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The prime motivator behind my riding Amtrak is the TSA. I despise everything about the TSA - I despise the agency, I detest its employees, and I have nothing but the deepest, blackest, most venomous loathing for its practices. As long as it's in our airports, I won't be, and I don't care if I...

Isn't that what those ridges of bumps are along the side of some roads?  I just set cruise control and hang out the door with my soaped-up clothes - works a treat.

"Four bags free!" "No airplane mode!" "This is us ignoring the elephant in the room, which is that there's no dignity-shattering security checkpoint to suffer through at our stations!"

OK, thanks. So if a conductor does say something...act sheepish and offer to pay the surcharge?

I think she was getting at the notion that the Aclea "doesn't offer" any provision for oversize luggage, not that you can't take any luggage at all. Sorry, I didn't really communicate that too clearly. Thoughts on the validity of the agent's claim if that's the case?

I'm taking the 30 to WAS and switching to the 2172 to head up to PVD next Tuesday. I called in to ask about the CSX derailment and making my connection, and also got on the topic of luggage size restrictions and the semi-recent surcharges put in place for oversize or additional pieces of...

So do we think this will interfere with a WAS-PVD Acela trip since it passes through NYP?

Avoiding TSA in particular, and searches, scans, screenings and other forms of forced safety in general, is 95% of the reason I travel by Amtrak and the factor that drove me to start taking trains in the first place. I don't consent to others in positions of authority keeping me safe - I insist...

*chants mantra* I will not make a ballgag joke, I will not make a ballgag joke, I will not make a ballgag joke...

Interesting. I have yet to see them there, but then I'm a vacation rider and not a NEC business rider so I've only been through WAS about 6 times. JoeBas mentioned that ClubAcela is a reliable way to not be hassled, so I wonder if that has something to do with it as well? Would they...

Interesting. I'm assuming that's outside/before the ClubAcela boarding, as I've boarded the Acela from the CA lounge and not seen any TSA clerks.

Do you mean the ClubAcela lounge or the ticket counter with the Acela logo on the wall (next to the regular Amtrak ticket counter)?

So it's been a while since I posted this. Has anyone seen hide or tail of these things in LA, DC, or Denver where they were supposed to be tested? Bi-annual Providence trip is this year and the jury's still out on whether to go by road or rail.

I really hope you're right. I wonder if writing to NRPC/Amtrak customer care and/or APD would yield any information about what, if any, plans are in place?

The pictures I've seen make it look, at a minimum, like the anti-theft gates many retail stores have near their exits. It also seems to require someone staffing the machine with a tablet, laptop or other device to view the output and the "alert zone" that the devices use to highlight...

I'd really rather it didn't, as those tend to get closed and I want this to remain open for the topic at hand. Just hearing news of a limited-scope prototype test has me a walking bundle of nerves and I rely on this forum for perspective.

Likewise - going back to my point about what happens if/when these things false-alarm? If it's APD running them, I'm somewhat confident that there won't be Freedom Fondles as APD (ostensibly) understands probable cause and risk assessment, but if it's going to be smurf-clerks, then I have no...

I had a similar thought, though CUS is a little trickier (and my home station) since there's at least one potential choke point that is the hallway from the Great Hall to the old ticketing counters. Also, and I have no idea what FRA regs state about this kind of thing, but what about out on the...

What I want to know is what happens if these things alarm on something. I stopped flying because I absolutely refuse to allow a (uniformed in this case) stranger to force physical contact with me. If we're entering Freedom Fondle territory here, then my next Amtrak trip may well be my last.

My understanding was that they have to leave private (i.e. NRPC) property if ordered to. That they're not law-enforcement and if APD or a station manager tells them to get lost, they have to go.