Amtrak. Amtrak’s Fallen THREE RIVERS September 4, 2012 Amtrak’s THREE RIVERS, named for the three rivers that enter Pittsburgh, was begun on September 10, 1995 to replace a portion of the historic BROADWAY LIMITED.
Running from the steel city to New York City, the train was extended over the rest of the route of the BROADWAY along the ex-B&O Willard Sub to Chicago [...] Read the full article → Amtrak’s New Transportation Center in Normal, IL. Amtrak: History of America’s Railroad. A More Perfect Union Station: D.C.'s Train Station is a Mess. Again. There are essentially two routes into Union Station by foot: The bad way, and the worse way.
The bad way starts in the Metro station, or along First Street NE, where the subway entrance is chiseled into a massive stone wall abutting a narrow sidewalk. Push your way through the commuters and tourists pouring on and off the Red line and shove yourself up whichever escalator to the main floor is in service when you happen to arrive. The first thing you see when you get into the train station proper is probably a line. It might be for the post office. Or maybe it’s for the train departing Gate A. Amtrak gives up traditional hole punch in favor of iPhone ticketing application. The program has been in the works for about five years, but has taken major steps this year with two pilot efforts.
In February, Amtrak started using e-ticketing on Auto Train, a train that travels between Lorton and Florida, and allows passengers to bring their cars aboard. Last month, Amtrak launched a pilot of the e-ticketing model on the Downeaster, a line that runs between Portland, Maine, and Boston. For Amtrak, the e-ticketing effort is expected to improve efficiency and safety. Today, conductors are responsible for keeping track of collected tickets, which are later sent to a facility in Texas to be scanned and documented. Additionally, conductors aren’t able to send real-time updates to its reservation system to indicate exactly who is on the train, valuable information in the case of an emergency or accident.