No checking of ID's on Amtrak
 

When I went to Philadelphia after getting the 19 dollar rate at the Westin Philadelphia I took Amtrak.

Nice, relatively quick one hour ride. But the wierd thing was that I took my out my ID (I have a state ID since I don't drive... :) ) The ticket checker on teh train and the person at Philly on the trip back did not even blink or look at ID.

It seems unusual since you need ID at the airports (of course) and even when you pick up packages at teh Post Office. Some stores even ask for ID (like the Apple stores) when you pay with a credit card.

Could this be a secure lapse on behalf of Amtrak? Someone could buy a ticket and then be someone else. IN fact the ticket checkers barely checked if the name matched the person handing over the ticket.

Just found it unusual.

You'll probably get more responses in the Amtrak forum, but here goes.

Amtrak's identification policy can be found here:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...Page&c=am2Copy

Amtrak requires you to show your photo id if you pickup or purchase tickets from an agent. On board trains, you may be asked for an ID. The conductors conduct periodic random ID checks, usually picking a number from 0-9 and then asking for ID for all tickets that end in that number

I don't understand what the fuss over ID is - why does it matter who is traveling on the train? They don't check IDs when you're driving on interstate highways or city buses or subways! In my past 8 trips in the Northeast Corridor Amtrak, I've never been asked for ID, and honestly, don't mind, since it's just an extra hassle for everyone, and doesn't lead in any way to more security. Even if IDs were checked, most crimes wouldn't be stopped because of it, and most real criminals would at least be sure to buy a ticket in his/her name or have a fake ID to match a fake name.

I too have never been asked for ID while on the train. And even if my ticket was paid with a credit card (since you must sign the ticket), the conductor just gives me a pen to sign.

I am glad that they just "randomly" check IDs! I wish it were like that at the airports. The lines would be much shorter!

The way I look at it - if you are intelligent enough to figure out a way you can hijack and divert a train, then you have already probably figured out enough to have a fake ID.

I travel the corridor between d.c. and n.y. fairly frequently, and I have only been one of the ID'd folks once (they ID'd everyone in the car -- I think they were concerned about a particular passenger).

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Amtrak Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

I've actually had this happen on QF domestic flights. If I've printed out my boarding pass online they often seem to think that's enough. Last time I flew with QF I went to baggage drop, pushed the print-out boarding pass over the counter with my driver's license and was told, "That's ok sir, I don't need your ID."

Their competitor DJ is, by contrast, extremely careful about this.

in the us you do NOT need to have ID to travel on a domestic flight, train or bus.

In several hundred round trips between NYP and WAS since 2004, I've been ID-ed a total of three times. Not once of those were in the past two years.

But I saw someone ID-ed on Acela just last week.

- dpb

Well considering Visa and Mastercard forbid requiring ID to use their cards I would report them if the *did* require ID to use your credit card.

While in practice this may be true, Amtrak's ID policy would seem to contradict your statement.

I think you do. You certainly need ID even to get to the gate at an airport. I'm not sure about private planes, but I doubt.

Both Amtrak and Greyhound now require ID to pick up a ticket from a window, and you can theoretically be put off the train/bus if you're asked for ID and don't have it.

that is not true: http://www.papersplease.org/

About the same odds for me, also out of NYP.