LANSING, Mich. — Three Michigan Amtrak ticket offices will close in January to save money for the financially troubled railway and the state, the Lansing State Journal reported.
The East Lansing, Flint and Port Huron train stations will stay open but no agents will be on hand, Amtrak spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon said Friday. Customers will be able to buy tickets online, by phone or at a QuikTrak machine that Amtrak will install at the East Lansing station for credit card purchases.
People with cash will be able to buy tickets on the train, if a seat is available. The East Lansing station served 26,719 customers in 2001, about 5 percent of Amtrak’s Michigan travelers, Cantillon said. Amtrak’s International Line departs and arrives once daily at the station.
Some frequent East Lansing travelers are disappointed with the change.
Helen Schubert, who lives in East Lansing but works in Chicago, goes back and forth between the cities once a week.
“The ticket agent services are well beyond selling those tickets,” Schubert, 62, said. “People rely on that ticket agent to help them determine a plan as to where they want to go.”
Amtrak’s decision to stop staffing three of the nine Michigan stations along the International line, which runs from Toronto to Chicago, came after the state Department of Transportation asked the railway to find some savings, Cantillon said. The state subsidizes the service, she said.
So after the holidays – about Jan. 5 – the stations’ ticket offices will close.
It is unknown how much money the measure will save. A Michigan Department of Transportation spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
Local travel agencies could see more business with the change.
Frequent business travelers and people who use Spartan Travel’s Web site, www.spartantravel.com, won’t have to pay an extra fee to book an Amtrak ticket, agency President Kevin Hamilton said.
Leisure travelers who call or walk in must pay a $35 ticketing charge. Weekend package deals do not carry a charge, he said.