Forums

[wilmette2210]

Is it trure that other railroad employes nick name ticket agents clowns and if so why? I would like to work for a railroad and would like to know if any one here is/was a railroad ticket agent? What is life as a ticket agent like compared to other railroad employes?  I have checked metras website and cannot find a ticket agent vancey why is that? And how do you get a job as a ticket agent with one of the railroads metra contracts out with such as Union Pacific of BNSF please let me know thank you.

[wjstix]

Amtrak has what they call "Ticket Clerks", openings show up from time to time on their website:

Amtrak Jobs

I assume most commuter railroads have similar ticket clerks rather than ticket agents. A ticket agent pre-Amtrak was kind of a cross between a ticket clerk and a travel agent. They had to know their own railroad's schedules, and those of connecting railroads. In some cases I think they could even sell you tickets for the connecting railroads.

I doubt UP or BNSF have any ticket agents, the commuter railroads use their lines under a lease or maybe trackage rights agreement, but UP / BNSF etc. don't really have anything to do with selling tickets to people.

[Deggesty]

wjstix

Amtrak has what they call "Ticket Clerks", openings show up from time to time on their website:

Amtrak Jobs

I assume most commuter railroads have similar ticket clerks rather than ticket agents. A ticket agent pre-Amtrak was kind of a cross between a ticket clerk and a travel agent. They had to know their own railroad's schedules, and those of connecting railroads. In some cases I think they could even sell you tickets for the connecting railroads.

I doubt UP or BNSF have any ticket agents, the commuter railroads use their lines under a lease or maybe trackage rights agreement, but UP / BNSF etc. don't really have anything to do with selling tickets to people.

Yes, some stations were what was known as "coupon stations." They had the ticket stock that was necessary for interline tickets. Most stations could sell tickets for the issuing line only . The coupon stations were indicated in the Official Guide by a plus sign in the station listing  of a schedule. Some interline tickets were easy for the station agent to sell, especially if many of them were sold at his station. Others were not so easy--such as many I bought in Tuscaloosa for my wanderings--and the agent would communicate with the company's passenger department so that the proper fare would be charged. Once, I even received a refund because my routing was refigured after I had finished my trip--I went from Birmingham to Washington by way of the L&N to Montgomery and then the ACL to Jacksonville and on north. The first calculation apparently included Jacksonville in the routing and the second calculation used the competitive fare from Montgomery to Washington instead (much shorter by way of Atlanta). Another time, I bought a ticket in Jackson, Miss. to Bristol, Va., by way of Meridian, Miss.. After I finished my trip, I received a letter from the IC passenger department telling me that the fare through Memphis was higher than what I had paid, so I owed the IC. I wrote back, telling them that I had not gone through Memphis, but through Meridian. They then acknowledged that I had paid the correct fare.

It is quite different with Amtrak, which changes both railfare and space charges as demand increases. However, Amtrak has a system for determining these changes.

Johnny