Amtrak is upgrading its trains, updating its terminals and now replacing its old station ticket kiosks.
D.C.’s Union Station, along with the Joseph R. Biden Jr. station in Wilmington and the Moynihan Train Hall in New York City are the first to have the new kiosks installed. Amtrak will install more than 200 new kiosks through the remainder of this year, replacing its more than 20-year-old Quik-Trak kiosks, which will be retired by the end of 2021.
The new kiosks can be activated by touch, card swipe, barcode scan, or by inserting a headset. Customers can select a seat on their trains for reserved seating. The kiosks will also soon be able to send electronic tickets to a customer’s email address.
The new kiosks will eventually be installed in more than 150 stations across the country.
“As we continue to modernize our trains and stations, we are concurrently providing modern amenities to our customers, and we are accomplishing that goal with the new Amtrak kiosk,” said chief marketing and revenue officer Roger Harris.
Amtrak is renovating Union Station’s commuter rail concourse, nearly doubling its current capacity.
It will also put its new, faster Acela transits into service on the Northeast Corridor next year.
Amtrak ridership has not entirely recovered, but as of October, ridership numbers both nationally and on the Northeast Corridor are back to 73% of pre-pandemic levels.
