Baggage Check at Amtrak stations

do you think this could work at CUS, PHL, BAL, BOS, etc?
http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/0 ... em/378826/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It could certainly work, it's what Disney did with my luggage on a recent vacation. I was able to check in my luggage right at the resort and have my boarding pass printed with a bus taking me directly to Orlando Airport.

LIRR/NJ Transit could do this at NYP by utilizing the area near the Acela lounge that used to house United Airlines ticket counters. The center of the upper level (near the escalators that go to MSG) could also be utilized. You'd see Taxi travel to JFK and Newark Airport drop significantly.

That service was (and may still be) available on Heathrow Express from Paddington to Heathrow. I used it with great success prior to 9/11. After that, United discontinued it, and I believe the other US-flag airlines did also. I think a lot would depend on how nervous the TSA (a Customs guy told me they say it stands for Thousands Standing Around) might be about someone checking a bag at a major railroad station and just disappearing. Some recent activities by ISIS aren't reassuring. (Of course, someone could do exactly that today at Penn Station or anywhere, but you never know how the TSA might react.)
Another problem would be how to get the baggage from the station to the airport. None of the airport rail services I know of are set up for unaccompanied baggage, and someone would have to cover the expense of baggage handlers. Passengers themselves might be willing to pay a fee for the service just to be free of the hassle -- it would still be cheaper than a cab.

Years ago, railroads and the Railway Express Agency would accept instruction in advance to check baggage, sometimes even hand baggage, through to hotels, office buildings, homes, and steamship piers in some large terminal cities. I wonder if that service lasted long enough for airports to be built, or if Pan American Flying Boat docks were ever included. The Pennsylvania RR did stop at the Port Columbus, O. airport and had across the platform connections with airplanes for a short time about 1930. The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey stopped at Newark (N.J.) Airport, but I don't know if baggage was handled at that branch line station.
About 1984, I rode a chartered Amtrak train to Wiliamsport, Pa. Instead of station wagons, city buses met the train, 1 for each hotel in town, and an extra bus was the "Baggage Bus", which took all the properly tagged bags and made the rounds for the Doormen or Bell Hops to unload it.

ExCon90 wrote:That service was (and may still be) available on Heathrow Express from Paddington to Heathrow. I used it with great success prior to 9/11. After that, United discontinued it, and I believe the other US-flag airlines did also.

Sadly both the Heathrow and Gatwick Express check-ins and baggage drops at their London termini are long since gone. I think BA kept it up a little longer than the other airlines but the Paddington check-in was shuttered around ten years ago now, if not longer.

Was that done for security reasons?

I guess the question is how much the tsa trusts amtrak. Amtrak has baggage handlers so if the tsa could send a van to pick up baggage at, say, 30th st it would not be unaccompanied except for its stint in the baggage room itself.

It would have to be a very secure facility. The Scenario at Disney had me hand over my bag and the attendant put it right in a locked up bin off to the side, presumably so it could not be tampered with and it could be inspected. I would imagine Amtrak/LIRR/NJ Transit would have to purchase some xray machines to do an initial scan of the baggage.

In Japan, they don't quite have that service, but they do have Yamato Transport. http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They provide same day delivery in major cities and a max of 2 days for anywhere in Japan. Many travelers arrive at Narita, turn their bags over to Yamato and proceed to their hotel where the bags meet them that evening or the next day.

I used it when I traveled to Japan. I was staying in Osaka, then heading to Tokyo with a stop in Hakone. I gave them my bags, paid 40 dollars and they were waiting for me in my hotel in Tokyo.

Come on, guys, do you really think commuter railroads will begin to handle checked baggage? And that Amtrak, with its ever-present fiscal woes, would start up a complicated baggage handling system delivering bags to hotels and airports? While the Hong Kong system seems very interesting, I doubt if it will spread elsewhere.

The downtown to airport luggage check in services actually instead take luggage over by a "sealed" truck and then at the airport they are scanned.

AgentSkelly wrote:The downtown to airport luggage check in services actually instead take luggage over by a "sealed" truck and then at the airport they are scanned.

that's pretty much what I figured which means Amtrak should be able to to accomodate it at large stations. instead of curbside check in there's station check in with the same security measures. so long as amtrak has identified the person who is checking the bag and stored said bag in their baggage area I don't see why it has to be complicated. the idea for amtrak would be to generate some revenue and keep its baggage facilities busier which, at places like 30th st, were built for busier eras.

Suburban Station wrote:I guess the question is how much the tsa trusts amtrak. Amtrak has baggage handlers so if the tsa could send a van to pick up baggage at, say, 30th st it would not be unaccompanied except for its stint in the baggage room itself.

TSA could be problematic. Today I flew back to Newark from the Eurocon SciFi convention in Dublin. Went through the thorough Irish security check, bag xrays and metal detector. The metal detector was set very sensitive and had a number of false positives that I observed. Next step in the secure area was US customs pre-clearance for USA entry without having to clear customs in Newark. After checking passport, declarations, etc. everyone's bag was again xrayed and shoes swabbed. So since TSA does not appear to fully trust its sister agency in the same building, Amtrak indeed would be very hard pressed to make TSA comfortable I suspect.

Suburban Station wrote:I guess the question is how much the tsa trusts amtrak. Amtrak has baggage handlers so if the tsa could send a van to pick up baggage at, say, 30th st it would not be unaccompanied except for its stint in the baggage room itself.

Whoever might send a van, it wouldn't be the TSA. Either the airline or the rail carrier would have to pick up the tab. If a TSA person had to be on the truck TSA would charge for his time.

Ken W2KB wrote:

Suburban Station wrote:I guess the question is how much the tsa trusts amtrak. Amtrak has baggage handlers so if the tsa could send a van to pick up baggage at, say, 30th st it would not be unaccompanied except for its stint in the baggage room itself.

TSA could be problematic. Today I flew back to Newark from the Eurocon SciFi convention in Dublin. Went through the thorough Irish security check, bag xrays and metal detector. The metal detector was set very sensitive and had a number of false positives that I observed. Next step in the secure area was US customs pre-clearance for USA entry without having to clear customs in Newark. After checking passport, declarations, etc. everyone's bag was again xrayed and shoes swabbed. So since TSA does not appear to fully trust its sister agency in the same building, Amtrak indeed would be very hard pressed to make TSA comfortable I suspect.

so you think a TSA agent would be required to ensure that the license is checked at the train station? that's really the main difference from curbside dropoff.
our country is such a joke, meanwhile someone drove onto airport property not long ago.