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

Forearms would be more convenient.

Guidelines, not requirements. Big difference.

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.

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

Of course it's a stretch.

Yes, I'm calling Amtrak a liar.

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.

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.