the dining car instead. The seats at each table will double as a toilet. With the seat closed, it is a comfortable chair with a cushion. Underneath, there is a toilet seat ring. So now one can also "make more room" either at the same time or while waiting for their food to arrive. Since Amtrak encourages strangers to eat together at a table for four to get to know one another, now they will REALLY get to know one another. And, Amtrak will save money by combining the plumbing facilities of the former sleeper and coach toilets and the dining car into one car on each train.
On a related note, Amtrak plans to incorporate prunes and laxatives into every menu option.
