An anecdote that President Joe Biden shared last week to mark the 50th anniversary of Amtrak has come under scrutiny due to inconsistencies that make the story impossible to have unfolded as he described.

Biden’s tale of a train conductor who, in 2013 or 2014, congratulated him during a trip home to visit his sick mother on traveling 1.5 million miles via rail was supposed to illustrate his long-standing ties to Amtrak. After his election to the Senate in 1972, Biden was well known for his daily commutes to Washington from Delaware on the train — earning him the nickname “Amtrak Joe” and inextricably tying his political image to the rails.