Gov’t starts replacing ticket machines at Urban Train stations

The Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI, in Spanish) announced the start of an initiative to install new ticket machines at Urban Train stations, starting at the Martínez Nadal stop in Guaynabo.

This is the first phase of a $25 million project funded entirely by federal allocations to optimize the Urban Train, which along with ferries and buses, makes up the integrated transportation system, said Transportation Secretary Eileen Vélez.

“This is the beginning of a modernization process across the transportation system. With these new ticket machines, we continue to advance in the optimization of the [Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI, in Spanish)], which will promise a better experience for passengers with world-class technology,” Vélez said.

The two new machines at the Martínez Nadal stop will begin to be used for an internal testing phase before their full deployment across all stations, said ATI Executive Director Josué Menéndez-Agosto.

“It will be next year that passengers will be able to use them, after an education and orientation phase for riders,” Menéndez-Agosto said. “We’re aware that, for years, there were many criticisms of the train, and that the system was obsolete and difficult to use, but all that will now be a thing of the past.”

The official said the ticket machine modernization process will be finished next year, though the agency did not provide a specific date when asked by News is my Business.