printman2000
Engineer
Anyone know what happens when someone books a trip from an unmanned station with no QT machine AND they do not have a computer or email address?
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E-Tickets
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printman2000
Engineer
So no one has to actually have their bar code? The bar code is just a convienence for the conductor?
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printman2000
Engineer
I heard elsewhere the e-tickets will start system wide July 30. Anyone else heard this?
Acela150
Super Buff
As the ole' saying goes.. Time will tell.... But if this is true.. They would have made an announcement by now. OR they will make it this week.. So far they aren't doing a good job of doing keeping it on track for Systemwide by end of summer..
But where did you hear that??
printman2000
Engineer
Both on TO and on All Aboard list. Though I think someone on the AA list was quoting the TO post.
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printman2000
Engineer
Many times, the sleeper car attendant will lift your ticket and take it to the conductor. I guess that cannot happen anymore.
In another thread there is talk of a time window. If you ticket is not input by a certain amount of time (1 or 2 hours), then it is automatically canceled.
What happens if the conductor is delayed and cannot scan your bar code before that time is up? Will they be able to get it back?
In another thread there is talk of a time window. If you ticket is not input by a certain amount of time (1 or 2 hours), then it is automatically canceled.
What happens if the conductor is delayed and cannot scan your bar code before that time is up? Will they be able to get it back?
I cannot image a time window since several of the trains run more than 2 hours late on any given day.
Amtrak's computers would need to constantly adjust the time window for each late train at each stop.
I rode from RVR to SAV in a sleeper last week and nobody ever took my ticket.
printman2000
Engineer
From what I have heard, after each stop the conductor will press an "All Done" button and will then upload all that checked in to the main computer. Those that did not check in will be canceled. What happens if he presses all done and then realizes there is another ticket to be scanned?
SURELY, Amtrak is accounting for this, but who knows for sure.
SURELY, Amtrak is accounting for this, but who knows for sure.
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transit54
Conductor
I was told by a conductor on the Vermonter that their phone scanners will be fully active on July 30th. She was not sure if that meant that e-ticketing would be active for passengers on that date, though.
transit54
Conductor
That is my understanding, yes. I used an eticket on a Capitol Corridor train where the conductor couldn't get the barcode to scan. It was a ticket printed from a QT machine, no less. However he was able to look up my reservation on the phone and mark I was on board, as I later got the AGR points for the ride.
So there's really no reason that they can't just look it up based on the reservation number. I assume they want everyone to have the barcodes just because it's faster.
PaulM
Engineer
I just made via the internet a reservation on a non-E-ticket train departing from an unmanned station with no QT machine too late to have it mailed. The only option listed was to pick the tickets up from the conductor on board. The email confirmation (which wouldn't apply to you) included:
I had never seen this before. Is it new? It seems to solve a perennial problem, at least for us out in the hinterlands, just before e-ticketing should make the problem go away.
That's been around for, I'd say, five to ten years or so.
transit54
Conductor
I'll add the caveat that the service is not available on all trains. Essentially, the train has to start from a staffed station where the conductor can have the tickets printed, and then one can get them from the conductor on the train. While most trains start from staffed stations, neither the Vermonter or the Ethan Allen do, for instance, so this feature is not available. It is also not available on the northbound segment of these trains (which start in Washington and New York, respectively), which makes me think that there may also be other trains in which this service is not offered on.
I'll also add that since the tickets are printed before the train departs, any last minute cancelation always results in the 10% penalty being applied.
A conductor on the Cascades yesterday said that he had heard that they were going to be moving to e-ticketing "at the end of the month." He wasn't happy, since he felt that it would be more work, and there would be less flexibility to accept tickets on different trains than the one for which riders had a reservation.
Like the airlines e-tickets, the ticket is virtual and they have a record it. You don't have to have a printout with a bar code or a smartphone for the airlines to get a boarding pass, and the plan is you won't have to on Amtrak either. You'll be able to show ID and the conductor can look it up on his device. I have my doubts about that in areas with spotty wireless data networks in the West, but we'll see how it works out.
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Then he presses the "Oops, I lied I'm not really done button".
Acela150
Super Buff
Ha! :lol:
fairviewroad
Engineer
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One thing's certain: The transition from paper tickets to e-tickets will have LOTS of bumps along the way. This is to be
expected and to a certain extent we can forgive Amtrak in advance. The real question will be how quickly they respond to
these problems and correct them, and how well they have trained their staff.
expected and to a certain extent we can forgive Amtrak in advance. The real question will be how quickly they respond to
these problems and correct them, and how well they have trained their staff.
Acela150
Super Buff
I can agree with that.. Sure. But will everyone agree? As far as new riders, everyday riders, so on and so forth.. I say no...
fairviewroad
Engineer
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It just depends on the duration and the severity of the snafus. It seems like once or twice a month there are reports of an airline's
reservations systems crashing, or website malfunction, etc. Yet people still fly those airlines. I'd say it would have to be a complete
meltdown before it really starts to drive people away.
Acela150
Super Buff
I can see a once a month snafu here and there. It will take a while for crews to get used to things.. They seem to hate the idea of eTickets. Or at least the ones that I've talked to. But I think they'll learn to like it or love it as time goes on.
First, eTickets is not replacing ARROW. So ARROW will remain the base for everything and it should remain totally unaffected by any eTicketing issues.
Next, the staff has been very well trained on this. Every conductor has had their iPhone for at least 3 months now, if not longer. And every conductor has been required to scan the tickets that they collect, as practice for both them and the system in general. While most didn't bother to scan tickets right at the seats, preferring to lift them and then sit down in the cafe/office to scan them. But the simple reality is that they've been doing this for some time now. They know what to do, assuming that they've paid any attention to things. So if there are any issues, it should quickly become apparent as to which conductors paid attention and which ones didn't. But getting used to it, is what they've been doing for the last three months or more now.
Additionally, the system has been in use on several trains already now for several months. They've already hit most of the bugs & kinks as it were during those trials. Probably the biggest unknown for Amtrak was how well will the system stand up under the load of every conductor scanning and transmitting data. That of course is what they've been testing these past few months. And that is why the conductors on all non-eTicket routes still lift tickets. Amtrak is comparing the scanned data to the lifted ticket counts to make sure that things are working properly.
And if they weren't matching, then a system wide launch of eTicketing wouldn't be imminent.
Next, the staff has been very well trained on this. Every conductor has had their iPhone for at least 3 months now, if not longer. And every conductor has been required to scan the tickets that they collect, as practice for both them and the system in general. While most didn't bother to scan tickets right at the seats, preferring to lift them and then sit down in the cafe/office to scan them. But the simple reality is that they've been doing this for some time now. They know what to do, assuming that they've paid any attention to things. So if there are any issues, it should quickly become apparent as to which conductors paid attention and which ones didn't. But getting used to it, is what they've been doing for the last three months or more now.
Additionally, the system has been in use on several trains already now for several months. They've already hit most of the bugs & kinks as it were during those trials. Probably the biggest unknown for Amtrak was how well will the system stand up under the load of every conductor scanning and transmitting data. That of course is what they've been testing these past few months. And that is why the conductors on all non-eTicket routes still lift tickets. Amtrak is comparing the scanned data to the lifted ticket counts to make sure that things are working properly.
And if they weren't matching, then a system wide launch of eTicketing wouldn't be imminent.
X
X
Guest
It's not that they don't bother, it's that they don't want to stand there for a minute fiddling with the thing trying to get it to actually read the barcode.
There's conductors that like the concept, and those that don't, but none of them are happy with the execution.
EB_OBS
Conductor
Not entirely true. I've noticed that younger, more tech savvy conductors aren't having much of a problem at all adjusting to e-ticketing. Some of the older conductors who can barely use a cellphone are being more difficult.
Additionally, on most of the trains the conductors are still collecting paper tickets and handling them in the same old out-dated fashion, in addition to the new procedures using the iphone device. So it really is, in their eyes, more work not less. As paper tickets go away this will lessen. Reports from conductors working trains that are fully e-ticketing seem to back up that statement. Most report the overall workload to be lessened.
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