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Senator Makes Amtrak Hire Ticket Agents Because 30% of West Virginia Lacks Internet

posted by janrinok on Sunday June 10 2018, @08:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the sensible dept.

McGruber writes:

Joe Manchin, the senior Senator from West Virginia, has inserted language in the FY19 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that will force Amtrak to employ at least one ticketing agent in every state that it serves.

His reasoning? "Amtrak has told me that most of their sales are now online, but West Virginians buy far more tickets at the Charleston station than most places around the country. That's not surprising, as nearly 30% of West Virginia is without internet access, and mobile broadband access is also difficult in my state's rugged, mountainous terrain, making online ticket sales difficult."

Source: https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-secures-language-to-ensure-amtrak-ticket-agent-in-west-virginia

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  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday June 10 2018, @11:32AM (3 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Sunday June 10 2018, @11:32AM (#691075) Homepage Journal

    I looked into going from Portland to New York City a while back. I'd go to Seattle, change trains then to Denver, then to Chicago then to NYC.

    Or something like that I don't clearly recall.

    The Coast Starlight goes from Seattle to LA with bus service to and from many other cities. That's right: Amtrack has a huge fleet of buses but with the complication that any bus tickets have to include at least one train ticket.

    At one time Amtrack when from Vancouver BC to San Diego - all train, no buses. From Vancouver BC you can go all the way to Toronto and from there to Montreal and Halifax, from San Diego there are trains all over Mexico.

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  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Sunday June 10 2018, @03:27PM (2 children)

    by zocalo (302) on Sunday June 10 2018, @03:27PM (#691112)
    Pretty much what I'd figured. I like the idea of train over airlines for shorter journeys, and especially for particularly scenic routes and/or routes with a bit of history, but coast-to-coast by train is perhaps a bit much, even if a reasonable route that doesn't involve changing trains does exist. Ultimately you're going to be spending a lot longer travelling by train than flying, and it's highly likely that a lot of that is going to be pretty monotonous on some of the available East-West routes, so unless that part is overnight (another advantage of trains; I find the motion make it much easier to sleep), I think I'll let my luggage take it's chances with the TSA.
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    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 11 2018, @12:35AM (1 child)

      by frojack (1554) on Monday June 11 2018, @12:35AM (#691230) Journal

      I like the idea of train over airlines for shorter journeys, and especially for particularly scenic routes and/or routes with a bit of history, but coast-to-coast by train is perhaps a bit much,

      Its a vacation. A very enjoyable one. You should try it sometime.

      City to City routes work on the east coast where everything is cheek by jowl, but you don't try to go from Denver to LA and then compare it to an airline by price or time. Its a train!!

      King Street Station in Seattle to Portland Oregon? 27 Bucks.

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      • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday June 11 2018, @07:03AM

        by zocalo (302) on Monday June 11 2018, @07:03AM (#691305)
        I thought I'd implied that I already have - and a few cruises like Hurtigruten's route up the coast of Norway - but they've all generally been extremely scenic pretty much throughout. I've spent a fair bit of time in the interior of the US, covering over a dozen states from border to border by road and rail, and while there are some very beautiful/interesting bits, much of it is now just the (mostly) flat remains of prairie buried under the infrastructure of producing food and energy. A few hours with not much to see in order to get from A-to-B is one thing, several days of it with only the occassional highlight - or a quick look around a city before getting back on board - is something else. There are some train routes in the US I would consider for a vacation, or part of one, - I've traversed the Rockies by train (Denver to SLC) and MDC's Portland to California route should be spectacular, for instance - but a jaunt across the prairie just isn't going to be near the top of the list.
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