The Four Train Tickets

Four standard train tickets for the Metroliner from Philadelphia remain unused after frozen tracks strand the train, delaying delivery of President Bartlet's ceremonial Bible. Charlie relays the problem to Bartlet, Abbey, Ed, and Larry inside the limousine; the group absorbs the news amid inauguration tension, the tickets underscoring hasty cost-cutting that disrupts protocol.

2 appearances

Purpose

Secure passage on the Metroliner train for transporting the ceremonial Bible to the inauguration.

Significance

Expose resource constraints and poor planning by the cost-cutting committee, turning a minor oversight into comic frustration that humanizes Bartlet and previews larger bureaucratic challenges.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There

Too Cold for a Parade / The Missing Bible

The four train tickets are mentioned as evidence of the failed transportation plan and the broader cost-cutting that contributed to the Bible's absence; they concretize administrative thrift as a narrative cause.

Before: Purchased or allocated for the Metroliner journey that was meant to bring the Bible and handlers.

After: Unused/moot because the train is frozen and handlers lacked hotel rooms; they underscore the cancelled logistics.

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S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There

Missing Bible, Quick Fix

The four train tickets are invoked as part of the petty logistical calculus — a concrete detail that signals cost-cutting and the human consequences (handlers stranded) of the Inaugural Committee's decisions.

Before: Purchased/issued for travel on the Metroliner but, as explained, not used due to the train's delay.

After: Remain unused; function as evidence of the committee's cost-related choices and logistical failure.

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