Historical Discussion: Cities with two or more Amtrak stations

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The most obvious stop that reminds me of Boston is Stockton since San Joaquin Trains going to and from Oakland stop at one station and trains going to and from Sacramento stop at the ACE (former UP station).

Sacramento will also soon have a second station if a few San Joaquin trains start using the new Ace Line under the valley rail service plan. Valley Rail - ACE Rail

The other examples are just cities with more than one station, with some trains serving a secondary station but all serving the main station.

I know it took Amtrak a little bit of time to consolidate all operations at Chicago - Union Station, but don't know the exact timeline.

Stockton's neglected Santa Fe station which serves a goodly number of passenger trains:

AF112B12-655E-466D-9CC1-CB5007F56F21.jpeg8DEEFAE7-E99E-428D-8024-DFBF9586A03B.jpeg
 
What about the first stop after leaving Chicago...Glenview, Naperville, Joliet, Homewood, etc...
Each of them is also served by Metra locals, giving access to a lot more intermediate stops, although not sure how convenient the connections are...
When Southwest Limited ran on Santa Fe in Chicago area it stopped at Joliet, Streator and Chillicothe, and Galesburg had two stations (BN and Santa Fe). Aurora was discontinued about the same time Naperville was added. Le Grange Road has been a Regional (Illinois Zephyr) stop since Amtrak Day AFAIR.
 
A Hyde Park stop makes sense, but it's about the only place in Chicago proper I can think of where a high density neighborhood has an Amtrak line running through it, with enough people within walking distance of a station to merit stopping Amtrak there.

And it would have to be a dense neighborhood within walking distance because most of the in-city Metra stops have little or no parking. I can't see stopping Hiawathas at, say, Healy or Mayfair and enough people boarding to justify slowing down trains whose first stop would otherwise be Glenview. By the time a Hiawatha reaches an in-city station with enough parking to draw Amtrak riders from a decent catchment area, that's Edgebrook and only a few miles from Glenview.

Metra doesn't even stop on its busy BNSF line (hosting Cal. Zephyr, SW Chief, IL Zephyr, & Carl Sandburg) in the city after Union Station except at Halsted (couple of miles from Union Sta.) & Western Avenue (mostly industrial zone). A stop in Berwyn or Riverside might make some sense, but you're already in the suburbs by then and the IL Zephyr & Carl Sandburg stop in LaGrange before Naperville. The Lincoln Service & Texas Eagle also go through mostly industrial zone with no Metra stop (Heritage Corridor line) from Union Station until the suburb of Summit, where Lincoln Service trains also stop.
I don't think a city stop has a need for parking, it should be in an area with an easy connection to transit, or in a dense neighborhood. The BNSF should have a station near the California Pink Line station, an easy walk and could be connected by a walking bridge. City dwellers would be more likely to get to the station by transit or taxi.
 
When Southwest Limited ran on Santa Fe in Chicago area it stopped at Joliet, Streator and Chillicothe, and Galesburg had two stations (BN and Santa Fe). Aurora was discontinued about the same time Naperville was added. Le Grange Road has been a Regional (Illinois Zephyr) stop since Amtrak Day AFAIR.
Yeah, Aurora got discontinued when they built the new Metra station as a terminal off the main line. Shortsighted, in my opinion.
 
I could be mistaken, but didn't Seattle have a brief period in the early days when King Street and Union Station both still had Trains arriving/departing.

And Ft Worth still had Trains using the T& P Station ( now the TRE Terminal)and the old Santa Fe Station next door to the current Intermodel Station. ( now an Entertainment Venue)

San Diego still has the Old Town stop and the ex Santa Fe Station downtown.

And while they're not all in the LA City Limits, I'd say that Union Station, Anaheim,Fullerton, the Burbank Airport Stop ,Van Nuys, and Simi Valley could be considered LA Stations.
Van Nuys is within LA city limits
 
Back
Top