Amtrak has begun eTicketing on the Heartland Flyer, which operates daily in Oklahoma and Texas. Passengers can now make reservations and print their electronic tickets from home or the office.
The eTicketing program provides passengers increased flexibility when making or changing reservations and eliminates the need to obtain traditional paper tickets. Passengers will now have the ability to print their eTickets themselves. A receipt will be e-mailed to the passenger with the eTicket attached as a printable document. Those passengers using their smartphones can also present their eTicket to the conductor by simply opening the eTicket document from their e-mail to display the barcode for scanning. If a customer misplaces their eTicket, they can reprint the document to present onboard. Passengers can also print the eTickets at Amtrak ticket office in Fort Worth and Quik-Trak™ kiosks in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. More information is attached.

Conversion to eTicketing is a significant benefit to Heartland Flyer passengers, since on-site provision of a traditional paper ticket at an Amtrak ticket office has only been possible on this route at Fort Worth and at the Quik-Trak™ kiosks.

For this initial version of eTicketing, eTickets will be issued to passengers who have one way or round-trip reservations on the Heartland Flyer. Passengers with more complicated bookings will continue to receive traditional paper value tickets, including when they:
• Are traveling beyond the Heartland Flyer route
• Have purchased a Multi-Ride Ticket; (e.g., monthly or ten-trip ticket)
• Have a group ticket
• Are paying travel on the train
• Have purchased travel at a travel agency or corporate travel office

“The new eTicket system gives even more convenience to passengers on the Heartland Flyer,” said Joe Kyle, Manager, Rail Programs, Oklahoma Department of Transportation. “Oklahoma DOT and our partners in Texas are honored to be one of the first Amtrak state-partner routes to implement this new technology. Our customers will appreciate both the simplified printing and the ability to use their smartphones as a ticket.”

“eTicketing is a welcome innovation that will make rail travel easier, more convenient and customer friendly,” said Bill Glavin, Rail Division Director, Texas Department of Transportation. “This agency is proud of its continuing partnership with ODOT and Amtrak to provide regional intercity passenger rail service on the Heartland Flyer.”

“We thank our partners at in Oklahoma and Texas for their continued support and cooperation in helping bring this exciting initiative to our passengers on the popular Heartland Flyer route,” said Emmett Fremaux, Amtrak vice president for marketing and product development. “The eTicketing process provides a more convenient and flexible way for passengers to buy and get their ticket whenever, wherever.”

The Amtrak eTicketing project began in November 2011 on the Amtrak Downeaster service (Boston – Portland, Maine). The spring has seen the successful piloting of eTicketing on the City of New Orleans, Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains.

To meet this summer’s goal for a nationwide eTicketing launch, Amtrak is now in process of training its approximately 1,700 conductors. During this transition period, passengers can see conductors using the eTicketing Mobile Device on trains throughout the national Amtrak network. Conductors will still collect and punch traditional paper tickets, and scanning these will allow conductors to become more familiar with the eTicketing equipment.

With the introduction of this new eTicketing capability for customers, Amtrak has also garnered industry recognition by earning a spot on the 2011 Information Week 500 list of top technology innovators across America. This prestigious award recognizes Amtrak’s innovative use of this mobile technology and how it enhances the passenger’s travel experience and ability for Amtrak employees to deliver a higher level of safety and customer service.
Judi Elmore of Ardmore, Okla., Chair of the Heartland Flyer Coalition, was among the first passengers to travel this morning with a Print at Home eTicket.