- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 4,887
This was my email to Amtrak:
We were in the CAFE of the Albuquerque AMTRAK station waiting for our train on Saturday, July 17th. I took a picture of my wife and friends there in the cafe. The Cafe clerk came over and told me that "photography was forbidden" because "it is a federal facility". Is it Amtrak policy to refuse to allow photography in station cafes? What about while on a train? Isn't that federal property? Can one take a picture of the outside of the station or is that against the rules too? On a previous trip, the car attendant took a picture of us using my camera with the train in the background. Should this attendant be reported to the FBI as a potential terrorist?
This was their reply:
Dear<deleted>,
Thank you for your recent email.
We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced while traveling with us. As information, Amtrak's policy is that ticketed passengers may take photographs on board our trains as long as it does not interfere with passengers, crew or other Amtrak employees. Photography is permissible only in public areas of our stations and is prohibited in restricted areas (for example, rights of way and other no trespassing areas, etc.). Photography on train platforms is limited to ticketed passengers who may do so briefly prior to boarding or departing from a train.
Additionally, some station locations are not owned by Amtrak but by private entities or municipalities in which they are located. In such instances, Amtrak must yield to the restrictions set by those entities.
All other photography requires prior notice to Amtrak and may require an escort at the discretion of the company. For safety and security reasons, this permission may be restricted temporarily by Amtrak personnel. Amtrak's requirement of prior notice allows the company to inform the notifying photographer of the conditions of access and when access may be temporarily denied.
For more information please visit our web site at Amtrak.com (or click on the link below).
http://www.amtrak.co...d=1241267362248
We hope this information proves helpful and that we may serve you aboard Amtrak in the near future
Sincerely,
Amtrak Customer Relations
Of course, it didn't answer the question as to why the person in the station cafe said it was "federal property" and therefore photography was prohibited. Oh well!
We were in the CAFE of the Albuquerque AMTRAK station waiting for our train on Saturday, July 17th. I took a picture of my wife and friends there in the cafe. The Cafe clerk came over and told me that "photography was forbidden" because "it is a federal facility". Is it Amtrak policy to refuse to allow photography in station cafes? What about while on a train? Isn't that federal property? Can one take a picture of the outside of the station or is that against the rules too? On a previous trip, the car attendant took a picture of us using my camera with the train in the background. Should this attendant be reported to the FBI as a potential terrorist?
This was their reply:
Dear<deleted>,
Thank you for your recent email.
We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced while traveling with us. As information, Amtrak's policy is that ticketed passengers may take photographs on board our trains as long as it does not interfere with passengers, crew or other Amtrak employees. Photography is permissible only in public areas of our stations and is prohibited in restricted areas (for example, rights of way and other no trespassing areas, etc.). Photography on train platforms is limited to ticketed passengers who may do so briefly prior to boarding or departing from a train.
Additionally, some station locations are not owned by Amtrak but by private entities or municipalities in which they are located. In such instances, Amtrak must yield to the restrictions set by those entities.
All other photography requires prior notice to Amtrak and may require an escort at the discretion of the company. For safety and security reasons, this permission may be restricted temporarily by Amtrak personnel. Amtrak's requirement of prior notice allows the company to inform the notifying photographer of the conditions of access and when access may be temporarily denied.
For more information please visit our web site at Amtrak.com (or click on the link below).
http://www.amtrak.co...d=1241267362248
We hope this information proves helpful and that we may serve you aboard Amtrak in the near future
Sincerely,
Amtrak Customer Relations
Of course, it didn't answer the question as to why the person in the station cafe said it was "federal property" and therefore photography was prohibited. Oh well!