eli5: why do long distance train systems (like Amtrak) and a lot of regional rails (like the Long Island Rail Road) use on-board ticket collectors to verify tickets, instead of turnstile systems at individual stations (like metros and subways use)?

Question

It just seems like a terribly inefficient system to verify someone’s right to access the train once they are already on the train…..

In: Other

Answer 1

For Amtrak and likely most regional rail systems that do on train ticket taking, the number of stations they service exceeds the number of trains. For example, Amtrak runs on the order of 300 trains to service 500 stations. It’s simply more efficient to centralize ticketing to travel with the smaller number of trains than need staff to cover all the stations and e.g. watch for turnstile jumpers (many of which might be little more than just a platform next to a parking lot).

You tend to see turnstiles in higher frequency rail lines, where taking tickets on the train would be too slow to be done between stops or there is a closer match between the number of trains and stations.