CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Amtrak plans to eliminate its last remaining ticket agent job in West Virginia in early June, Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said Friday.
The agent works at the Charleston Amtrak station.
“It’s incredibly sad and it just shows a lack of dedication to the service and it doesn’t mean well for the future,” Jones, a train enthusiast and regular Amtrak passenger, said.
Amtrak makes several stops a couple times a week in West Virginia but it has had only one ticket agent.
“I go down there and get help and get ideas and I’m able to have interaction with another human being on what’s coming in the future,” Jones said.
Tickets can be purchased online.
Amtrak announced earlier this spring it would no longer be backing specialty trains like the New River Train that makes runs from Huntington to Hinton each fall for fall foliage and Hinton Railroad Days. Supporters of the train met with Amtrak officials in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. Amtrak promised to continue to explore the situation to see if something can be worked out.
Jones has been pushing for more Amtrak service but admitted Friday that now appears to be unlikely.
“We will no longer have a manned station in this entire state,” he said.
The ticket agent job will be eliminated June 6, Jones said.