5 ms·

> Does anyone have information on how or if it is possible to refuse giving ID to Amtrak and still get tickets? Oddly, I can't remember anyone ever asking me

> Does anyone have information on how or if it is possible to refuse giving ID to Amtrak and still get tickets? Oddly, I can't remember anyone ever asking me for my ID on the train - just the ticket. And if you purchase the ticket online, you can print it out either at home or at a kiosk with just the credit card or confirmation number. > what they were asking was illegal. Are you sure it is? They're a private company - on what basis is it illegal?

dragonwriter 12y ago
> They're a private company They are structured as a for-profit corporation, but they are a creation of a specific federal law, funded by the federal government as its sole active investor, and created as a federalization of the failing passenger rail industry. They are very much an organ of the government.
- s-phi-nl 12y ago
  Incidentally, the Supreme Court recently confirmed this in Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads, by a vote of 9-0.
schoen 12y ago
It might be different between the Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak routes; I remember when they introduced the ID requirement a few years ago it was somehow rolled out more thoroughly on the Northeast Corridor. (I think I may have been asked for ID on the Lake Shore Limited and not on the Capitol Corridor.)
- dataker 12y ago
  There are geographical differences. Once in the South, I was fine just with an online receipt. Another time, going from LA to SF, I had to buy another ticket because my name was misspelled(seriously).
- desigooner 12y ago
  I don't recollect being asked for my ID while riding Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor in the last 2 years. I don't even print the stubs anymore - I just use the Amtrak app / Passbook on my phone to display my ticket.
  - tcas 12y ago
    Same here -- I take the NEC every month or so and have never been asked for my ID in around 3 years. I was once asked for my AAA card when using that discount on the regional, but even that is extremely rare.
    - mixmastamyk 12y ago
      It's not asked on the train, it's asked when you buy the ticket at the window. If you use your CC, they then have id info presumably.
- Crito 12y ago
  As recently as 2012, I was riding no the Northeast Corridor, usually out of Philadelphia, without showing ID. I just get the tickets from the kiosks, as far as I can remember they just needed a credit card. I think maybe the tickets said something about "you may need to show ID to the ticket guy on the train", but I never had that happen.
  - mixmastamyk 12y ago
    A credit card is id, for all intents and purposes.

dragonwriter 12y ago

> They're a private company They are structured as a for-profit corporation, but they are a creation of a specific federal law, funded by the federal government as its sole active investor, and created as a federalization of the failing passenger rail industry. They are very much an organ of the government.

s-phi-nl 12y ago
Incidentally, the Supreme Court recently confirmed this in Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads, by a vote of 9-0.

schoen 12y ago

It might be different between the Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak routes; I remember when they introduced the ID requirement a few years ago it was somehow rolled out more thoroughly on the Northeast Corridor. (I think I may have been asked for ID on the Lake Shore Limited and not on the Capitol Corridor.)

dataker 12y ago
There are geographical differences. Once in the South, I was fine just with an online receipt. Another time, going from LA to SF, I had to buy another ticket because my name was misspelled(seriously).
desigooner 12y ago
I don't recollect being asked for my ID while riding Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor in the last 2 years. I don't even print the stubs anymore - I just use the Amtrak app / Passbook on my phone to display my ticket.
- tcas 12y ago
  Same here -- I take the NEC every month or so and have never been asked for my ID in around 3 years. I was once asked for my AAA card when using that discount on the regional, but even that is extremely rare.
  - mixmastamyk 12y ago
    It's not asked on the train, it's asked when you buy the ticket at the window. If you use your CC, they then have id info presumably.
Crito 12y ago
As recently as 2012, I was riding no the Northeast Corridor, usually out of Philadelphia, without showing ID. I just get the tickets from the kiosks, as far as I can remember they just needed a credit card. I think maybe the tickets said something about "you may need to show ID to the ticket guy on the train", but I never had that happen.
- mixmastamyk 12y ago
  A credit card is id, for all intents and purposes.