Passenger Trains > Amtrak ticket rescanning--why?

Ok, again from the Palmetto...

We got a new crew at Florence and they are scanning all tickets again.  For folks who got on north of Washington, this is their THIRD scan!  Why?  Why is it that each new crew has to scan tickets?  It makes no sense.  There are seat checks above all of us with our destination listed.

In contrast, when one is on an overnight train and crews change, this goofy rescanning does not take place.  

So, what gives?  Am I missing something??  What is the rationale?

Just maybe the grand system was not working as intended and were asked to scan again and again.

They generally do it when trains cross DC, but I never heard of Florence being another of Amtrak international borders.

Well, here is the thing:  If you use the Amtrak app for your e-ticket, after it is scanned once it reads, "Paper ticket required," and your phone cannot be rescanned.  The conductor has to then look you up by name.  One would think the software of the two systems would work together...

Oh wait--it's Amtrak.


mundo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just maybe the grand system was not working as
> intended and were asked to scan again and again.

It is today!

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They generally do it when trains cross DC, but I
> never heard of Florence being another of Amtrak
> international borders.

This is normal for those of us who travel on the Palmetto. When the new crew boards at Florence, everyone is checked. Allegedly they are making sure no one is riding without a ticket. Is this really a problem? It's hard to believe this exercise accomplishes much more than annoying passengers.
 

What am I missing here.  The conductor has the person's name now and no ticket is needed.  I have not used a ticket in three or four years.  I have had to show I.D. sometimes, but usually not even that if I am in a sleeper.  I always have internet ticket, and will use it on July 1 and 4, but I would guess they only want my name or maybe ticket number, which I will have.  Is this not the case with every one?

All the times I've rode Amtrak this has happened. But I guess getting a piece of paper out of my pocket isn't that much of a hassel as others make it out to be. Just my opinion!
 

Travelling as I do on the NEC semi-regularly, coming from Springfield MA, my ticket gets scanned leaving Springfield, again leaving New Haven, and again leaving NYP.  Apparently, each conductor and their assistants must get an accurate 'inventory' of everyone on the train.

In my opinion, it serves multiple purposes:

1.  It makes sure that everyone on board has a valid ticket for that train on that day.  As a regular rider could deduce, the same conductors are on the same train day after day.  They use the same color seat checks, and use the same notations to indicate destination stations, day after day.  It would be very easy to grab your own seatcheck or someone elses' prior to your destination and using it again tomorrow, without having a ticket. 

2.  A side benefit of #1 is that there is a complete inventory of everyone on board, in case of having to bus those to intercept what would be a missed connection (like me, 5 weeks ago) or in an emergency. 

3.  It can also identify 'short-haul travel tricks' as airline passengers sometimes do...buy a ticket from Chicago to LA with stop at Kansas City and get off there for less money than booking Chicago to KC.  I've done it myself a couple of times when I was flying on business a lot 30-35 years ago.  The airlines have, and perhaps Amtrak, too, have adjusted their pricing models to eliminate or, at least, minimize the number of times that someone buys a ticket and gets off early and saves money in the process.      

4.  It ensures that nobody has 'self upgraded' to Business Class or to First Class on the Acela, and moved their seatcheck with them while there's no crew on board during crew-change stops.  The other passengers would merely think it is someone new boarding at that stop.

5.  It may even be in their contract that each new group of conductors and assistants must scan all tickets.  Keeps 'em busy, too!
   

I bet they catch a few scoffllaws!  Back in the day, they used to that with real ticket checks too.

When I worked the college-student-heavy Michigan Line in 1999-2001 (pre-electronic ticketing), it was a regular practice to vary the color of the seat checks. There were always several boxes of different colored seat checks in the GB office at Chicago and whatever color the skipper took a fancy to was what you loaded up your pockets with. Some guys would use two colors, with specific stops for each one.

We also NEVER used the three-letter ARROW station codes on the seat checks. Most of the time we would use an non-sequential pattern of numbers based on the last one or two digits of the old station numbers used by the Michigan Central.

If you were really observant and lucky enough to have a seat check in the "color-du-jour", you could still game the system, but we did our best to make it more trouble than it was worth.

Had a couple of kids try hiding in the crapper, but their fare-paying "friends" almost always dimed then out.

Even using these low-tech methods, it was pretty rare to have to re-sweep the train, even after the (then) crew change at Battle Creek. 

NZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/16 22:00 by NebraskaZephyr.

As long as its not in the middle of the night, what's the problem? In Europe, often when crews change, tickets are looked at a second time.

The Amtrak App is a bit of a rpoblem. That si why I just transfer the e-ticket to the iPhone Wallet, and then never bother with the App again

I do the same thing with the Apple wallet.  That works.  It do not take the ticket away after the first scan.

i guess the point is that it is a minor pain.  My daughter and I were in the cafe playing cards, our ticket was in the bag at our seat so we had to go back.  Not the end of the world, certainly, but we had already been checked once...

No one entered our car at Florence.  The train pretty well empties a bit at each stop after Fayetteville, it seems, losing more passengers than it gains.  By Charleston there were only two people left in business class, a car that was full two hours earlier.

Thanks for the replies.  I still think it is redundant, but I get the points made.

Jishnu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Amtrak App is a bit of a rpoblem. That si why
> I just transfer the e-ticket to the iPhone Wallet,
> and then never bother with the App again

One other possibility.  I know this will be a shocking revelation, but there are people who buy a ticket from point A to point B, and figure they can sneak on to point F without getting caught.  They could also be looking for such a miscreant by doing a "ticket sweep."

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Your hat check is supposed to be pulled just before the next station to prevent over-rides, so what's the problem ?
The only fool-proof method then is to scan every e-ticket after every stop.