Amtrak's No. 1 priority when it sprang to life on May 1, 1971, was to create a cohesive network of passenger trains, something the U.S. never knew when service was provided by multiple operators. But standardizing the arcane and often idiosyncratic ticketing practices that had evolved over more than a century would have to wait. First it consolidated the reservation function at key bureaus, such as those formerly run by Santa Fe, Seaboard Coast Line, and Penn Central. Then Amtrak established its own local and national phone numbers, though agents still had to "wire for space" to the office holding the inventory for a train.
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