Originally Posted by
CDTraveler
What exactly do you mean here by check in?
At WAS, NYP and PHL Amtrak requires you to show your ticket on the concourse and then again on the train. For the auto train you definitely have to check in.
On Amtrak, you don’t have to check in before boarding and be issued a boarding pass.
Showing your ticket on the concourse is like scanning your boarding pass before walking down the jetway to board a plane.
Some larger Amtrak stations do require you to check in with a staff member but that’s just make-work and if you just go straight to the train nothing stops you.