Has Amtrak gone cashless?

I'm familiar with the unstaffed stations with their ticket machines north of Boston, I haven't gone anywhere else in a long time so I don't know whats going on elsewhere. I had a distant relative ride #66, WAS-BOS last week. When they went to get the ticket at WAS, they were told by the agent, no cash, cards only. When did this go into effect? I suppose it will keep some of the riff-raff off the trains.

Yes they have gone cashless both at stations and for F&B. The Only cash is for tips. The stations do not even have cash in house right now. The ticket offices are more information desks these days than selling tickets at most stations except for really big ones. At stations without red caps the ticket agents also provide the service that red caps provide at larger stations. In these days of online ticketing, passenger assistance, providing information, and assisting passengers with reservations when something happens is really the most important job of a station attendant.

Mr. Arthur D, there are many reports that Amtrak is now cash free on board; and now your's and Mr. Lord's establish such includes tickets purchased at a station.

No surprise whatever; and even when the pandemic is declared to be "over", this policy applicable to any intercity transportation company will not change. Even municipal transportation systems essentially no longer accept such aboard their vehicles, and when they do it is exact change.

The Illinois Tollways are now going cash free; best get an EZ-Pass X-ponder.

My personal thought; good riddance.

The only recurring transaction I now have with cash is tips at the car wash. While of course should I go out of town, I carry some. I'll share here that when I went overseas last month, I started the one week trip with $70 and €150, the latter went for tips, such as to the housekeeper, concert programs (you pay for those over there) and simply "burning them off" at restaurants and bars that accepted credit cards so as to come home with none.

Finally, for those "unbanked" or who cannot qualify for a credit card, currency exchanges do sell prepaid ACH cards.

Gillette Stadium and the N.E. Patriots have gone cashless. I was wondering how this works for those without credit cards. There are ATM machines where you can deposit cash and get a debit card to use. I guess Amtrak will need to install these too.

Mr. Train Guy, with what it costs to attend a sporting event nowadays, could any of those patrons NOT have a credit card?

Mr. Norman, with the price of concessions nowadays, one just might max out their cards before the half

Cash is only accepted on select trains in California, Maine and Pennsylvania.

https://www.amtrak.com/purchase-train-tickets

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:27 am The Illinois Tollways are now going cash free; best get an EZ-Pass X-ponder.

My personal thought; good riddance.

Maryland's bridges went all EZ-Pass or Video Tolling. Ether you get a transponder (subscription or on-demand, easy to get 'em) or you get a bill in the mail... about a year and a half after you go through the toll.

Yeah, that happened to me. I just got the transponder about a month ago.

Finally, for those "unbanked" or who cannot qualify for a credit card, currency exchanges do sell prepaid ACH cards.

You can get prepaid VISA/Mastercard/Amex "gift cards" anywhere.

That said... the Federal Register FAQ on cash acceptance on businesses is... confusing. Section 31 USC 5103 says yes (given a purchase would incur a debt that must be paid to receive a good) but the interpretation from the Fed says no. I think that's unclear and requires judicial intervention...

...but I'd rather not derail the thread.

So much for "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private", then. The Supreme Court has ruled that Amtrak is a government agency, yet this government agency doesn't even accept the government's own bills.

OK, I should accept, that as a Retired CPA, and one who holds that much beyond paying for a newspaper (daddy, what's that?) or a coffee, that cash is "sinister". It is too easily concealed to allow one who wishes to "hide" a transaction (spouse, IRS) to make me feel comfortable with the stuff around me.

Therefore, I live my daily life without any of such on my person.

Now with that being said, the arguments that Amtrak should accept cash "anywhere for anything" are indeed weak. The "legal tender" argument only goes so far in saying that if the payee chooses to accept currency for a payment, this paper stuff represents "legal tender".

Finally, I can recall a time when I was in Vegas (once had a GF who "loved the place" also had another - not concurrent who "loved cruises" - neither of which I have no special attachment to anymore as both are deceased) when I was standing in line to check out behind someone who had a multi-page bill and he was settling the whole thing in CASH. My mind is going "who's he hiding THAT from?".

charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 12:16 pm So much for "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private", then. The Supreme Court has ruled that Amtrak is a government agency, yet this government agency doesn't even accept the government's own bills.

The difference is between accepting repayment for a debt and entering into a new transaction - if you pay for your food at the counter before you eat it, there's no debt and each party may refuse to carry out the transaction, if you eat first and pay after, that's a debt and cash must be accepted, as I understand it. Wonder if that's why non-sleeper passengers can't be served in the dining car anymore...

From hearing from an OBS crew member on another site - The issue in the diners not taking coach passengers is more about lack of staff at all the crew bases than anything else. In June they managed to get enough chefs back to relaunch traditional dining but there aren’t enough SAs to have a second SA on board. The crews are running with 1 LSA-Diner, 1 SA, 1 Chef, 1 Food specialist and the new menu requires more work related to presentation than the pre-pandemic menu. A number of crew bases have newly posted jobs for OBS crew positions to try to get back to pre pandemic so obviously a number of furloughed employees moved on.

As a business owner, cash is a pain. Why many are tempted to put it in the back pocket , its very hard to spend large amounts these days. you tend to waste it anyway . As Mr. Norman observed, large hotel bills, or in Vegas , put it through the casinos. but they must only be winning back a tenth of what they put through , on average.
For Amtrak , it means having to safeguard it , and get it to a bank , all time consuming , vs electronic transactions been in the bank e 10 p.m that night.
Perhaps Amtrak could com up with its own prepaid/gift card, and make a bit pout of the souvenir market as well. load business / first class's meal allowances on it ,save even more "paperwork".

andrewjw wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 4:01 pm The difference is between accepting repayment for a debt and entering into a new transaction - if you pay for your food at the counter before you eat it, there's no debt and each party may refuse to carry out the transaction, if you eat first and pay after, that's a debt and cash must be accepted, as I understand it. Wonder if that's why non-sleeper passengers can't be served in the dining car anymore...

Close. If we negotiate before a service is provided, we can agree on a form of payment. So in a sense, before you order dinner, you've agreed to pay via credit card. So cash can still be disallowed.

David Benton wrote:Perhaps Amtrak could com up with its own prepaid/gift card, and make a bit pout of the souvenir market as well. load business / first class's meal allowances on it ,save even more "paperwork".

https://www.amtrak.com/giftcards

Of course, the disclaimer "(May not be used for onboard purchases)" which is ridiculous, it takes very little effort to set up a gift card that can only be used at certain vendors.