How to Fill Out and Submit the Amtrak Lost and Found Form

The Amtrak lost and found form is an online report hosted on Chargerback and linked from the Reporting Lost Items page at amtrak.com. You fill it out to tell Amtrak what you left on a train or at a station, and submitting it opens a 30-day search, generates a tracking number by email, and routes updates back to you as staff look for your property.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Open the Form

Pulling these details together first keeps you from guessing partway through, and guesses are what cause near-matches to slip past staff:

The exact date you were traveling when the item went missing. Your eTicket confirmation email has it if you’re not sure.
Your train number, from the ticket, booking confirmation, or the Amtrak app.
Your departure and arrival stations.
A working email address, spelled correctly, because every status update comes through it.
Specifics about the item: brand, color, size, model or serial number, and distinguishing marks like scratches, stickers, or monograms.¹

Specificity does the heavy lifting. A serial number on a laptop or a particular sticker on a water bottle separates your item from the dozens of similar ones already sitting in storage.

Filling Out the Form

From Amtrak’s Reporting Lost Items page, click the lost item report link. The Chargerback form opens embedded on Amtrak’s site. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.²

Item Information

You choose the item type from a categorized dropdown that covers electronics, bags and cases, clothing, beverage containers, baby items, bedding, and more. Then use the description text box to add everything that identifies the item: brand, exact color, dimensions, and unique features. A separate dropdown asks whether the item has an Apple AirTag or another location tracker attached. If it does, say so.²

Trip Details

Enter the date of loss, the train number, and the station where the item was last seen, selected from a dropdown of Amtrak stations. A text field asks where on the train you lost it. This is the place to name your seat and car, say whether it was in the overhead rack, under the seat, in the café car, or in a restroom. “Lower level of car 3, seat 42, seatback pocket” gives a crew member something to act on. “Somewhere on the train” does not.²

Contact Information

The form collects your first and last name, phone number, email (entered twice), and mailing address with street, city, state, zip, and country. An option lets you turn on text message updates in addition to email. Check the boxes agreeing to the terms of service and privacy policy, then submit.²

Reporting in Person or by Phone

The online form is the primary channel, but you can also tell an Amtrak representative at your arrival station if it’s staffed, or call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).³ Even if you report by phone or at the counter, filing the online form too creates a digital record and a tracking number you can refer back to.

After You Submit

You’ll get a confirmation email with a Lost Item ID. Save it. That number is your reference for every follow-up. Amtrak’s team searches and sends status updates by email, plus text if you opted in.¹

If staff think they’ve found your item or need more information to confirm a match, they’ll reach out directly. The active search runs 30 days from the date you filed. After that, if nothing has turned up, it almost certainly wasn’t turned in and the search ends.¹ File as soon as you realize something is missing. Trains get cleaned at the end of each run, and the sooner your report is in the system, the better the chance it matches an item before it’s moved or mixed in with other unclaimed property.

Getting a Found Item Back

When Amtrak locates your item, you have two options:

Pick it up at the station where it was found or returned, at no charge.
Have it shipped to the mailing address on your report. You pay the shipping fee.⁴

Amtrak doesn’t publish a specific shipping fee schedule, so the cost will depend on size and weight. If you’re close to the station, picking it up in person avoids the fee entirely.

What the Form Does Not Cover

The lost item report is for things you left behind yourself: a phone under a seat, a jacket in the overhead rack, a bag forgotten in a waiting area. Amtrak treats these as carry-on items and disclaims all liability for carry-on baggage, even if staff helped load or unload it.⁵ The report is a good-faith effort to reunite you with your property. There is no financial compensation if it isn’t found.

Checked baggage follows a separate process. If a checked bag doesn’t arrive, report it at the station baggage counter before you leave, and you have 30 days from the incident to submit a formal claim to Amtrak’s Office of Customer Relations. Standard checked baggage liability is capped at $500 per ticketed passenger, with additional valuation up to $2,500 available for an extra charge at check-in.⁵

Cash Is Handled Differently

When Amtrak staff find cash on a train or at a station, they may convert it into a refund voucher rather than holding the physical bills. If you can prove the cash is yours, you can exchange the voucher for cash at a station where adequate funds are available, or mail the voucher to Amtrak Refunds. You have one year from the date the voucher was created to claim the money.¹

Small Choices That Improve Your Odds

File the report immediately. The window between an item being found during cleaning and getting matched to a report is where recoveries actually happen.
Use the AirTag field if your item has one. It gives staff a second way to confirm a match on generic-looking bags.
Name a specific seat and car, not just “coach.”
Describe what’s inside a lost bag. A navy backpack with a red notebook, a charger, and prescription sunglasses inside is easier to match than the exterior alone.
Opt into text updates. Email notifications get buried; a text about picking up your item is harder to miss.

1
Amtrak. Reporting Lost Items
2
Chargerback. Lost Item Report
3
Capitol Corridor. What Is Amtrak’s Lost and Found Process?
4
Capitol Corridor. New Lost and Found Process Implemented by Amtrak
5
Amtrak. Limitation of Liability for Baggage