Does Amtrak have a ticket office that isn't at an Amtrak station?

[BCL]

I know there are some outliers like bus-only "stations" that have a ticket window, but are there any public Amtrak ticket offices like how airlines used to have ticket offices in downtowns? Or like how United has a ticket office at Penn Station.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

 

[jis]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

 

[Bob Dylan]

No Big Shot makes their own travel arrangements!

That's what Staffers are for!

 

[GiantsFan]

Yes, the ferry building in San Francisco. (At least it used to be there a few years ago...)

 

[jis]

No Big Shot makes their own travel arrangements!

That's what Staffers are for!

Whether it is staffer or politician that makes the travel arrangements, surely they have printers on the Hill where e-tickets can be printed out.

 

[Eric S]

If you dig through the timetables from the 1980s and earlier you'll probably see references to some ticket offices, at least in some of the NEC cities, not sure about Chicago or perhaps West Coast cities.

EDIT: Decided to take a quick glance...the system timetable for April 1986 lists "Amtrak Travel Centers" in Boston and Chicago in the station index. I didn't go any farther in the station index to see which other cities had Amtrak Travel Centers as well.

I should also add that I didn't check other timetables to see when these Amtrak Travel Centers started to disappear.

 

[cirdan]

maybe it's Amtrak approved travel agencies that you're thinking of ...

https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245669157

 

[A Voice]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

The Amtrak ticket office in the United States Capitol Building existed long before the existence of smart phones and e-tickets.

 

[jis]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

The Amtrak ticket office in the United States Capitol Building existed long before the existence of smart phones and e-tickets.

We are talking about the state today, not the history of it.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

A surprising number of US politicians never got into smart devices, or never made it beyond an early generation Windows phone or Blackberry device before reverting back to the nearest intern. Part of this was due to lack of interest and familiarity, but there was also a lot of bureaucracy involved in getting smart devices certified for routine use by people with positions involving high security clearance.

 

[zephyr17]

Years ago in the 1980s Amtrak had a "downtown" ticket office in downtown LA (distinct from Union Station). It's been gone for a long time.

San Francisco at Temporary Transbay Terminal isn't a ticket office only, it is a station although served by Thruway buses, not trains.

 

[mlanoue]

I used to buy an Amtrak tickets at the Student Union at Western Illinois University--years ago. That was probably through a travel agent, but I never really paid much attention (or knew the difference) at the time.

 

[jis]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

A surprising number of US politicians never got into smart devices, or never made it beyond an early generation Windows phone or Blackberry device before reverting back to the nearest intern. Part of this was due to lack of interest and familiarity, but there was also a lot of bureaucracy involved in getting smart devices certified for routine use by people with positions involving high security clearance.

They can always have their secretary print the e-tickets on their secure printers in their office, or better still following the example of the fearless leader, just tweet it to themselves and inadvertently to the rest of the world.

 

[BCL]

Yes, the ferry building in San Francisco. (At least it used to be there a few years ago...)

That was one example of a "bus-only" station that I was thinking of. Technically the ticket office is for bus service including baggage service.

It's since been relocated to the Temporary Transbay Terminal. It will eventually relocate to the new Transbay Terminal.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

IIRC, the US Capitol used to have one (or maybe they still do...maybe just a QuikTrak machine?) for politicians that needed to quickly hop on an NEC train without having to mingle with the masses to get a ticket.

Don't the politicians have smart phones? Why would they need a ticket office or machine?

The Amtrak ticket office in the United States Capitol Building existed long before the existence of smart phones and e-tickets.

We are talking about the state today, not the history of it.

You'll notice that I cleverly hid the words "used to" and "maybe they still do" in that statement, indicating 1) that I was talking about the past, and 2) am not certain of the present state of affairs.

After all, etickets only started becoming a thing 5 or so years ago.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

To be fair, e-tickets were a "thing" all the way back in the 1990's. Once upon a time you could board a plane with nothing but your drivers license. No paper tickets, no smart phones, no barcodes, nothing but your ID. It was a wonderful time. Back before we killed any remaining sense of personal privacy and succumbed to a state of perpetual fear.

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know if it's still staffed, but there was a staffed stop at the former St Petersburg, FL station that is now only served by a Thruway Ambus.