National Limited
Service Attendant
I purchased tickets on Monday for a trip on April 29. I just realized tonight that April 29 is next week! Do you think I have enough time to get my tickets in the mail? If not, what would you suggest I do?
Because they'd have to hire someone to stock the machines with the cards. If the QT machine was located at an unstaffed station, there wouldn't be anyone there to service it if something went wrong with the machine. It would also require a tie-in to Amtrak's computer network.If every bar, bodega and convenience store can have an ATM why can't every Amtrak stop have a QuickTrak machine?
If Amtrak charged you $3 per transaction at a Quiktrak, then maybe every station would. At the moment, it's a cost/benefit consideration versus mailing tickets (unlike the bar example, where they are trying to make additional revenue off you). The future is eTicketing, which is probably less than a year away on most lines, from what I can tell. See here.I had to have tickets mailed to me once because the local station agent was sick (Amtrak has a very 20th century business model). I was horrified, but they showed up in about 3 days. If every bar, bodega and convenience store can have an ATM why can't every Amtrak stop have a QuickTrak machine? In some ways Amtrak tickets are pretty cute- the IBM punch card size, same as cash, etc., but I am using them for transportation, not to moon over a bygone age.
Because they'd have to hire someone to stock the machines with the cards. If the QT machine was located at an unstaffed station, there wouldn't be anyone there to service it if something went wrong with the machine. It would also require a tie-in to Amtrak's computer network.If every bar, bodega and convenience store can have an ATM why can't every Amtrak stop have a QuickTrak machine?
The answer is cost. It's a business decision.The technology is there, and has been here for over 10 years. It is beyond me why they are stuck so far in the past.
Makes sense, also makes sense to invest the money into the paperless ticketing technology instead, with condutors being issued portable devices to handle paperless ticketing. Which, according to the latest Amtrak Ink, are being rolled out this year.The answer is cost. It's a business decision.The technology is there, and has been here for over 10 years. It is beyond me why they are stuck so far in the past.
I work in IT for a public transit agency. The cost for my agency to order a farecard vending machine (essentially the same technology) is $80k. Now, since Amtrak buys Quik-Traks in bulk and they operate off a slightly simpler technology, let's say that they cost Amtrak $20k each (that's the full cost, including delivery to the final destination). Then assume the cost to send someone out to set up the machine. This is probably around $500-$600 to bring an Amtrak employee out to configure and test the machine, especially in more remote areas where they would have to be flown in or travel overnight on Amtrak to get there. So let's say $20.5k per install in a one-off situation (which for all I know, could be highly optimistic). I'm not sure if Amtrak even installs QT machines in one-off situations - I've always seen them in pairs. In which case, almost double the costs.
Now you have the on-going costs. I'm not sure what a QT machine requires for a connection but assuming a basic POTS line that is going to be in use 24/7 (assuming the QT doesn't have dial on demand capability, which I doubt they would given where they're typically deployed), we're talking probably in the area of $50-60/month. If they don't have a dialup modem and require an ethernet connection, you're talking about $60-$80 a month for a business cable or DSL connection, and in areas where they isn't one, in the $200-$400/month range for a T1 to be brought in (maybe more - I've never procured a T1 in a very rural area).
Even at a conservative $50 a month for the connection, Amtrak could mail about 1,200 tickets a year before they broke even on the communications cost alone (I'm assuming 50/cents per mailing between postage (41.4 cents, presorted first class on most ticket mailings), envelope and processing costs).
There's also on-going maintenance including the occasional service trip by a tech when the machine needs on-site troubleshooting. That's a significant cost over time.
So add up all these costs, and divide the cost of the QT machine over it's useful life (let's say 10 years). The question for Amtrak is: does the cost of deploying, connecting and supporting a QT machine at a given location exceed the cost of mailing tickets and the estimated loss of business as a result of not having the machine (which is going to be pretty minimal, especially on an LD line). If the answer is yes, no machine is going to be deployed - it just doesn't make business sense. Keep in mind they are making this decision knowing that eTicketing is on the horizon.
Now, all this comes with the assumption that Amtrak is acting as a rational business would, which I can't guarantee. But this is how most companies evaluate these decisions, and I'd be willing to bet quite a bit this is what Amtrak does when deciding where to deploy Quiktraks.
That depends on when your trip is. If your trip is within the next few days, then I'd be very worried and would call Amtrak at the regular toll free number. If your trip is still weeks/months away, then I wouldn't worry yet.I ordered my tickets a couple of weeks ago. They haven't come in yet, should I be worried? Who can I talk to about lost tickets, if they are indeed lost?
They're mailed from beautiful Riverside, CA. I always get mine the next business day. (Sadly, I can't convince them to waive the 15-day rule.)I live in Oklahoma and when I order tickets they are mailed out of California, according to the postmark. I usually receive them in about a week, sometimes less.
The station nearest me (Mineola, TX) is unmanned and twice when I've been in there, the Quik-Trak has been malfunctioning. (Once, a person could not get their tickets, another time it would beep annoyingly every 30 seconds to indicate it was broken).
My understanding is that if you are at an unmanned station and the QT is broken, they will let you board with your printout/reservation number. But I wouldn't want to chance it! Fortunately, I can make my travel plans really far in advance (college prof so I know when my vacations are at the start of the year), so I always have them mail me my tickets.
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