Does Amtrak have a "banned" list

[Steel]

Curious if Amtrak has a list of people who are banned from riding the trains. If someone, for instance, was convicted of a crime against Amtrak property, would they be able to still buy a ticket and travel on the train?

 

[the_traveler]

AFAIK, there is not one. And very few people would try to hijack an Amtrak train to Cuba! :giggle:

 

[Acela150]

Yeah there is.. Dave your on it!! :lol: :lol:

Seriously, I have never heard of a "Can't ride list". Of course there is the "Do not fly" list.

 

[calwatch]

Chuck Schumer's idea really went nowhere: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/08/us-security-trains-idUSTRE7472CF20110508

You could use a slight variation of the name and no one would know, especially on Amtrak. TSA is better trained at verifying ID, including questioning women who may have had a name change without updating ID, although the "secure flight" birthdate is never printed on the ticket to allow for cross check.

 

[pennyk]

Several years ago, after an "incident" on the Silver Meteor caused by a passenger which resulted in the train leaving a station over 20 minutes late, my SCA told me that the offending passenger likely will be placed on a "list." I believed her, but have no idea if what she was telling me was accurate.

 

[user 1215]

It's probably like probation. If you have a judgement against you for crimes against Amtrak, and the court rulings say you are not to travel by Amtrak, then you shouldn't. If you do, and you don't commit a further crime, no one is likely to know. However, if you ride Amtrak and commit ANOTHER crime, you will likely get a stronger conviction and pay a bigger price where you won't have an opportunity to ride Amtrak for some time.

But these would be court requirements - not Amtrak requirements - and the likelyhood of enforcement is small, but not non-existent.

 

[Bus Nut]

I don't know about a list, but other carriers can get an order of trespass from local police to ban you off their vehicles and property (including stations). I'm sure that for example Elizabethtown and 30th St Philly at any one time have dozens of people each who are trespassed from the station for crap like panhandling, public urination, assault, possession of controlled substances, etc. Another good way to get trespassed is "uttering a false instrument", ie, trying to ride with a fake pass. These orders can be temporary or permanent depending on the magnitude of the violation and prior trespass orders. Once you are trespassed from a property you can and will be arrested for violating the trespass order.

An interesting question is whether Amtrak Police can trespass you and if so, do they.

As for getting banned from buying tickets, I'm sure you can try to obtain a ticket anyway, but if you're trespassed from the property the authorities will post flyers with your face on it. So in other words, good luck with that.

 

[OBS]

What Amtrak does have is a list of passengers who have complained and received compensation on a regular basis, and are now told they should find another mode of travel as Amtrak obviously cannot meet their needs. They aren't banned from riding, but are no longer offered any remedies for their complaints.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Sounds like Cary Grant trying to book a Bedroom on the 20th Century @ GCT in "North by Northwest!"

 

[the_traveler]

Yeah there is.. Dave your on it!! :lol: :lol:
Seriously, I have never heard of a "Can't ride list". Of course there is the "Do not fly" list.

And I try to follow that advice:
Do not fly on the big bird (unless you have to be there yesterday. Take Amtrak instead! :giggle:

 

[benjibear]

Elizabethtown!? I have never seen a panhandle or anybody that looks suspiciois (but maybe it is me). Maybe Lancaster or Harrisburg.

Maybe somebody would want to hijack a train to Las Vegas or another city that doesn't have Amtrak. Actually I am developing this plot in my head of a comedy movie with a hijacking of an electric locomotive and they insist to the authorities to give them a signal and turn a switch for them to go down a non-electrified branch where the locomotive just stops and the hijacker has no idea why!

 

[the_traveler]

I have never seen a panhandle or anybody that looks suspiciois (but maybe it just me.)]

Look in a mirror to see someone very suspicious looking! every time I do, I hope I never meet the guy in the mirror! :giggle:

 

[yarrow]

What Amtrak does have is a list of passengers who have complained and received compensation on a regular basis, and are now told they should find another mode of travel as Amtrak obviously cannot meet their needs. They aren't banned from riding, but are no longer offered any remedies for their complaints.

interesting. i wonder how large the list is and what exactly puts a person on it?

 

[fairviewroad]

What Amtrak does have is a list of passengers who have complained and received compensation on a regular basis, and are now told they should find another mode of travel as Amtrak obviously cannot meet their needs. They aren't banned from riding, but are no longer offered any remedies for their complaints.

interesting. i wonder how large the list is and what exactly puts a person on it?

I think Amtrak develops the list based on some of the threads here. :giggle:

 

[Shanghai]

Yeah there is.. Dave your on it!! :lol: :lol:
Seriously, I have never heard of a "Can't ride list". Of course there is the "Do not fly" list.

I heard the list is in alphabetical sequence and a person with the name of Anderson is

at the top of the list!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yeah there is.. Dave your on it!! :lol: :lol:
Seriously, I have never heard of a "Can't ride list". Of course there is the "Do not fly" list.

I heard the list is in alphabetical sequence and a person with the name of Anderson is

at the top of the list!!

Wouldn't Alan B be ahead of Anderson if they go by Alpha Sequence? :giggle:

 

[Shanghai]

Yeah there is.. Dave your on it!! :lol: :lol:
Seriously, I have never heard of a "Can't ride list". Of course there is the "Do not fly" list.

I heard the list is in alphabetical sequence and a person with the name of Anderson is

at the top of the list!!

Wouldn't Alan B be ahead of Anderson if they go by Alpha Sequence? :giggle:

The list is by surname, then given name. Anderson is still at the top of the list.

 

[Bob Dylan]

What Amtrak does have is a list of passengers who have complained and received compensation on a regular basis, and are now told they should find another mode of travel as Amtrak obviously cannot meet their needs. They aren't banned from riding, but are no longer offered any remedies for their complaints.

interesting. i wonder how large the list is and what exactly puts a person on it?

I think Amtrak develops the list based on some of the threads here. :giggle:

:giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have never seen a panhandle or anybody that looks suspiciois (but maybe it just me.)]

Look in a mirror to see someone very suspicious looking! every time I do, I hope I never meet the guy in the mirror! :giggle:

Do what my grandson is now doing. Look behind the mirror to find that "guy" in the mirror.

 

[EMDF9A]

I'm on the "Thou shalt not travel overnight in coach" list. Seriously folks I AM

 

[railiner]

The question is an interesting point of law.....most private businesses can "86" an unruly customer, and have the right to refuse service to anyone, as long as it is not for any of the "protected" (discrimination) reasons. That said, I wonder if Amtrak could legally ban passage to a customer, as a public entity, without some kind of court order to back them up....

 

[AlanB]

I have no idea what actions, if any, Amtrak takes when they find someone with a problem; but Amtrak does indeed check names. One can no longer buy a ticket onboard any Amtrak train running on the NEC; one must have a ticket prior to boarding. This policy was enacted maybe 6 months to a year after 9/11. And the stated reason for this policy is so that Amtrak could wash the names against various databases, including of course suspected terrorist lists.

So it wouldn't be too much harder for Amtrak to have its own list. I don't know if one actually exists; but certainly the possibility is there.

 

[zephyr17]

The question is an interesting point of law.....most private businesses can "86" an unruly customer, and have the right to refuse service to anyone, as long as it is not for any of the "protected" (discrimination) reasons. That said, I wonder if Amtrak could legally ban passage to a customer, as a public entity, without some kind of court order to back them up....

Amtrak is kind of a hybrid, but at the end of the day it is considered a private corporation for these purposes. The fact the corporation receives public subsidies and its board is appointed by the President is immaterial. So Amtrak should be able to do whatever any other common carrier could do.

 

[Anderson]

I suspect Amtrak could ban someone; enforcing that ban off-corridor, however, seems to be a dicey proposition (and it's going to get even more dicey with states controlling "their" routes).

 

[EB_OBS]

Amtrak does not have a Do Not Travel list like the airlines do.

Amtrak cannot permanently ban anyone without "due process", which means tried, convicted and sentenced including a court order banning them from traveling by Amtrak train.

It's my understanding that Amtrak rarely pursues this to the end thus it's pretty rare.