Originally Posted by
WeekendTraveler
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.
AmTrak at Seattle require coach pax to check in to get a BP. Makes the coach line go faster when the boarding gates open, I guess, over pax taking out tckets, fnding tix on cell phones an having to scan to get pass the door.
New one (in March) was that someone in a room or roomette had to be in the room when the conductor comes around shortly after departure from originating station to scan tickets again to confirm occupancy, otherwise the rooms may be old for UGs (their announcement).