iPhone Scanner's POV from the conductors

[Ryan]

Sorry, but Alan is right on this one. The Auto Train was the first to go e-Ticket, but the e-Ticket system is different than the one used by the rest of the system (and the Amtrak app and Passbook).

All you need to do is drive up to the gate, give them a reservation number and ID, and you're in.

The process:

http://www.amtrak.com/auto-train-ticketless-check-in

 

[AlanB]

Sorry, but Alan is right on this one. The Auto Train was the first to go e-Ticket, but the e-Ticket system is different than the one used by the rest of the system (and the Amtrak app and Passbook).

All you need to do is drive up to the gate, give them a reservation number and ID, and you're in.

The process:

http://www.amtrak.co...etless-check-in

Based upon my recent experience this past July, they didn't even want a photo ID or the reservation number. All the attendant in the booth wanted was my name. In Lorton they already had little Auto Train booklet that describes things about the AT and provides a place to write the car numbers labeled with my name on it. In Sanford they look on a computer list for one's name. But in both cases, no ID or reservation number were requested.

When you go to checkin inside the station, there they want photo ID, but nothing more. I never even showed any paperwork or reservation confirmations at all.

Now, one oddity that I did note is that the portion of my family traveling on a paid eTicket that did not and will never go into the Amtrak App or Passport, was done once they checked in with the photo ID's. For those of us traveling on an AGR award, the agent's computer did spit out standard Amtrak tickets which I was asked to sign, and then she returned the stubs to me after pulling the tickets.

I'm not sure why they're doing this odd procedure at the AT for award reservations, but it is what it is. But in general, the AT has gone ticketless and there is no need to present any paperwork. And again, the eTickets do NOT show up in the Apps because they don't use the QC codes and the conductors don't lift tickets.

 

[shinkansen]

BTW, why is it so important to have the TSA circus at train stations? Isn't it much easier to blow up a railroad track without ever coming near the circus than to go through the song and dance to get on a train to cause harm? Afterall you can't really fly a train into a building even if you wanted to.

Taking off the NARP hat, and my hat as a full time newspaper reporter to put on my weekend warrior hat as a Coast Guardsman. The TSA is not just stationed at WAS to protect outbound trains but to serve as a deterrent to those who would commit an act or terror within the station itself. From a terror stand point a mass amount of people in a tightly confined quarters with limited access/egress makes for every bit as much of an attractive target as a track-side attack.

 

I imagine you have never been to WAS, but you could literally “fly a train” in to the station. A great example revolves around the story of PR, GG1 Train #173.

 

Regardless, my experience with the TSA at WAS has been nothing short of exceptional. I will not speak for what folks think of TSA assigned to the airports, but the agents I have met and spoke with in my duties at the NARP booth has been nothing but professional and dignified. And imagine if something did happen, the entire country would be up in arms demanding to know why TSA or Amtrak police was not present to prevent any such incident. But, hey what do I know, I only covered the Pentagon on 9/11 for the AP.

 

Sorry, if I come off a bit harsh, but I take both on-train and station security extremely serious.

Back on topic. :hi:

 

[Ryan]

You'd do well to lay back and learn the lay of the land before flying off into attack dog mode. I'd wager that Jishnu has been to WAS more times than you have.

How exactly does controlling access to the platforms at WAS prevent someone from magically transporting themselves from a passenger car to a locomotive, taking control of the train, somehow disable ACSES and "fly" a train into the station?

The TSA brings approximately nothing of value to our nations security.

 

[jis]

BTW, why is it so important to have the TSA circus at train stations? Isn't it much easier to blow up a railroad track without ever coming near the circus than to go through the song and dance to get on a train to cause harm? Afterall you can't really fly a train into a building even if you wanted to.

Taking off the NARP hat, and my hat as a full time newspaper reporter to put on my weekend warrior hat as a Coast Guardsman. The TSA is not just stationed at WAS to protect outbound trains but to serve as a deterrent to those who would commit an act or terror within the station itself. From a terror stand point a mass amount of people in a tightly confined quarters with limited access/egress makes for every bit as much of an attractive target as a track-side attack.

I was talking about inspecting passengers boarding trains.

Mind you I have nothing against individual TSA agents and at least I have not had the misfortune of being involved in any of the the more egregious horror stories produced by certain TSA agents.

I imagine you have never been to WAS, but you could literally “fly a train” in to the station. A great example revolves around the story of PR, GG1 Train #173.

You assume wrong, but more to the point... A TSA agent standing inside Washington Union Station will prevent this how? For that matter a TSA agent in New York Penn Station or even at New Carrolton station will prevent this how? Just so that I can get a sense of the level of disconnectedness with reality, do you really consider this as a viable vector of attack?

Regardless, my experience with the TSA at WAS has been nothing short of exceptional. I will not speak for what folks think of TSA assigned to the airports, but the agents I have met and spoke with in my duties at the NARP booth has been nothing but professional and dignified. And imagine if something did happen, the entire country would be up in arms demanding to know why TSA or Amtrak police was not present to prevent any such incident. But, hey what do I know, I only covered the Pentagon on 9/11 for the AP.

As I said I have nothing against individual TSA agents. I don't think too many people will complain about TSA not being at a train station since very few people associate a train station with TSA's purpose, though they are indeed chartered to protect all transportation. Amtrak Police and local Police yes, they'd be up in arms about that.

Isn't it also true that all that a TSA agent can do if something comes to pass is call a local or Amtrak police to handle the situation?

Sorry, if I come off a bit harsh, but I take both on-train and station security extremely serious.

Perhaps a bit over the top, yes , but harsh? you ain't seen nothin' yet of what goes on in AU from time to time

Since you off-handedly suggested that you are from NARP, could you tell us why NARP always acts as such a lackey of Amtrak and never raises any questions with Amtrak about utter abject failures of Amtrak to deliver good service consistently? Thanks. As a matter of full disclosure I am a NARP member for many many years, and not necessarily a satisfied one.

You'd do well to lay back and learn the lay of the land before flying off into attack dog mode. I'd wager that Jishnu has been to WAS more times than you have.

I have actually met him, at WAS no less, though he apparently does not know me I can attest that he has been to WAS more than I have.

How exactly does controlling access to the platforms at WAS prevent someone from magically transporting themselves from a passenger car to a locomotive, taking control of the train, somehow disable ACSES and "fly" a train into the station?

I suppose one could turn the whole train control system off and then go for it. However, the only way to gain control of a train without getting detected so that track settings are not changed to disable such an attack seems very very unlikely, and at no point can TSA do anything about it AFAICT. So TSA would be completely superfluous if such an event were to take place.

The TSA brings approximately nothing of value to our nations security.

You two can have a go at each other on that one.

 

[ScottRu]

Sorry, but Alan is right on this one. The Auto Train was the first to go e-Ticket, but the e-Ticket system is different than the one used by the rest of the system (and the Amtrak app and Passbook).

All you need to do is drive up to the gate, give them a reservation number and ID, and you're in.

The process:

http://www.amtrak.co...etless-check-in

Based upon my recent experience this past July, they didn't even want a photo ID or the reservation number. All the attendant in the booth wanted was my name. In Lorton they already had little Auto Train booklet that describes things about the AT and provides a place to write the car numbers labeled with my name on it. In Sanford they look on a computer list for one's name. But in both cases, no ID or reservation number were requested.

When you go to checkin inside the station, there they want photo ID, but nothing more. I never even showed any paperwork or reservation confirmations at all.

Now, one oddity that I did note is that the portion of my family traveling on a paid eTicket that did not and will never go into the Amtrak App or Passport, was done once they checked in with the photo ID's. For those of us traveling on an AGR award, the agent's computer did spit out standard Amtrak tickets which I was asked to sign, and then she returned the stubs to me after pulling the tickets.

I'm not sure why they're doing this odd procedure at the AT for award reservations, but it is what it is. But in general, the AT has gone ticketless and there is no need to present any paperwork. And again, the eTickets do NOT show up in the Apps because they don't use the QC codes and the conductors don't lift tickets.

Ah, I see the confusion. I was talking about getting the AT ticket on either the Amtrak app or Passbook. I do recall that they now just recognize you at the gate. (But they do still print out tickets, which feels like a useful backup just in case the world of the "cloud" is misbehaving the day we get to the train!)

 

[BCL]

I've never seen maxicode in use for anything other than UPS either. However, one interesting aspect of the code is that a substantial portion (I believe up to a third) of the code can be damaged and the code can still be fully readable.

Redundancy is built into a lot of things that might get damaged. The environment UPS works with involved the labels getting exposed. Abrasion to the thermal paper can damage the code. Even a little scrape can turn it black from frictional heat. I would expect that a paper ticket would be better protected, and even then the confirmation code and/or name can be entered manually. UPS has to work quickly and might not have time to check manually. I think a lot of these are automatically scanned on conveyor belts.

I once worked on a pager project where the transmission was repeated three times and we were supposed to accept the first one. The SF Bay Area's BART tickets were previously encoded with a simple repeated encoding like what's done with credit cards. When tickets weren't given a unique serial number, some fraudsters figured out they could erase low value tickets,cut out magnetic strip pieces from a properly encoded ticket, and glue them to the ticket stock. I think this could be done four or five times from the same ticket.