FlyerTalk Forums - Amtrak and ID

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Eventually they'll just tattoo our social security numbers on our foreheads and make it a felony to wear bangs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timfid (Post 8423814)

Eventually they'll just tattoo our social security numbers on our foreheads...

Forearms would be more convenient.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LLM (Post 8423404)

Random Ticket/ID Checks
Following federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guidelines, we regularly conduct random ticket verification checks onboard trains to ensure that passengers are properly ticketed. Please be prepared to show valid photo identification to a member of the onboard crew upon request.

Guidelines, not requirements. Big difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Global_Hi_Flyer (Post 8423800)

And I discovered the hard way that this "ID" policy extends to purchasing a $6 MARC ticket with cash either out of Union station or the BWI rail station.

I ride the MARC almost every day that I'm in town. At the major terminals (like Union Station and BWI), their counter ticketing is done by AMTRAK, hence the ID harassment. At the expense of using your credit card, you can buy a MARC ticket from the AMTRAK ticket machines. Also, you can buy a MARC ticket from anywhere to anywhere from any MARC manned station (such as Silver Spring, Germantown, or Brunswick) by cash or credit card without the ID intrusion. Look on the MARC website and you might find that there's a manned station fairly convenient to you.

Every member of the MARC crews I've ever met have been great people (if not a little crazy). I've no doubt they would tell the TSA to stuff it by just ignoring their direction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairviewroad (Post 8423433)

:rolleyes:

I think that's a bit of a stretch. What you're saying is that during a station layover, when a member of the cleaning crew (or "janitor", to use your term) is briefly on board the train, that person would technically be authorized to demand you to produce an ID.

That's the rule. Or are you calling Amtrak a liar?

Of course it's a stretch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ralfp (Post 8424051)

That's the rule. Or are you calling Amtrak a liar?

Yes, I'm calling Amtrak a liar. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'm not sure how you made that leap of logic. I'm just saying I think it's improbable that an Amtrak janitor will ever demand that you produce ID. As you point out, it would appear to be technically possible for this to happen. From a practical standpoint, I'd wager this has never happened.

Here's another way of looking at things:

Despite the hand-wringing on this thread, traveling by train is indisputably less of a hassle than traveling by air, when it comes to security. I've never had to remove my shoes to board a train, never had to worry about the size of my shampoo bottle, never been patted down at a train station. Etc.

So maybe, just maybe, the head honchos at Amtrak are implementing these measures as a way of saying "Look, we're doing something". Whether intended or not, this has the effect of holding off the TSA bunch from implementing much more draconian security measures. It's easy to imagine someone at TSA wanting to require metal detectors at NYP, 30th St, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairviewroad (Post 8423372)

But they are, strictly speaking, perfectly free to walk/hitchhike/bike to the border and leave, and no ID is required.

Is it perfect freedom of modes of travel w/r/t transborder crossing are restricted to walking, biking or driving -- and maybe gliding, ballooning, horseback riding? That sounds like equivocal and a highly qualified "freedom," not the perfect freedom of movement that you seem to be suggesting.

IJWK how many 15 year olds have photo ID? Most states do not issue licenses to drive until 17 or 18.

In any event, this rule really helps perpetuate the myth that ID=security. :td: