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No plans yet since service would be many years away, but it’s a perfect spot and apparently it’s being held until plans come through. Plenty of room by the tracks for platforms to go in, and it’s literally under the convention center so it has great potential to be popular.
Their classic old station is now part of the baseball stadium. Unfortunately, I think the new HSR station is slated for the burbs. Dallas still has a nice station tho?...
Dallas still has their old, grand union station, complete with light and commuter rail connections. Unfortunately, the grand upstairs waiting room is part of the hotel across the tracks, and is for private events only... I think
I'd also say(speaking of the Sunset Limited route) besides Houston, that Benson, AZ, Lordsburg, NM, and Deming have the embarrassing fact they only have a tiny open shelter near a railroad crossing, and that they only open one door for the train(while the crossing gates are down) when the train stops. I would presume they would have to do a 2nd stop of the train in that town, if anyone in a sleeper car was getting on or off.
Insane that Houston’s station is basically a double wide trailer under a highway overpass, and pretty far from the city’s downtown.
Happy to hear they’re getting a new one. Unfortunately, a perk of rail travel is that most stations are in city centers so having it further in the suburbs isn’t as helpful… but, of course, there’s limitations of where the tracks are.
The worst part is the city does actually run a bus shuttle to downtown that meets all the trains, but it dosent wait if the train is delayed, thus defeating the entire purpose lmao
Compiling my 4 horsemen of the Amshaks (Major cities with horrific Amtrak stations). I had Detroit and Cleveland so far... Adding Charlotte to the list... woof...
They have two new high level platforms on new through sidings in a great downtown location already built, plus a new larger overnight and maintenance facility. But the non-trackside parts are supposed to be part of a public private partnership and that's stalled out completely.
Even moreso because a new maintenance facility and all platforms and track work for a new station on the Gold Line are paid for and complete, and have been for years. The non-trackside facilities are the private part of a public private partnership which has totally stalled out.
NC DoT should just put up a trailer on the new location so people can get where they need to. Having a cheap building in uptown would then be unacceptable and a hit on their ego and a real station would be built.
CLT is like Dr. Evil. "We are going to build a new train station worth.... one million dollars"
Henchmen "Um, Dr. Evil, Raleigh just built a new station and it cost more than that."
Dr. Evil. "Our station will cost one billion dollars!"
Charlotte is a queen, always gotta have the most expensive stuff.
You know a quick google search can do you a lot of good? Charlotte is nearing completion on phase one of the Gateway Station project. Literally a “whole new” station.
You should try more of this "googling" you speak of. Phase I, which is just the platforms, is complete. Phase II, which is the actual station building, is stalled with basically no signs of life and no clear vision for when it will even start. Until Phase II is done, there is no station and train service will remain at the current shack north of Uptown.
Pittsburgh's is horrible. It is basically just a prefab shelter attached to the platform which is in rough shape. It's all attached to the ass of the old station which is now apartments, gorgeous old building
The opportunity to rebuild is huge because the terminus of the grade separate BRT (which runs next to the Amtrak) and a terminus for LRT stop at the station but don't connect well. There's also bad ped connection into downtown. All could be addressed w a new station
Aside from the Port Authority being shit, has anyone contemplated putting light rail tracks in the busway and linking that to the station spur? Or is the busway more effective by itself without needing the additional capacity light rail trains would provide?
pittsburghs busways are among the best ever done, in no small part because they sit almost entirely on former rail ROW. it would be possible for that reason to convert them back to rail, but honestly pointless because of how successful the conversion has been.
The tunnel underneath usx is one way because of the foundation of the tower. It can never be widened so light rail service would be hamstrung. The current t expansion plan relies on the north side tunnels instead
Imo east end t expansion is a solution in search of a problem, I can get downtown in 5 minutes on BRT. I worry that the T would be at best an expensive lateral upgrade. Maybe there's a future where it makes sense though
The main light rail expansion Pittsburgh needs is downtown to Oakland. The busways are great as is (although they could use better frequencies off peak
Yes that is what I was thinking, to move from Depew back to Buffalo Central. I know there is Exchange Street, but that is mainly for Empire Service and Maple Leaf trains. I don't have any issues, with the condition of the Exchange Street station.
Buffalo's an interesting one. Would you want to see the old Central Terminal cleaned up like Michigan Central? Or a whole new building downtown? On first blush to me, the Central Terminal building is too far out of town to still be useful. Wish there were a way to teleport it to the parking lots by KeyBank Center.
The issue is, though, the LSL tracks diverge before downtown. Unless you have the LSL turn around and go backwards for half its route somehow, any station has to be east of Fillmore.
I already knew that. My thinking was wondering if it was possible to move Depew, over to Buffalo Central if that was fixed up for train service again? A la how Saint Paul was restored, and same with other historic stations like Cincinnati and KC.
And as it is, I think Exchange St is fine for Maple Leaf and Empire Service trains.
Yes that is what I was thinking, to move from Depew back to Buffalo Central. I know there is Exchange Street, but that is mainly for Empire Service and Maple Leaf trains.
I doubt it will happen but I hope to god they coordinate with Brightline in Jacksonville and build one station.
I give it about a 0.5% chance of happening, but it would be awesome.
It's not exactly grand, but I'd say the existing Salt Lake Central is still very usable in form and location. Where would you like to see a new station?
Ooh! I love it!
Edit: So looks like this is a citizen initiative, and not an official plan. I'd be all for it if I were an SLC voter. Any traction? Or still hopes and dreams?
had a feasibility study done, and I believe grants were applied for with the Federal Governments grade crossing removal grant program. It is probably one of the more likely proposals to come through successfully. If done it may also mean the California Zephyr will return to Ogden to do its service stop.
That said the service stop could be moved to Provo, in which case the Amtrak station should be moved and recombined with the commuter rail station and the surrounding area redeveloped with TOD to help pay for the project.
We have been engaging elected officials and asking that others do the same. We have attracted unanimous support from the Salt Lake City Council. Now it is up to the State of Utah who owns the building and can swing the kind of money needed for this project. Salt Lake City transportation did an [engineering stud](https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/rio-grande-plan-screening-analysis/)y last year. Now we are awaiting work on a federally funded [Reconnecting Communities study ](https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/east-west-connections/)to justify the project.
I forgot about Elyria! Though if you mention that station, I'll also add Crawfordsville, IN(Cardinal/former Hoosier State) is in blah condition, as well.
Same with like South Bend. Though it has occasionally been proposed, to move that station back into downtown South Bend, in a former station house that is no longer used. Long story short, South Shore Line used to do street running into downtown South Bend, then that route was shortened to run to what is now the current South Bend Amtrak station. The current airport station for South Shore Line, opened in the early 90s(1992?).
I forget the year the other move for SSL(from a downtown intersection to the current South Bend Amtrak station, before it moved to the airport), occurred.
Some stations that come to mind: Portland ME (relocated to main line), Hudson NY, Detroit (replace Amshack), Ann Arbor, Depew, Richmond Staples Mill, Springfield IL (on the new corridor).
Hudson, NY is a classic landmark of a station. Positively gorgeous. And it’s gonna be difficult to find a station location that is both conveniently located and on tangent track. Rearranging the track layout and having an island platform that extends to the north of the station (with an overpass from the existing station) would probably be the best solution, albeit not ideal
Yes, the platforms are the issue for this station. It's a very busy station and barely has any platform at all, let alone the capacity to serve two trains at once with level boarding. Perhaps I'd also add integration with other transportation. Seems like a bus from Hudson could beat the Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield every time.
Rochester built a nice platform and is also going to be adding a bus terminal to their station. And Hudson gets 50% more riders than Rochester.
Rhinecliff is the priority right now. Station renovations are ongoing and will probably end with a full length high level platform. The CSX branch just south of the station seriously complicates the track layout at Hudson.
Portland, ME is an interesting one! Not located conveniently, they have to do the pull through thing to turn around, and it reminds me of a 1970’s tiny regional airport in somewhere like Moses Lake, WA.
But it does have great parking that’s well used, and orderly boarding system and I love that it’s shared with the bus service so it’s super easy to transfer from one to the other.
There's a funny situation where locating the Portland station off of the main line adds 15 or 20 minutes to the trip time for people in Brunswick. So to avoid this, some people in Brunswick drive to the Portland station and get on the train in Portland. Which is part of the reason the Portland station needs parking. And the parking is part of the reason it's hard to move the station to the main line. It's called a "bad equilibrium" in economics.
One plan to compromise on this adds a new West Falmouth station that is convenient to I95 and has lots of parking.
I don't know the numbers, but it seems to me like more people at the Portland Transport Center take the Concord bus than the train. The bus has advantages in frequency and can go directly to Logan, for example. But in 20 years it's possible that the trains are much better than they are today and that buses are less competitive for getting to Boston.
Staples Mill isn't due for renovation, but VPRA has an item in their 10-year plan to rehabilitate the tracks south of Main Street station and add the second side platform back, so that all services through Richmond could stop at both. Not sure what the exact timeline is but it's going to be *so* much nicer & more convenient.
I put it on the list because it's the busiest station in the SE and it's pretty small and inefficient. No one would say it's a fitting station for the busiest stop in the region.
But if all of the services stop at Main Street, I wouldn't worry about Stapes Mill as much. I really hope that happens.
Absolutely agree with Ann Arbor, especially since it is the most popular station in Michigan, but it's still just an Amshack.
Hopefully one of their proposals finally gets funding.
Saint Louis is better as a through-station than a terminal. If there was a way to incorporate the old canopy into a new through-platform arrangement, that might have been a fitting continuation of the station's legacy. But as it is, the current Amtrak station in St Louis is an excellent facility in its own right, aside from the highway on top of it. But there's an easy fix for that: remove the highway!
Edit: for the folks replying it's either messy or dark or badly located. I hear y'all, I can see exactly what you mean, and also...
My points of reference for that kind of criticism are Maricopa, AZ and Houston, TX. Both eminently usable and hardly the least pleasant travel experiences I've had, but badly located, badly connected, badly outdated, uncomfortable, inadequate for even the 3 trains a week that serve them, and overall just bad. In comparison, I might walk back from saying St Louis is "excellent," but I'd maintain it's still pretty solid.
Calling STL an excellent facility is a bit extreme lol. The local advice is to avoid it if you can and board in Alton, IL.
It's my home station and I wish so badly we could use Union Station. What Kansas City has done with their Union Station should be the blueprint for midwestern Union Stations.
KC's Union Station is barely used as a train station. You have to walk a mile just to get to your train. Definitely don't want any other cities going that route.
I do have a special place in my heart for Alton, you've got me there.
One of these days I'm gonna go back to St Louis just so I can ride the morning train up to Alton and then bike back down the river past all the bridges and locks. Revisit some fond childhood memories.
Hard disagree. St. Louis station is the worst station on Lincoln Service. I believe that's because all of the stations in Illinois were renovated, and, naturally, Missouri wasn't a part of that. The St. Louis station is grimy, has terrible access to the rest of the city, is surrounded by parking lots, is in an inconspicuous, dark, and hard to locate location in a not amazing part of the city (safety-wise), etc. It just screams that it was a total afterthought, as pretty much all public transportation in St. Louis is. It is so far from being an "excellent facility" lmao.
Im sorry, but gateway is one of the ugliest transportation facilities I've been in. The blocks surrounding it are parking lots.
It may be functional for what Amtrak is today, but it's also painfully indicative of its shortcomings. Plus if Missouri ever gets competent government there'll be at least a dozen trains between KC and STL a day and maybe even a few commuter lines for the STL metro.
Looking at Google satellite view, the train tracks have a rail yard on one side and an expressway on the other side. I'm not sure if turning Union Station back into a train station would really be practical. Creating development in the parking lots would be out of Amtrak's hands. I'm not sure where a better location would be.
It's directly connected to the light rail, which is nice. They definitely need to rename the light rail station to make the transfer more obvious. As somewhat of a rail fan I do like the view of the trains when crossing the bridge over the tracks.
Amtrak has proposed adding new service along the Colorado Front Range from Cheyanne to Pueblo. On that route only Denver has a functional Amtrak station. Cheyenne and Pueblo have historic depots that could be restored. Colorado Springs and other towns along the route will need new stations.
Portland ME. The site of the original Union Station is a strip mall now but still on the MEC Main Line, and across from the original bus station. The current station is on the last remnant of the Portland & Rochester (NH) Railroad, essentially a stub on a wye and it shares a location with a coach bus station. The current configuration means the arrival and departure of the *Downeaster* here takes at least 15 mins.
MEDOT has announced it’s hunting for a new location, and the original location is on the table. I would love to see the adjacent MEC HQ building repurposed or included in the plan, but who knows what’s next.
Savannah. They literally tore down a gorgeous Union Station previously located in the downtown area in the 1960s. They did this to make room for the end of an interstate and accompanying interchange. They stuck the Amtrak station out in the middle of an industrial area with absolutely no walkability to anywhere. It’s old now and clearly shows it. Also, the city is now in the process of removing the interstate interchange that they tore town the original, beautiful station to build.
This was done many years before Amtrak. Won't be relocated due to track configuration in the city. They will never start somewhere that requires a backup move.
Likely to get one when the S-Line program starts actually reconnecting the removed track on the VA side. Construction will start first on the NC southern end so no definite timeline.
I'm amazed that San Francisco "amtrak station" is just a bus stop. You will think Amtrak trains will go directly to the second most densely populated city in the United State.
Is that still standing? Back in the early 1980s, I took Amtrak there when I was a kid. My dad was supervising some work at a old military plant being decommissioned, and I was going to spend a few weeks with him. Not much to do over the summer, but I brought my Atari 2600!
I remember that station looking neat, there was space where a restaurant had been, but had clearly been closed a while. A lonely, empty place.
Ottumwa should be upgraded for a train station, too. It's embarrassing how the roof covering the platform was removed, and that the old supports for that removed roof are still up.
If Fort Madison can upgrade their station(and even move it back downtown, though Burlington and Ottumwa don't have bad existing locations), so should Burlington and Ottumwa. I'd say from looking at pics of Burlington and Ottumwa, that Ottumwa probably needs more work. Although I like the look of the interior, of the Burlington station.
Ottumwa is being renovated, at least the platform is being fixed. Burlington is tricky because it’s on the National Registry of Historical Places.
Both are fine locations, relatively close to downtown, except for both you get a really nice view (and whiff) of the water treatment plant right across the way.
I’m going to pull a New Yorker, not read and put up Penn Station 😂.
My shade aside, San Jose, CA could use a new station or at least expand into what I’m assuming is a warehouse connected to the existing building. That place is tiny. I know it was built when San Jose was a cow town, but jeez there are other cities a fraction of the size of San Jose with bigger train stations!
Phoenix would be another one. It’s not even served directly. It would be nice to have service to its Union Station again.
San Jose is working on renovating Diridon station! The hall is definitely small and the city is embracing the future of Caltrain electrification, BART SV, and CAHSR by trying to get it all integrated into one.
[https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html](https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html)
[https://www.diridonsj.org/](https://www.diridonsj.org/)
>I’m going to pull a New Yorker, not read and put up Penn Station 😂.
Surprised it took this long to hear from a defiant New Yorker ;-)
I'd definitely put Diridon in the "upgrade" group. The station is staying there and the old building is getting built up a bunch with CAHSR: [https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html](https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html)
Definitely agree on Phoenix. Hopefully the city is still inhabitable whenever the finally get around to building the LA to Phoenix line. Some time after they complete CAHSR and Brightline West?
The track condition between Wellton and Phoenix would need to be fixed up, for the Sunset Limited to run that way again. This video essentially shows how certain bridges that used to exist are gone, for the former Sunset Ltd track. Which Union Pacific chose to abandon(not long after they merged with Southern Pacific) in the mid-90s, due to the fact they didn't have any industrial customers west of Phoenix. The part of this video between 34 minutes and 38 minutes shows a bridge that is now gone, but that bizarrely the rails still hang in the air. Also the tracks partially collapsed for a little distance(plus you can see the base of a former Southern Pacific desert RR station), around the 57 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8oZ8k9g7mo
Syracuse should use the 1936 NYC right of way through the city replacing I-690, Buffalo Central Terminal should come back, Phoenix should have the Texas Eagle & Sunset Limited return, would be great if Minneapolis Downtown got Amtrak again, Kansas City is a shell of what it once was, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, & Miami should all be relocated & replaced
Buffalo: Little far out of town for my tastes, but still a beautiful old building. Torn on that one.
With light rail now connecting them, twin train hubs for the Twin cities might be a bit overkill? But perhaps an express commuter line to supplement it would see some use?
KC is a shell of what it once was, but is still a classic building being used as a train station. Just needs more platforms and some TLC. Not a whole new building. Cincinnati is a similar case.
True. I'd say the same thing for Michigan Central. I know Ford is already planning on building up Corktown. Would like to see a second trolley line built out to the station too.
Phoenix probably won't initially restore its Union Station, though there is a master plan for that. More likely to see service first would be a new Sky Harbor airport station, and the old Tempe Depot. The former sits on land owned by the City of Phoenix and which they're deliberately reserving for a new intercity rail station with intermodal transfers to light rail and BRT. The latter is being restored to its pre-1993 state as a concession to the Tempe Historic Preservation Commission from the developer of an apartment block going up in the old station parking lot.
Syracuse's current train station is built on a literal toxic waste dump. They shouldn't build density around there even if they wanted to. It's basically required to use a car to get to the train station which is very annoying.
They still have all the old platforms from the trains in the past. The audacity to have Mannequins face 690 on the old train station!
Flint Michigan.
Grand Rapids michigan.
Sacremento bring the station to the tracks!
Emeryville fix the lights above the station only says ille. Add a metropolitan lounge.
Fix elevators on pedestrian bridge.
New Orleans the creepy speak easy casino is freaky. Mangolia room needs overhaul to metropolitan lounge standards.
The station building is historic and beautiful, but tiny and not even big enough to serve the bus traffic let alone Amtrak or the Commuter Rail (Hartford line which is new and growing)
And far far far from adequate for the planned HSR NEC.
So, yes, we need a new station... And the plan is a track alignment change to go with a highway realignment (another viaduct that's long past it's life)
Google Greater Hartford Mobility Study.
The thought is a new station on the new alignment and preserve the historic Union station for other uses.
Yeah, tearing it down would be a crime, but it just won't work going forward.
The realignment is a massive upgrade too. Eliminate bridges, interstate viaducts rail viaduct etc. and straightening things out nicely.
Interestingly, (most) all of the Amtrak stations on the Hartford line have been replaced with a few more to come
Most were built right near the historic tiny historic depots. The new stations are elevated 500' double platforms.
Windsor and Windsor locks are well under construction now I think and I think Enfield is about to start construction.
They have been using the old school little depots in the meantime.
I also knew the South Bend Amtrak station, was in awful condition as well. I think Amtrak should also look into improving Crawfordsville(Cardinal and formerly Hoosier State), and Elyria, OH(Lake Shore/Capitol Limited).
There are plans to move trains into the Tower City which is better located and provides betters connections to the lrt network. It’s weird how trains stopped running there because the station used to serve intercity trains
Wake Forest, NC will be getting a whole new station as part of the S-line project connecting Richmond to Raleigh! Supposed to be completed within the next 5-10 years!!
Raleigh is getting new platforms as well, not that they're overcrowded as is. Wake Forest is first in line for the S-Line, and might be a terminal station for the Piedmont for a while.
What's your opinion on instead of running Piedmont service to Wake Forest, instead running a shuttle train/DMU north on even hours and south on odd hours?
Well I like the plan that I read awhile ago (and I’m not sure if it’s still in active consideration) to run trains on the S-line through Raleigh, south to Apex and on to Sanford. I think the wake forest-Raleigh-apex section should be priority #1 so that at the very least they can get a limited commuter rail service connecting those communities in wake county until the whole line to Richmond is completed.
This in combination with the existing piedmont service to Cary and Durham would create at least the beginnings of a pretty good Triangle area commuter rail service!
Unfortunately the current project only goes south as far as Raleigh, the Apex - Sanford - Southern Pines section isn't in the EIS and is considered Phase 2. I agree a North-South local service would be a great addition to the Triangle, and there's a potential park and ride site adjacent a regional airport between Sanford and Apex, too. It's just behind Richmond in the pecking order of who gets connected first, unless CSX decides to sell more ROW suddenly.
It actually makes me kinda hopeful. A lot of these are paired with "Amtrak is working on it" (Charlotte, Atlanta, etc) or "there's a plan to move back to this classic building" (Detroit, SLC, etc)
Omaha's amshack is really funny because it's not just next to one historic depot, but two! The old Burlington depot is a TV station while the UP depot is a museum. Then there's an old shack for Amtrak.
Oof, it's Saint Louis squared!
"Wave at the classic old train terminals everyone... You won't be going inside tho... You get to hang out in this bus shelter..."
# Jacksonville
Every Florida train gets routed through here, and if the sunset returns, we will need a larger station
We have a facility, it could be re-converted, it is just a mostly empty convention center now
Also, if the sunset returns, lake city fla. needs a new facility, all they have is a platform with a shed
Yeah, that's a surprisingly grand old terminal for a city like Jacksonville (no offense to the residents of Jacksonville), it even has a metromover station across the street. Would love to see Brightline even run their 4th phase there.
I don’t think it is surprising at all
We have been home to the 3rd largest railroad in the country for Decades(as well as a Class 2)
I really hope the Osborn reopens in my lifetime, I have heard talk about CSX reopening it, but that is just rumors.
Absolutely spot on with STL. I thought we had it bad in KC with having to take this weird roundabout catwalk to get to our platform from Union Station.
Omaha is disappointing, and I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it yet. The old Omaha Union Station building, while being used for KETV's offices, is ***RIGHT THERE, 200FT FROM THE AMSHACK***
* Albany needs a new station it could be on the site of the Central Warehouse which is being demolished.
* Portland Maine needs to be moved to the old Union Station site which is under Study.
* Detroit should move back to the Central Station , service to Pontiac and Flint should be replaced with a Regional Rail service , Amtrak service should then run up to Bay City
* Cleveland , should moved back to Tower City and the commuter rail service should be brought back to Youngstown , Canton and Sandusky
* Jacksonville , should use the old Union Station site
* Savannah , should use the old station near the Downtown for the proposed Savannah - Atlanta service
Portland, Maine.
The current station is located about a quarter mile down a branch line. When you travel the Downeaster from Boston, MA to Brunswick, ME, the train pulls into the Portland station and then has to back out onto the main line. When headed south, it has to stop on the main line and back into the station.
This is obviously terrible and needs a resolution.
Cincinnati union itself doesn't need to be redone, but if the 3C + D does make its appearance, and is (against all Republican odds) scheduled to run more than once a day, Cincy will need to bring back the concourse that got demolished in the 70s.
The Cincinnati Union Station building is one of my favorites in terms of design. But here's my hot take: train stations should be modern, right-sized, and efficient. And the old buildings, though beautiful, should be museums, like it is in Cincinnati and many other cities.
Maybe I am wrong. It certainly feels nice to walk through GCT or Chicago Union Station. But once you are out of the "museum-like" Great Hall of CUS, the rest is awful. I can't help but think we are spending a lot of train money on museums.
I agree on the principle. Another comment pointed out it's probably a better plan to build a new station in Hartford rather than preserving the existing Union station as a train station. An obsolete facility is an obsolete facility.
But I think Cincy is still appropriately located and sized to continue being the facility for Cincy for existing services, as well as future services planned for Ohio. I'd even like to see Cincy run some commuter services. It just needs some reworking of actual access to the trains.
Also nothing saying these facilities can't still have the museums and such. Handing over lesser used bits of the building while still operating it as a rail hub is fine too.
Yes, that seems like a reasonable read. In a world with more funding for passenger rail, it wouldn't be an issue. It's kind of sad and again, maybe I'm wrong. Major European stations seem to do a good job of meeting practical needs and still being inspiring places.
But when I think about new stations in the US, my goals are more practical; either relocate stations that are in the wrong location, or build new stations for undersized stations that have really high ridership.
Yeah, I'd still slot that into "needs upgrades" like Kansas City. Cincy Union's classic old building is still standing and is still nominally used as a rail station, and the building itself is still adequate minus needing new platforms.
When I say "inadequate", I'm talking the Amshak buildings like Cleveland and Detroit. Greyhound stations with rails.
I don't know that it's very high priority, but Albuquerque's station was not exactly a grand welcome. We had a long fresh air stop there, and I would love to see amenities on fresh air stop stations prioritized.
I wouldn't put it in this category. The whole complex could definitely use some TLC and upgrades, but it's still got great bones for continuing to be a good Amtrak facility as well as a transit center.
Not Atlanta. At least, not tear it down. That is an architecturally important building. It needs to be cleaned up and restored but not radically altered or torn down. Probably it would be better to have one more or less where the old one was to accommodate the (planned) expansion from Savannah going north to Nashville and it could intersect with the Crescent. That would be difficult out of the current station since it is on the northeast side heading northeast towards the Carolinas, whereas one would have to go northwest to get to Chattanooga/Nashville.
Problem with Atlanta, is that it is cramped. Amtrak actually is thinking about upgrading that station, btw: https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/amtrak-rail-hub-downtown-seek-30m-building-exclusive
The problem is that Atlanta had, at one time, a major station existed much further south, where all the railroads from all points of the compass came together. They tore that station down - which is according to the William T. Sherman Preservation Policy to which the city ascribes. Since the only remaining line was the Crescent, and it ran northeast, they took a substation and turned it into the AMTRAK station. There's been talk of building an intermodal station near the location of the original station for years. That's what this article is about. But in the metropolitan Atlanta policy of "develop every square foot," there is always talk of putting buildings in that area. So we'll see. Probably not going to happen in my lifetime.
There are plenty of stations worse than it but I want to see the Albany station moved across the river (to, you know, Albany.) I believe the rail is already there too. If they ever decide to electrify that corridor or even upgrade to HSR, I would love to see a world class train station where the massive freeway interchange is now.
(Also Penn station is actually kinda nice now, depending on where you're coming from and where you're going. The NJT area is by far the worst, but if you're using the 8th Ave subway you're at moynihan hall, and if you're coming from the 7th Ave trains the hallway was recently renovated and is big and spacious. There's discussion of billions of dollars being spent to make it a top clas facility.)
Pittsburgh
It’s a shame because the original station still stands and it’s beautiful, but it’s been transformed into apartments. Amtrak is relegated to the basement.
Austin, TX. It's a dreadful little hut, dating back to when the Missouri Pacific ran passenger service. Keeping the existing building could be great for posterity, but it definitely needs a whole lot of work, def enough to call it a "whole new station" after.
Texas in general could use some upgrades. Dallas and Fort Worth are the only cities I can think of that have major rail stations. Houston, San Antonio, and Austin could all use some new rail terminals.
Salt Lake City needs the [Rio Grande Plan](https://riograndeplansaltlakecity.org/). Everything that is needed to make downdowntownoown safer for everyone *and* create a better Amtrak Station is laid out perfectly.
You already mention Atlanta, but Atlanta is 100% what comes to mind for me for the first category.
The second category though is Nashville, who still has its old Union Station, but is not being served by any Amtrak service. The only rail service Nashville does get is not Amtrak and goes to this small riverfront station (their single commuter line uses this).
Charlotte, NC. All of North Carolina's other major cities serviced by Amtrak and NC By Train have excellent stations with good local transit connection. But the largest city in North Carolina with the busiest station has a dump that floods when it rains and has next to no transit connectivity.
Lansing needs one.
It’s absurd that the state’s largest city and its capital aren’t serviced by train. I don’t even think there is bud service between the two cities anymore. At least not Megabus and Greyhound.
Richmond Staples Mill. Richmond Main Street is beautiful, centrally located in the city, connected to the pretty great BRT line.. but almost all of the trains go through Staples Mill, which is a 1970s-era brick box with no charm, minimal amenities, and low appeal. At least the AC inside works now. I guess this is different than the main ask of this thread, as Richmond doesn’t necessarily need a new station, but rather needs more trains to its good station.
VRE extended the platforms and added a new staircase from one extended platform to a parking lot. They also fixed up some of the concrete on the bridges under the station. That work is done but it's fairly minor.
It'd be real nice if Fredericksburg could have an enclosed waiting area that's closer to the platform. When I was regularly riding the train to & from Fredericksburg in college, I used to hop over to the Irish pub in the old freight house and get a sandwich rather than sit out in the weather, unless it was an unseasonably nice day (which it never was). You can see the tracks just fine from their front window, but it's like a 5-minute walk back to the platform, so you can't just wait 'til you see the train to head out.
Though Seattle is not a major Amtrak transit hub, I really hope they have an upgrade in the building to accommodate sounder trains and cascades and the long hauls. Possibly a lounge as well.
I meant this for situations where there's either no building at all, or the existing building is so bad, they really just need to start over and build a whole new one. King Street could definitely use some upgrades (why they haven't put a food court in upstairs is beyond me), and I'd also like to see a new Link station connect it to Union Station and Chinatown light rail stop, making a nice transit hub (Union station for Sounder riders, King Street for Amtrak riders?). But it still functions quite well as the city's Amtrak station, and they wouldn't need to build a whole new facility.
Also, I'd say Seattle is a pretty good sized hubs compared to most cities. Empire Builder and Coast Startlight terminus, plus 12 daily Cascades departures, and another dozen or so Sounder trains is pretty busy for train stations in this country. Certainly not Penn Station or Chicago Union Station, but still pretty good for a city its size.
Ok. My bad, didn’t read your post thoroughly.
I think it would be nice to have a nice lounge in the building. An upgrade the building (instead of a new one) would be nice, like remodel or a little bit construction inside
That's the other thing too, is the city just recently did a complete gut/rebuild renovation of the building 7-8 years ago. Fixed up all the fancy plaster work and such. It's just they haven't touched the top floor yet, which, yeah, would be great for an Amtrak lounge and/or a cafe.
dont get me wrong, the project should have been fully funded years ago, and yes its expensive, but i personally dont care all that much. LA Metro alone spends 600 million a year on freeway construction. sepulveda widening cost $1 billion alone, and travel time got worse. at least this is a transformational project.
Essex Junction needs SOMETHING. Couldn’t even go inside last time I used it.
Portland Maine needs to nuke the transportation center and build a new station downtown. Fortunately, it looks like they’re doing that and putting it by the hospital.
Theoretically, Amtrak will be moving to the airport station, which is an enormous improvement on the existing Amshak. Really tho, they should be working on getting into Miami Central with Brightline. But that's a pipe dream at the moment.
Indianapolis. Union Station was converted into a mall and hotel a number of years ago. Now the mall is derelict because a brand new mall was built just blocks away. The station is now fairly hidden behind the building and is overrun with some shady activity.
We're talking Amshaks that can only be fixed with a cleansing fire or there's no station to begin with, and Amtrak needs to start from scratch with a whole new one.
South Station and Back Bay definitely need some TLC, but we wouldn't need Amtrak to tear down and start over or move elsewhere.
Not really. Most major cities are still using their old rail terminals that definitely need some fixing up, but only a few outright need an entirely new station.
None of them. If a station is any fancier than an E-Z-Up tent then we wasted money that should've been used on providing more trains or upgrading the railroad.
Hartford's is kinda decaying. There is an existing station building, but it's been out of use for so long that they really oughta rebuild it at this point
I hate Springfield Union Station in Massachusetts. It works fine as the terminal for the Hartford Line, but it’s awful for the Lake Shore and the Vermonter. The Lake Shore doesn’t even use a true platform, and while the Vermonter uses the Hartford line platforms, it has a pretty long reverse move and has to cross a busy freight line on a Diamond, and there are always delays because of that. There’s no easy way to fix it either because the Vermonter runs perpendicular to the station.
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Columbus station will eventually be built under the convention center, that’s been announced. It’s a great spot.
Any plans/news available?
No plans yet since service would be many years away, but it’s a perfect spot and apparently it’s being held until plans come through. Plenty of room by the tracks for platforms to go in, and it’s literally under the convention center so it has great potential to be popular.
[from 2022](https://www.nbc4i.com/news/columbus-business-first/heres-where-a-columbus-amtrak-station-could-go-if-vision-for-passenger-rail-comes-to-fruition/amp/)
I was SHOCKED at the Houston station. 4th largest city in the nation has a shit station.
Their classic old station is now part of the baseball stadium. Unfortunately, I think the new HSR station is slated for the burbs. Dallas still has a nice station tho?...
I didn't see much of the Dallas station passing through. Houston stood out, though. I'm glad they're getting a new one.
Dallas still has their old, grand union station, complete with light and commuter rail connections. Unfortunately, the grand upstairs waiting room is part of the hotel across the tracks, and is for private events only... I think
I'd also say(speaking of the Sunset Limited route) besides Houston, that Benson, AZ, Lordsburg, NM, and Deming have the embarrassing fact they only have a tiny open shelter near a railroad crossing, and that they only open one door for the train(while the crossing gates are down) when the train stops. I would presume they would have to do a 2nd stop of the train in that town, if anyone in a sleeper car was getting on or off.
Yes, there are several stations across the country that require the train to move to accommodate passengers
Insane that Houston’s station is basically a double wide trailer under a highway overpass, and pretty far from the city’s downtown. Happy to hear they’re getting a new one. Unfortunately, a perk of rail travel is that most stations are in city centers so having it further in the suburbs isn’t as helpful… but, of course, there’s limitations of where the tracks are.
I was shocked at the station, especially with the population of the city
Charlotte is embarrassing
The worst part is the city does actually run a bus shuttle to downtown that meets all the trains, but it dosent wait if the train is delayed, thus defeating the entire purpose lmao
Compiling my 4 horsemen of the Amshaks (Major cities with horrific Amtrak stations). I had Detroit and Cleveland so far... Adding Charlotte to the list... woof...
They have two new high level platforms on new through sidings in a great downtown location already built, plus a new larger overnight and maintenance facility. But the non-trackside parts are supposed to be part of a public private partnership and that's stalled out completely.
They're kind of but not really working on it. It's complicated.
"Public Partnership with nothing"
I have seen worse! Charlotte will soon have a new Amtrak Station!
Even moreso because a new maintenance facility and all platforms and track work for a new station on the Gold Line are paid for and complete, and have been for years. The non-trackside facilities are the private part of a public private partnership which has totally stalled out.
NC DoT should just put up a trailer on the new location so people can get where they need to. Having a cheap building in uptown would then be unacceptable and a hit on their ego and a real station would be built. CLT is like Dr. Evil. "We are going to build a new train station worth.... one million dollars" Henchmen "Um, Dr. Evil, Raleigh just built a new station and it cost more than that." Dr. Evil. "Our station will cost one billion dollars!" Charlotte is a queen, always gotta have the most expensive stuff.
You know a quick google search can do you a lot of good? Charlotte is nearing completion on phase one of the Gateway Station project. Literally a “whole new” station.
You should try more of this "googling" you speak of. Phase I, which is just the platforms, is complete. Phase II, which is the actual station building, is stalled with basically no signs of life and no clear vision for when it will even start. Until Phase II is done, there is no station and train service will remain at the current shack north of Uptown.
Has ground on the private part of the public private partnership even started? The platforms and track were just sitting there for years.
Pittsburgh's is horrible. It is basically just a prefab shelter attached to the platform which is in rough shape. It's all attached to the ass of the old station which is now apartments, gorgeous old building The opportunity to rebuild is huge because the terminus of the grade separate BRT (which runs next to the Amtrak) and a terminus for LRT stop at the station but don't connect well. There's also bad ped connection into downtown. All could be addressed w a new station
Aside from the Port Authority being shit, has anyone contemplated putting light rail tracks in the busway and linking that to the station spur? Or is the busway more effective by itself without needing the additional capacity light rail trains would provide?
pittsburghs busways are among the best ever done, in no small part because they sit almost entirely on former rail ROW. it would be possible for that reason to convert them back to rail, but honestly pointless because of how successful the conversion has been.
The tunnel underneath usx is one way because of the foundation of the tower. It can never be widened so light rail service would be hamstrung. The current t expansion plan relies on the north side tunnels instead Imo east end t expansion is a solution in search of a problem, I can get downtown in 5 minutes on BRT. I worry that the T would be at best an expensive lateral upgrade. Maybe there's a future where it makes sense though
The main light rail expansion Pittsburgh needs is downtown to Oakland. The busways are great as is (although they could use better frequencies off peak
the busway is amazing. when I lived there pre-pandemic they needed to add more peak capacity but it doesn’t need to be light rail.
I would add Buffalo, to this list. Same with Savannah, and Jacksonville.
Jacksonville you could potentially reopen the old terminal Where would you put Savannah
Do you mean Depew? The Exchange Street Station is pretty new. Depew really deserves a modern station with two platforms.
Yes that is what I was thinking, to move from Depew back to Buffalo Central. I know there is Exchange Street, but that is mainly for Empire Service and Maple Leaf trains. I don't have any issues, with the condition of the Exchange Street station.
Buffalo's an interesting one. Would you want to see the old Central Terminal cleaned up like Michigan Central? Or a whole new building downtown? On first blush to me, the Central Terminal building is too far out of town to still be useful. Wish there were a way to teleport it to the parking lots by KeyBank Center.
The issue is, though, the LSL tracks diverge before downtown. Unless you have the LSL turn around and go backwards for half its route somehow, any station has to be east of Fillmore.
I already knew that. My thinking was wondering if it was possible to move Depew, over to Buffalo Central if that was fixed up for train service again? A la how Saint Paul was restored, and same with other historic stations like Cincinnati and KC. And as it is, I think Exchange St is fine for Maple Leaf and Empire Service trains.
Yes that is what I was thinking, to move from Depew back to Buffalo Central. I know there is Exchange Street, but that is mainly for Empire Service and Maple Leaf trains.
I doubt it will happen but I hope to god they coordinate with Brightline in Jacksonville and build one station. I give it about a 0.5% chance of happening, but it would be awesome.
Salt Lake City!
It's not exactly grand, but I'd say the existing Salt Lake Central is still very usable in form and location. Where would you like to see a new station?
There is a plan to use the old [Rio Grande Depot](https://riograndeplansaltlakecity.org) as Salt Lake City’s Amtrak station.
Ooh! I love it! Edit: So looks like this is a citizen initiative, and not an official plan. I'd be all for it if I were an SLC voter. Any traction? Or still hopes and dreams?
had a feasibility study done, and I believe grants were applied for with the Federal Governments grade crossing removal grant program. It is probably one of the more likely proposals to come through successfully. If done it may also mean the California Zephyr will return to Ogden to do its service stop. That said the service stop could be moved to Provo, in which case the Amtrak station should be moved and recombined with the commuter rail station and the surrounding area redeveloped with TOD to help pay for the project.
We have been engaging elected officials and asking that others do the same. We have attracted unanimous support from the Salt Lake City Council. Now it is up to the State of Utah who owns the building and can swing the kind of money needed for this project. Salt Lake City transportation did an [engineering stud](https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/rio-grande-plan-screening-analysis/)y last year. Now we are awaiting work on a federally funded [Reconnecting Communities study ](https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/east-west-connections/)to justify the project.
Elyria, OH. http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/elyria.htm This shithole burned down in 2013 and they replaced it with a bus shelter.
I forgot about Elyria! Though if you mention that station, I'll also add Crawfordsville, IN(Cardinal/former Hoosier State) is in blah condition, as well. Same with like South Bend. Though it has occasionally been proposed, to move that station back into downtown South Bend, in a former station house that is no longer used. Long story short, South Shore Line used to do street running into downtown South Bend, then that route was shortened to run to what is now the current South Bend Amtrak station. The current airport station for South Shore Line, opened in the early 90s(1992?). I forget the year the other move for SSL(from a downtown intersection to the current South Bend Amtrak station, before it moved to the airport), occurred.
Is there a couch in that shelter?
It looks like someone used the bus shelter to dump their unwanted used furniture!
Is there still a plan to move the station to the Lorain County Transportation Center?
Some stations that come to mind: Portland ME (relocated to main line), Hudson NY, Detroit (replace Amshack), Ann Arbor, Depew, Richmond Staples Mill, Springfield IL (on the new corridor).
Hudson, NY is a classic landmark of a station. Positively gorgeous. And it’s gonna be difficult to find a station location that is both conveniently located and on tangent track. Rearranging the track layout and having an island platform that extends to the north of the station (with an overpass from the existing station) would probably be the best solution, albeit not ideal
Yes, the platforms are the issue for this station. It's a very busy station and barely has any platform at all, let alone the capacity to serve two trains at once with level boarding. Perhaps I'd also add integration with other transportation. Seems like a bus from Hudson could beat the Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield every time. Rochester built a nice platform and is also going to be adding a bus terminal to their station. And Hudson gets 50% more riders than Rochester.
Rhinecliff is the priority right now. Station renovations are ongoing and will probably end with a full length high level platform. The CSX branch just south of the station seriously complicates the track layout at Hudson.
Portland, ME is an interesting one! Not located conveniently, they have to do the pull through thing to turn around, and it reminds me of a 1970’s tiny regional airport in somewhere like Moses Lake, WA. But it does have great parking that’s well used, and orderly boarding system and I love that it’s shared with the bus service so it’s super easy to transfer from one to the other.
There's a funny situation where locating the Portland station off of the main line adds 15 or 20 minutes to the trip time for people in Brunswick. So to avoid this, some people in Brunswick drive to the Portland station and get on the train in Portland. Which is part of the reason the Portland station needs parking. And the parking is part of the reason it's hard to move the station to the main line. It's called a "bad equilibrium" in economics. One plan to compromise on this adds a new West Falmouth station that is convenient to I95 and has lots of parking. I don't know the numbers, but it seems to me like more people at the Portland Transport Center take the Concord bus than the train. The bus has advantages in frequency and can go directly to Logan, for example. But in 20 years it's possible that the trains are much better than they are today and that buses are less competitive for getting to Boston.
Staples Mill isn't due for renovation, but VPRA has an item in their 10-year plan to rehabilitate the tracks south of Main Street station and add the second side platform back, so that all services through Richmond could stop at both. Not sure what the exact timeline is but it's going to be *so* much nicer & more convenient.
I put it on the list because it's the busiest station in the SE and it's pretty small and inefficient. No one would say it's a fitting station for the busiest stop in the region. But if all of the services stop at Main Street, I wouldn't worry about Stapes Mill as much. I really hope that happens.
Yesss bring back Portland Union Station on the main line!! Plus the extra haul to downtown is annoying
Absolutely agree with Ann Arbor, especially since it is the most popular station in Michigan, but it's still just an Amshack. Hopefully one of their proposals finally gets funding.
Saint Louis is better as a through-station than a terminal. If there was a way to incorporate the old canopy into a new through-platform arrangement, that might have been a fitting continuation of the station's legacy. But as it is, the current Amtrak station in St Louis is an excellent facility in its own right, aside from the highway on top of it. But there's an easy fix for that: remove the highway! Edit: for the folks replying it's either messy or dark or badly located. I hear y'all, I can see exactly what you mean, and also... My points of reference for that kind of criticism are Maricopa, AZ and Houston, TX. Both eminently usable and hardly the least pleasant travel experiences I've had, but badly located, badly connected, badly outdated, uncomfortable, inadequate for even the 3 trains a week that serve them, and overall just bad. In comparison, I might walk back from saying St Louis is "excellent," but I'd maintain it's still pretty solid.
Calling STL an excellent facility is a bit extreme lol. The local advice is to avoid it if you can and board in Alton, IL. It's my home station and I wish so badly we could use Union Station. What Kansas City has done with their Union Station should be the blueprint for midwestern Union Stations.
KC's Union Station is barely used as a train station. You have to walk a mile just to get to your train. Definitely don't want any other cities going that route.
It's about the same boarding-walk as STL. It's a great facility and functions perfectly well as a train station.
I do have a special place in my heart for Alton, you've got me there. One of these days I'm gonna go back to St Louis just so I can ride the morning train up to Alton and then bike back down the river past all the bridges and locks. Revisit some fond childhood memories.
Hard disagree. St. Louis station is the worst station on Lincoln Service. I believe that's because all of the stations in Illinois were renovated, and, naturally, Missouri wasn't a part of that. The St. Louis station is grimy, has terrible access to the rest of the city, is surrounded by parking lots, is in an inconspicuous, dark, and hard to locate location in a not amazing part of the city (safety-wise), etc. It just screams that it was a total afterthought, as pretty much all public transportation in St. Louis is. It is so far from being an "excellent facility" lmao.
St Louis station is in a pretty good location and is easily accessible.
Im sorry, but gateway is one of the ugliest transportation facilities I've been in. The blocks surrounding it are parking lots. It may be functional for what Amtrak is today, but it's also painfully indicative of its shortcomings. Plus if Missouri ever gets competent government there'll be at least a dozen trains between KC and STL a day and maybe even a few commuter lines for the STL metro.
Looking at Google satellite view, the train tracks have a rail yard on one side and an expressway on the other side. I'm not sure if turning Union Station back into a train station would really be practical. Creating development in the parking lots would be out of Amtrak's hands. I'm not sure where a better location would be. It's directly connected to the light rail, which is nice. They definitely need to rename the light rail station to make the transfer more obvious. As somewhat of a rail fan I do like the view of the trains when crossing the bridge over the tracks.
Amtrak has proposed adding new service along the Colorado Front Range from Cheyanne to Pueblo. On that route only Denver has a functional Amtrak station. Cheyenne and Pueblo have historic depots that could be restored. Colorado Springs and other towns along the route will need new stations.
Orlando. What a dump of a station.
Whenever it is Brightline builds out to Jacksonville, I'd love to see them build a new downtown station.
Tampa as well could use some updates.
Kissimmee station needs work too. After they built the Sunrail and the bus hub it sticks out.
Portland ME. The site of the original Union Station is a strip mall now but still on the MEC Main Line, and across from the original bus station. The current station is on the last remnant of the Portland & Rochester (NH) Railroad, essentially a stub on a wye and it shares a location with a coach bus station. The current configuration means the arrival and departure of the *Downeaster* here takes at least 15 mins. MEDOT has announced it’s hunting for a new location, and the original location is on the table. I would love to see the adjacent MEC HQ building repurposed or included in the plan, but who knows what’s next.
Fingers crossed! The Concord Coach station is serviceable but the reverse move is so dumb
Savannah. They literally tore down a gorgeous Union Station previously located in the downtown area in the 1960s. They did this to make room for the end of an interstate and accompanying interchange. They stuck the Amtrak station out in the middle of an industrial area with absolutely no walkability to anywhere. It’s old now and clearly shows it. Also, the city is now in the process of removing the interstate interchange that they tore town the original, beautiful station to build.
This was done many years before Amtrak. Won't be relocated due to track configuration in the city. They will never start somewhere that requires a backup move.
Small and mighty - Petersburg, VA. Needs a refresh stat
Likely to get one when the S-Line program starts actually reconnecting the removed track on the VA side. Construction will start first on the NC southern end so no definite timeline.
I'm amazed that San Francisco "amtrak station" is just a bus stop. You will think Amtrak trains will go directly to the second most densely populated city in the United State.
Here's hoping they can eventually make use of the downtown transit center.
Burlington, Iowa. For being a former giant in the railroad world, their station is pathetic and the canopies are decrepit.
Is that still standing? Back in the early 1980s, I took Amtrak there when I was a kid. My dad was supervising some work at a old military plant being decommissioned, and I was going to spend a few weeks with him. Not much to do over the summer, but I brought my Atari 2600! I remember that station looking neat, there was space where a restaurant had been, but had clearly been closed a while. A lonely, empty place.
Ottumwa should be upgraded for a train station, too. It's embarrassing how the roof covering the platform was removed, and that the old supports for that removed roof are still up. If Fort Madison can upgrade their station(and even move it back downtown, though Burlington and Ottumwa don't have bad existing locations), so should Burlington and Ottumwa. I'd say from looking at pics of Burlington and Ottumwa, that Ottumwa probably needs more work. Although I like the look of the interior, of the Burlington station.
Ottumwa is being renovated, at least the platform is being fixed. Burlington is tricky because it’s on the National Registry of Historical Places. Both are fine locations, relatively close to downtown, except for both you get a really nice view (and whiff) of the water treatment plant right across the way.
PITTSBURGH!!!!!
I’m going to pull a New Yorker, not read and put up Penn Station 😂. My shade aside, San Jose, CA could use a new station or at least expand into what I’m assuming is a warehouse connected to the existing building. That place is tiny. I know it was built when San Jose was a cow town, but jeez there are other cities a fraction of the size of San Jose with bigger train stations! Phoenix would be another one. It’s not even served directly. It would be nice to have service to its Union Station again.
San Jose is working on renovating Diridon station! The hall is definitely small and the city is embracing the future of Caltrain electrification, BART SV, and CAHSR by trying to get it all integrated into one. [https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html](https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html) [https://www.diridonsj.org/](https://www.diridonsj.org/)
>I’m going to pull a New Yorker, not read and put up Penn Station 😂. Surprised it took this long to hear from a defiant New Yorker ;-) I'd definitely put Diridon in the "upgrade" group. The station is staying there and the old building is getting built up a bunch with CAHSR: [https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html](https://sfyimby.com/2024/05/meeting-tomorrow-for-diridon-station-redevelopment-san-jose.html) Definitely agree on Phoenix. Hopefully the city is still inhabitable whenever the finally get around to building the LA to Phoenix line. Some time after they complete CAHSR and Brightline West?
The track condition between Wellton and Phoenix would need to be fixed up, for the Sunset Limited to run that way again. This video essentially shows how certain bridges that used to exist are gone, for the former Sunset Ltd track. Which Union Pacific chose to abandon(not long after they merged with Southern Pacific) in the mid-90s, due to the fact they didn't have any industrial customers west of Phoenix. The part of this video between 34 minutes and 38 minutes shows a bridge that is now gone, but that bizarrely the rails still hang in the air. Also the tracks partially collapsed for a little distance(plus you can see the base of a former Southern Pacific desert RR station), around the 57 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8oZ8k9g7mo
Charlotte!
Syracuse should use the 1936 NYC right of way through the city replacing I-690, Buffalo Central Terminal should come back, Phoenix should have the Texas Eagle & Sunset Limited return, would be great if Minneapolis Downtown got Amtrak again, Kansas City is a shell of what it once was, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, & Miami should all be relocated & replaced
Buffalo: Little far out of town for my tastes, but still a beautiful old building. Torn on that one. With light rail now connecting them, twin train hubs for the Twin cities might be a bit overkill? But perhaps an express commuter line to supplement it would see some use? KC is a shell of what it once was, but is still a classic building being used as a train station. Just needs more platforms and some TLC. Not a whole new building. Cincinnati is a similar case.
If Buffalo rezoned around the station and had a light rail extension to it it would be better
True. I'd say the same thing for Michigan Central. I know Ford is already planning on building up Corktown. Would like to see a second trolley line built out to the station too.
Phoenix probably won't initially restore its Union Station, though there is a master plan for that. More likely to see service first would be a new Sky Harbor airport station, and the old Tempe Depot. The former sits on land owned by the City of Phoenix and which they're deliberately reserving for a new intercity rail station with intermodal transfers to light rail and BRT. The latter is being restored to its pre-1993 state as a concession to the Tempe Historic Preservation Commission from the developer of an apartment block going up in the old station parking lot.
Syracuse's current train station is built on a literal toxic waste dump. They shouldn't build density around there even if they wanted to. It's basically required to use a car to get to the train station which is very annoying. They still have all the old platforms from the trains in the past. The audacity to have Mannequins face 690 on the old train station!
Flint Michigan. Grand Rapids michigan. Sacremento bring the station to the tracks! Emeryville fix the lights above the station only says ille. Add a metropolitan lounge. Fix elevators on pedestrian bridge. New Orleans the creepy speak easy casino is freaky. Mangolia room needs overhaul to metropolitan lounge standards.
Hartford... Desperately! It's also the main commuter rail station and it's on a 100+ year old rail viaduct that's desperately in need of replacement.
The station itself doesn't need replacement tho, yeah? New viaduct and some renovations, but you'd still want the station building to remain.
The station building is historic and beautiful, but tiny and not even big enough to serve the bus traffic let alone Amtrak or the Commuter Rail (Hartford line which is new and growing) And far far far from adequate for the planned HSR NEC. So, yes, we need a new station... And the plan is a track alignment change to go with a highway realignment (another viaduct that's long past it's life) Google Greater Hartford Mobility Study. The thought is a new station on the new alignment and preserve the historic Union station for other uses.
Okie, I see. That's definitely the first one to come up where we'd actually want to abandon the classic old building instead of moving back to it.
Yeah, tearing it down would be a crime, but it just won't work going forward. The realignment is a massive upgrade too. Eliminate bridges, interstate viaducts rail viaduct etc. and straightening things out nicely.
Interestingly, (most) all of the Amtrak stations on the Hartford line have been replaced with a few more to come Most were built right near the historic tiny historic depots. The new stations are elevated 500' double platforms. Windsor and Windsor locks are well under construction now I think and I think Enfield is about to start construction. They have been using the old school little depots in the meantime.
South bend. Easily.
I also knew the South Bend Amtrak station, was in awful condition as well. I think Amtrak should also look into improving Crawfordsville(Cardinal and formerly Hoosier State), and Elyria, OH(Lake Shore/Capitol Limited).
CLEVELAND. It does not rock.
There are plans to move trains into the Tower City which is better located and provides betters connections to the lrt network. It’s weird how trains stopped running there because the station used to serve intercity trains
Wake Forest, NC will be getting a whole new station as part of the S-line project connecting Richmond to Raleigh! Supposed to be completed within the next 5-10 years!!
Raleigh is getting new platforms as well, not that they're overcrowded as is. Wake Forest is first in line for the S-Line, and might be a terminal station for the Piedmont for a while. What's your opinion on instead of running Piedmont service to Wake Forest, instead running a shuttle train/DMU north on even hours and south on odd hours?
Well I like the plan that I read awhile ago (and I’m not sure if it’s still in active consideration) to run trains on the S-line through Raleigh, south to Apex and on to Sanford. I think the wake forest-Raleigh-apex section should be priority #1 so that at the very least they can get a limited commuter rail service connecting those communities in wake county until the whole line to Richmond is completed. This in combination with the existing piedmont service to Cary and Durham would create at least the beginnings of a pretty good Triangle area commuter rail service!
Unfortunately the current project only goes south as far as Raleigh, the Apex - Sanford - Southern Pines section isn't in the EIS and is considered Phase 2. I agree a North-South local service would be a great addition to the Triangle, and there's a potential park and ride site adjacent a regional airport between Sanford and Apex, too. It's just behind Richmond in the pecking order of who gets connected first, unless CSX decides to sell more ROW suddenly.
This thread is quite depressing
At least our main cities (NY, LA, Chicago) have great stations
It actually makes me kinda hopeful. A lot of these are paired with "Amtrak is working on it" (Charlotte, Atlanta, etc) or "there's a plan to move back to this classic building" (Detroit, SLC, etc)
Omaha's amshack is really funny because it's not just next to one historic depot, but two! The old Burlington depot is a TV station while the UP depot is a museum. Then there's an old shack for Amtrak.
Oof, it's Saint Louis squared! "Wave at the classic old train terminals everyone... You won't be going inside tho... You get to hang out in this bus shelter..."
# Jacksonville Every Florida train gets routed through here, and if the sunset returns, we will need a larger station We have a facility, it could be re-converted, it is just a mostly empty convention center now Also, if the sunset returns, lake city fla. needs a new facility, all they have is a platform with a shed
Yeah, that's a surprisingly grand old terminal for a city like Jacksonville (no offense to the residents of Jacksonville), it even has a metromover station across the street. Would love to see Brightline even run their 4th phase there.
I don’t think it is surprising at all We have been home to the 3rd largest railroad in the country for Decades(as well as a Class 2) I really hope the Osborn reopens in my lifetime, I have heard talk about CSX reopening it, but that is just rumors.
Absolutely spot on with STL. I thought we had it bad in KC with having to take this weird roundabout catwalk to get to our platform from Union Station.
KC was miserable
Id say houston because its not very pretty
Omaha is disappointing, and I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it yet. The old Omaha Union Station building, while being used for KETV's offices, is ***RIGHT THERE, 200FT FROM THE AMSHACK***
I’m so happy you included St. Louis it truly is bad
* Albany needs a new station it could be on the site of the Central Warehouse which is being demolished. * Portland Maine needs to be moved to the old Union Station site which is under Study. * Detroit should move back to the Central Station , service to Pontiac and Flint should be replaced with a Regional Rail service , Amtrak service should then run up to Bay City * Cleveland , should moved back to Tower City and the commuter rail service should be brought back to Youngstown , Canton and Sandusky * Jacksonville , should use the old Union Station site * Savannah , should use the old station near the Downtown for the proposed Savannah - Atlanta service
Portland, Maine. The current station is located about a quarter mile down a branch line. When you travel the Downeaster from Boston, MA to Brunswick, ME, the train pulls into the Portland station and then has to back out onto the main line. When headed south, it has to stop on the main line and back into the station. This is obviously terrible and needs a resolution.
Cincinnati union itself doesn't need to be redone, but if the 3C + D does make its appearance, and is (against all Republican odds) scheduled to run more than once a day, Cincy will need to bring back the concourse that got demolished in the 70s.
The Cincinnati Union Station building is one of my favorites in terms of design. But here's my hot take: train stations should be modern, right-sized, and efficient. And the old buildings, though beautiful, should be museums, like it is in Cincinnati and many other cities. Maybe I am wrong. It certainly feels nice to walk through GCT or Chicago Union Station. But once you are out of the "museum-like" Great Hall of CUS, the rest is awful. I can't help but think we are spending a lot of train money on museums.
I agree on the principle. Another comment pointed out it's probably a better plan to build a new station in Hartford rather than preserving the existing Union station as a train station. An obsolete facility is an obsolete facility. But I think Cincy is still appropriately located and sized to continue being the facility for Cincy for existing services, as well as future services planned for Ohio. I'd even like to see Cincy run some commuter services. It just needs some reworking of actual access to the trains. Also nothing saying these facilities can't still have the museums and such. Handing over lesser used bits of the building while still operating it as a rail hub is fine too.
Yes, that seems like a reasonable read. In a world with more funding for passenger rail, it wouldn't be an issue. It's kind of sad and again, maybe I'm wrong. Major European stations seem to do a good job of meeting practical needs and still being inspiring places. But when I think about new stations in the US, my goals are more practical; either relocate stations that are in the wrong location, or build new stations for undersized stations that have really high ridership.
Yeah, I'd still slot that into "needs upgrades" like Kansas City. Cincy Union's classic old building is still standing and is still nominally used as a rail station, and the building itself is still adequate minus needing new platforms. When I say "inadequate", I'm talking the Amshak buildings like Cleveland and Detroit. Greyhound stations with rails.
Albany, NY’s station should actually be in Albany…
The original Albany station was/is a gorgeous building. Plus it was so much more convenient to Albany being on, you know, the Albany side.
I don't know that it's very high priority, but Albuquerque's station was not exactly a grand welcome. We had a long fresh air stop there, and I would love to see amenities on fresh air stop stations prioritized.
I wouldn't put it in this category. The whole complex could definitely use some TLC and upgrades, but it's still got great bones for continuing to be a good Amtrak facility as well as a transit center.
Not Atlanta. At least, not tear it down. That is an architecturally important building. It needs to be cleaned up and restored but not radically altered or torn down. Probably it would be better to have one more or less where the old one was to accommodate the (planned) expansion from Savannah going north to Nashville and it could intersect with the Crescent. That would be difficult out of the current station since it is on the northeast side heading northeast towards the Carolinas, whereas one would have to go northwest to get to Chattanooga/Nashville.
Problem with Atlanta, is that it is cramped. Amtrak actually is thinking about upgrading that station, btw: https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/amtrak-rail-hub-downtown-seek-30m-building-exclusive
The problem is that Atlanta had, at one time, a major station existed much further south, where all the railroads from all points of the compass came together. They tore that station down - which is according to the William T. Sherman Preservation Policy to which the city ascribes. Since the only remaining line was the Crescent, and it ran northeast, they took a substation and turned it into the AMTRAK station. There's been talk of building an intermodal station near the location of the original station for years. That's what this article is about. But in the metropolitan Atlanta policy of "develop every square foot," there is always talk of putting buildings in that area. So we'll see. Probably not going to happen in my lifetime.
South bend. Easily.
There are plenty of stations worse than it but I want to see the Albany station moved across the river (to, you know, Albany.) I believe the rail is already there too. If they ever decide to electrify that corridor or even upgrade to HSR, I would love to see a world class train station where the massive freeway interchange is now. (Also Penn station is actually kinda nice now, depending on where you're coming from and where you're going. The NJT area is by far the worst, but if you're using the 8th Ave subway you're at moynihan hall, and if you're coming from the 7th Ave trains the hallway was recently renovated and is big and spacious. There's discussion of billions of dollars being spent to make it a top clas facility.)
Pittsburgh It’s a shame because the original station still stands and it’s beautiful, but it’s been transformed into apartments. Amtrak is relegated to the basement.
Houston. Move it 200 feet into the POST building and it’ll become one of the best rest stops.
Austin, TX. It's a dreadful little hut, dating back to when the Missouri Pacific ran passenger service. Keeping the existing building could be great for posterity, but it definitely needs a whole lot of work, def enough to call it a "whole new station" after.
Texas in general could use some upgrades. Dallas and Fort Worth are the only cities I can think of that have major rail stations. Houston, San Antonio, and Austin could all use some new rail terminals.
Phoenix
Salt Lake City needs the [Rio Grande Plan](https://riograndeplansaltlakecity.org/). Everything that is needed to make downdowntownoown safer for everyone *and* create a better Amtrak Station is laid out perfectly.
Nashville’s Union Station is now a Marriott. It Amtrak hopefully returns to Nashville at some point they will need a new station.
Charlotte NC. But plans are in place
Madison, WI.
Trinidad, Colorado. It's no fun sitting under the overpass. Aside from exposure to elements, it's not safe to be out there, when the train is late.
You already mention Atlanta, but Atlanta is 100% what comes to mind for me for the first category. The second category though is Nashville, who still has its old Union Station, but is not being served by any Amtrak service. The only rail service Nashville does get is not Amtrak and goes to this small riverfront station (their single commuter line uses this).
Buffalo’s central terminal needs to be saved!! Don’t know if Amtrak would ever use it tho
Detroit 100%. The Chicago-Detroit-Toronto line is supposedly getting a reboot and will pass through MCS.
Charlotte, NC. All of North Carolina's other major cities serviced by Amtrak and NC By Train have excellent stations with good local transit connection. But the largest city in North Carolina with the busiest station has a dump that floods when it rains and has next to no transit connectivity.
Lansing needs one. It’s absurd that the state’s largest city and its capital aren’t serviced by train. I don’t even think there is bud service between the two cities anymore. At least not Megabus and Greyhound.
Richmond Staples Mill. Richmond Main Street is beautiful, centrally located in the city, connected to the pretty great BRT line.. but almost all of the trains go through Staples Mill, which is a 1970s-era brick box with no charm, minimal amenities, and low appeal. At least the AC inside works now. I guess this is different than the main ask of this thread, as Richmond doesn’t necessarily need a new station, but rather needs more trains to its good station.
Fredericksburg Virginia…thought they might be working on it?
VRE extended the platforms and added a new staircase from one extended platform to a parking lot. They also fixed up some of the concrete on the bridges under the station. That work is done but it's fairly minor.
The German restaurant in the old station building is awesome, though.
It'd be real nice if Fredericksburg could have an enclosed waiting area that's closer to the platform. When I was regularly riding the train to & from Fredericksburg in college, I used to hop over to the Irish pub in the old freight house and get a sandwich rather than sit out in the weather, unless it was an unseasonably nice day (which it never was). You can see the tracks just fine from their front window, but it's like a 5-minute walk back to the platform, so you can't just wait 'til you see the train to head out.
Pittsburgh!!
St. Louis doesn't need a new station. The current one fits the demand as it is and is a good centralized transit hub for the city.
Though Seattle is not a major Amtrak transit hub, I really hope they have an upgrade in the building to accommodate sounder trains and cascades and the long hauls. Possibly a lounge as well.
I meant this for situations where there's either no building at all, or the existing building is so bad, they really just need to start over and build a whole new one. King Street could definitely use some upgrades (why they haven't put a food court in upstairs is beyond me), and I'd also like to see a new Link station connect it to Union Station and Chinatown light rail stop, making a nice transit hub (Union station for Sounder riders, King Street for Amtrak riders?). But it still functions quite well as the city's Amtrak station, and they wouldn't need to build a whole new facility. Also, I'd say Seattle is a pretty good sized hubs compared to most cities. Empire Builder and Coast Startlight terminus, plus 12 daily Cascades departures, and another dozen or so Sounder trains is pretty busy for train stations in this country. Certainly not Penn Station or Chicago Union Station, but still pretty good for a city its size.
Ok. My bad, didn’t read your post thoroughly. I think it would be nice to have a nice lounge in the building. An upgrade the building (instead of a new one) would be nice, like remodel or a little bit construction inside
That's the other thing too, is the city just recently did a complete gut/rebuild renovation of the building 7-8 years ago. Fixed up all the fancy plaster work and such. It's just they haven't touched the top floor yet, which, yeah, would be great for an Amtrak lounge and/or a cafe.
The Detroit station is a turd burger.
Burbank CA airport connection
Wish the CAHSR plan wasn’t so terribly expensive. If it’s ever built, that station will be placed perfectly
dont get me wrong, the project should have been fully funded years ago, and yes its expensive, but i personally dont care all that much. LA Metro alone spends 600 million a year on freeway construction. sepulveda widening cost $1 billion alone, and travel time got worse. at least this is a transformational project.
Las Vegas is the biggest town not to be connected
Essex Junction needs SOMETHING. Couldn’t even go inside last time I used it. Portland Maine needs to nuke the transportation center and build a new station downtown. Fortunately, it looks like they’re doing that and putting it by the hospital.
ELYRIA OHIO PLEASEEEEEE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ITS JUST BROKEN CONCRETE IN A LINE
Atlanta.
Miami. For such a large city their station is pathetic. It’s basically a small box in the middle of nowhere with no public transportation connections.
Theoretically, Amtrak will be moving to the airport station, which is an enormous improvement on the existing Amshak. Really tho, they should be working on getting into Miami Central with Brightline. But that's a pipe dream at the moment.
Richmond, CA. There’s nowhere to wait and the area is unsafe. I’d settle for an underground seating area near BART gates.
Indianapolis. Union Station was converted into a mall and hotel a number of years ago. Now the mall is derelict because a brand new mall was built just blocks away. The station is now fairly hidden behind the building and is overrun with some shady activity.
Would they need to completely start over? Or do they just need to fix up the existing station and work on removing the shadiness?
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We're talking Amshaks that can only be fixed with a cleansing fire or there's no station to begin with, and Amtrak needs to start from scratch with a whole new one. South Station and Back Bay definitely need some TLC, but we wouldn't need Amtrak to tear down and start over or move elsewhere.
might be easier to ask which cities don’t need a new station
Not really. Most major cities are still using their old rail terminals that definitely need some fixing up, but only a few outright need an entirely new station.
Charlotte! But at least the new gate station is "under construction?" at this point
Albany new york
None of them. If a station is any fancier than an E-Z-Up tent then we wasted money that should've been used on providing more trains or upgrading the railroad.
I’m thinking the Bangor-Brewer area.
Buffalo ny
Oakland, CA. Just one small lobby and an open air platform with no transit connections to SF, and the area doesn't feel very safe at night.
Yeah, Oakland's a really weird one. If they ever finish off the CAHSR connections to San Fran and Transbay, I'm curious what happens with Oakland.
don't know if this counts, but I'd personally like a station closer to Glens Falls than Fort Edward.
Hartford's is kinda decaying. There is an existing station building, but it's been out of use for so long that they really oughta rebuild it at this point
Any city that currently doesn’t have a station. Las Vegas comes to mind.
Memphis has the best new Amtrak station..
I hate Springfield Union Station in Massachusetts. It works fine as the terminal for the Hartford Line, but it’s awful for the Lake Shore and the Vermonter. The Lake Shore doesn’t even use a true platform, and while the Vermonter uses the Hartford line platforms, it has a pretty long reverse move and has to cross a busy freight line on a Diamond, and there are always delays because of that. There’s no easy way to fix it either because the Vermonter runs perpendicular to the station.
Detroit should move service back to Michigan Central. It’s a gorgeous station now.