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| Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains (1513150) | |
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| (1513150) | |
Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by lirr42 on Sat May 18 08:59:36 2019 Does anyone know anything about the logistics behind the use of Amtrak-sold tickets on NJT Atlantic City Line trains? Amtrak sells the tickets as unreserved coach, so they are not locked to any specific train.How do the NJT conductors 'cancel' the Amtrak tickets? Back in the days of paper value tickets they could probably just take and remit the ticket, but with e-tickets now, presumably something has to be done to consume the ticket so it can't be used over and over again. Are they able to scan the e-tickets with their phones, or do they have to take down the numbers and contact Amtrak to indicate the ticket was used? Thanks! |
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| (1513178) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Nilet on Sat May 18 13:17:25 2019, in response to Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by lirr42 on Sat May 18 08:59:36 2019. Does Amtrak sell e-tickets for the Atlantic City line? When I last took a major cross-country trip in 2012, Amtrak was using e-tickets for most of their trains, but I still needed a traditional paper ticket for the Maple Leaf since that had to be collected by a VIA conductor. |
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| (1513179) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by lirr42 on Sat May 18 14:04:24 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Nilet on Sat May 18 13:17:25 2019. Actually...now that you mention it, I see that when you go through the purchase process for itineraries involving the ACRL it does not give you the option to get an eticket...only pickup at Quik-Trak or a station agent (or have them shipped to your house for $15). I had thought they had gone to etickets for everything, but I guess if they still use paper value tickets for these joint journeys, that answers my question...They seem to issue eTickets for Maple Leaf trains now. Only reason I ask was I rode the Hartford Line for the first time yesterday... When I presented a ticket purchased from the ConnDOT vending machines onboard an Amtrak Shuttle, the Amtrak conductor was able to scan the QR code printed on the ticket with his phone, and it worked without issue. If ConnDOT and Amtrak are able to figure out cross-honoring of tickets in real time, I was curious if they had a similar system with NJT...guess not yet. |
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| (1513199) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Nilet on Sat May 18 23:48:11 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by lirr42 on Sat May 18 14:04:24 2019. I'm pretty sure VIA uses e-tickets now so it wouldn't be that hard to ensure their ticketing systems are compatible with Amtrak.Hartford commuter line started after Amtrak introduced e-ticketing; since they'd had to negotiate for cross-honouring the tickets, the logistics of scanning them would have been settled. NJT, AFAIK, still uses paper tickets plus a proprietary e-ticketing system through a proprietary app that isn't readily cross-compatible with Amtrak and likely doesn't involve scanning anything. |
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| (1513203) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Joe V on Sun May 19 02:32:22 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by lirr42 on Sat May 18 14:04:24 2019. VIA has its on e-ticket system. I have no idea if VIA Rail is equipped to read Amtrak's QR codes AND access Amtrak's reservation system when scanning. |
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| (1513228) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by lirr42 on Sun May 19 06:11:25 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Nilet on Sat May 18 23:48:11 2019. I initially thought that the ConnDOT ticket machines just functioned as extensions of the Amtrak reservation system (since Amtrak operates both of the eastern legs of the CTrail system), but the information encoded in the QR codes on the tickets are completely different (Amtrak eTickets merely represent the reservation number and the date, while the CTrail tickets contain different data, including the serial number of the ticket, start/expiration dates, etc.) so there must be some sort of reconciliation on the backend between Amtrak and ConnDOT.I would have assumed NJT has at least some sort of way to view the Amtrak reservation system, since the NJT fare gates at EWR Airport are able to scan Amtrak tickets. Guess they are not up to that point yet... |
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| (1513229) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Nilet on Sun May 19 06:12:55 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Joe V on Sun May 19 02:32:22 2019. When I was last there, they gave me separate tickets for the Amtrak and VIA sections. Maybe they just segment the reservation so you can show a VIA e-ticket for Toronto - Niagara Falls and an Amtrak e-ticket for Niagara Falls - Penn. |
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Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Nilet on Sun May 19 06:15:38 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by lirr42 on Sun May 19 06:11:25 2019. When did the NJT fare gates at EWR gain the ability to scan Amtrak tickets? The only time I ever took Amtrak to EWR was in 2005, back when e-ticketing wasn't a thing yet. Back then, the fare gates would accept NJT tickets via a magnetic stripe, but for Amtrak tickets you needed to call the attendant to manually check your ticket stub and tap you through. |
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| (1513232) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Nilet on Sun May 19 06:16:41 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Nilet on Sun May 19 06:15:38 2019. That was a fun trip, BTW. The Acelas had just been yanked from service because Bombardier, so I ended up riding a ridiculously-overbooked standing-room-only Regional. |
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| (1513237) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Spider-Pig on Sun May 19 06:38:53 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Nilet on Sun May 19 06:15:38 2019. At some point, NJT switched from mag stripes to QR codes at EWR and SEC. |
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| (1513239) | |
Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains |
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Posted by Joe V on Sun May 19 07:00:37 2019, in response to Re: Use of Amtrak-sold tickets on Atlantic City trains, posted by Spider-Pig on Sun May 19 06:38:53 2019. The mag strip tickets were very expensive to mint. That is why they got rid of them. If anyone still has such a ticket, it is still valid ("Good Until Used") |
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