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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:32AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:32AM (#691327)

    I know that in China specifically, train travel is still a normal way of traveling between cities and the government spends a lot of time and money keeping it that way.

    Keeping it that way? You say it like the Chinese Government is trying to force people to use trains.

    The fact is there are no better options for China. So it's better to spend time and money improving the best option. Go see how many people in China travel for the Lunar New Year and then try to think of alternative travel methods that will be better for the longer distance routes.

    More people using the roads for long distances is not a good idea in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Highway_110_traffic_jam [wikipedia.org]

    And they're among the worst drivers in the world.