Amtrak closed a record amount of on-site ticket windows in the first five months of 2018, a signal of the growing shift towards online ticket purchases.
A spokesman on Monday confirmed the Washington D.C.-based passenger railroad company shut down 18 on-site counters since the start of the year, a significant uptick from a single closure in 2017 and nine in 2016.
“The customers have voted with their keyboards and phones,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. “It’s not justifiable to keep stations staffed at a ticket window when the [number of] people buying tickets at ticket windows is decreasing.”
The company closed on-site ticket windows in Cincinnati, Ohio and Flint, Mich., among others. Magliari did not rule out the possibility of additional closures through the remainder of 2018.
Amtrak received nearly $2 billion in federal funding for fiscal year 2018, a 43 percent increase from $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2017. President Trump in his budget proposed a nearly 50 percent cut in the amount of federal money Amtrak receives, to $738 million.
Magliari said the closures are partially a reflection on the need to “make prudent financial and business decisions” and is not a reflection of staff performance at the window counters. He declined to provide any financial information related to the cost of managing a ticket window.
The planned closures are already facing criticism from local groups and elected officials. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., earlier this month wrote to Amtrak’s chief executive officer Richard Anderson urging him to reverse a planned closure of the ticket window at the Charleston station.
“Nearly 30 percent 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. Our population includes many working class families and elderly residents who are less likely to have a credit card or another means to purchase tickets remotely, but rely heavily on the train as an alternative to driving or flying. They deserve at least one manned ticket counter in the state,” Manchin wrote.
Train tickets are often cheaper when purchased online, in advance of travel. And the uptick in closures of ticket windows is largely a reflection of changing consumer behavior. For Amtrak customers that don’t own a credit or debit card to purchase tickets online, the company has urged them to buy prepaid debit cards.
The Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization also said the cuts are inappropriate given the amount of money congressional funding appropriated to the company.
“This year, Amtrak received a record amount of federal funding, the largest received by America’s passenger railroad. Amtrak received this historic level of funding because of the bipartisan support of Congress for a nationwide passenger train system,” said TEMPO chairman Bill Pollard. “Given that support, it is not appropriate for Amtrak to implement cuts affecting only national network stations without first making an effort to improve ridership at those stations.”
In fiscal year 2017 and 2016, revenue from ticket sales, state partners and agencies covered 95 percent of operating expenses, according to the company’s yearly financial report. Amtrak last year earned $2.18 billion in ticket sales.
Since the start of 2018 there have been four fatal accidents involving an Amtrak train. One occurred in January when a chartered train full of GOP lawmakers on the way to the annual Republican policy retreat crashed into a garbage truck, resulting in one death.
