Things we don't want to hear from a house guest: "Oh, I don't have any cash...is there time to stop at an ATM? No? That's OK...I'll just get the next train." But now the Long Island Railroad has announced it's testing a new system that'll allow conductors to accept credit cards on board: "[LIRR president Helena] Williams said she began pursuing a way to accept credit cards on trains after several instances last year of riders — particularly young people visiting the Hamptons -- not carrying cash to buy tickets onboard. In some cases, those customers would get off the train to buy a ticket at Amagansett -- one of the few East End stations with a ticket vending machine — and then return to their seats, holding up the train. 'We were like, "We can't have this,"' Williams said." The $1200 iPhone-based devices are only available on a few lines right now (including some weekend trains to and from Montauk), but if the test goes well, the LIRR plans to use them throughout the entire system. [Gothamist]
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