It is not clear to me why Washington DC requires any significant controls for access to platforms, other than to satisfy the possible whims of the TSA/Homeland Security folks. Afterall, the MARC passengers seem to survive the ordeal pretty much intact without having half a dozen people guiding them through unused waiting halls. Nor is it clear why such control is required at Boston South Station other than for justifying a few superannuated jobs. All those MBTA passengers are not being carried off to hospitals every day with damaged body parts. Nor is it clear why Philadelphia with its spacious platforms needs such. Somehow mysteriously those uninformed Amtrak passengers seem to just do fine a Newark Penn Station.
One could make a legitimate argument for New York, but the fact that NJT and LIRR have no controls over platform access through single doors and such and we don not have people injuring and killing themselves regularly suggest that there is no or minimal need for such for people riding the Regionals and Acelas, most of whom are at least as familiar with riding trains as are NJT and LIRR riders.
I can see managing boarding of LD trains a bit more legitimate since there is more luggage involved and possibly more passengers who are unfamiliar. But then we are talking about managing just 5 or 6 trains a day.
I think there is a difference between commuter operations and Amtrak's intercity operation. If you board the wrong MARC, NJ Transit, Metro-North, SEPTA, MBTA train typically, it isn't that big of deal. This is because if you get off within the first few stops, you can make your way back to your original destination. Additionally, none of the trains are reserved. None of those train have loading plans. I doubt any of their trains split and go off in different directions.
The same is not true for a large amount of Amtrak trains. If you board the wrong Amtrak, your next stop might not even be in the same state. Additionally, there have been plenty of people that have exercised your form of self help, boarded with the wrong tickets and now are hogging a seat that belongs to someone else. This is not a big deal if the train is empty. If you're seat for seat (which most trains are at this point), it cause problems on board. This is yet another reason why they gate trains at major stations. It is far easier to handle eventualities in the station than on a train where your only recourse may be to delay the train and possibly wait for police assistance.
Comparing Newark to other busy stations is another example of comparing apples to walnuts. Newark is not a hub, terminal or originating passenger station. Neither are Baltimore, Wilmington or New Haven as examples. They are through stations with comparatively light loads. In stations like those it is easier for the train crews to gate their trains. The same is not true for bigger terminals where there is a larger influx of people. Additionally, even if you board the wrong train at NWK, BAL, WIL or NHV you may end up an hour away from where you want to be, but unless you board a Raritan, you're still going to be on the NEC proper. That is not true for WAS, PHL or NYP and certainly isn't true for low frequency trains that are already off corridor.
The bottom line is a lot of this has to do with making sure people are on the train and setting your train up in advance. No one would be able to confuse Newport News with a major terminal. Yet you line up and have your ticket checked to make sure you are on the right train. Then, you are directed to the right part of the train, which in theory should help expedite loading at down line hubs as well as intermediate stations (such as NWK, CRT, FBG etc)
My takeaway from the report: Amtrak does not know how to board a passenger train. Having boarded Amtrak trains in Chicago, New York, Schenectady, Washington DC and Indianapolis this year, I would have to agree with that assessment. The report states, in language that is both diplomatic and bureaucratic: "Opportunities exist to better implement leading practices at all 20 stations included in our review." In other words, not a single station studied gets it completely right.
What it calls "leading practices" are not rocket science but such things as "sequencing boarding announcements, making train information more readable, and positioning staff in visible and accessible locations." I'm not a RR professional, but yes even I can see why making train information readable is desirable, along with making staff visible and accessible during boarding. The notion that Amtrak is NOT doing this everywhere is jaw-dropping.
The result I can attest to: "In New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station, the company’s two busiest stations, we observed passengers anxious and frustrated by confusing processes, such as long, unmanaged queues." Yes just masses of people milling about is standard. I understand the anxiety when there's a sign that says gates are closed 10 minutes prior to boarding and 20 minutes prior to boarding, hundreds of people are milling about because the boarding process hasn't started yet.
There are about two dozen common sense recommendations in Table 1. Not sure why some had trouble finding them.
I happen to be a senior, but I can't tell you if seniors have priority boarding on Amtrak. Why? Because in my experience, at some times and in some places and with respect to some trains they do; other times and places they don't. One always has to ask. Is there a reason why seniors would have priority to board some trains and not others? Why isn't there a consistent system wide policy?
This is what the report addressed. How can you have a system wide policy when the operations are different? What good would "priority" do at a through stop like Philadelphia, where the train is scheduled with a two minute dwell and the passengers are prearranged on the platform? Same goes for places like Providence, New Haven and Newark. All passengers are loaded at the exact same time. Meanwhile, a station like Boston and Newport News can have priority boarding since the train is empty and it is the originating passenger terminal.
As the report indicated, New York stopped its early boarding since not only did they need extra crews, a great deal of the time the train wasn't even in the station. This is because track space has grown so tight in NYP that the trains no longer dwell for significant time periods. The early morning trains used to arrived at least an hour prior to departure. Now, you're lucky if some of them are there 30 minutes prior to departure.
The bottom line is mentioned in the report: the goal should be to get people on the the proper train in a safe and timely manner and. each station has a unique advantage or disadvantage that may prohibit a single, one size fits all solution.