New Depot Opens on Amtrak’s Illinois High Speed Route
AMTRAK’S NEW UPTOWN STATION in Normal, Ill., was dedicated on July 14, 2012, with the 40th Anniversary exhibit train as part of the fes- tivities (above). In addition to Amtrak trains, the new intermodal facility will also serve Burlington Trailways, Peoria Charter Coach, and Bloom- ington-Normal Public Transit System buses. With the Amtrak station, a restaurant, and retail stores on the first floor, the upper floors house city offices, and a 380-space parking garage is attached to the west side of the
structure. Located on the north side of the tracks, Uptown Station was built on the site of the original 1913 Gulf, Mobile & Ohio depot and re- places the old Amtrak depot across the tracks, which replaced an Amshack in June 1990. Five daily Lincoln Service round trips serve the route, which carried over 529,000 passengers between October 2011 and June 2012 and 245,000 used the Normal station, which also serves neighboring Bloom- ington, home of Indiana University.
Amtrak Former Northern Pacific Depot Survives Highway Threat
THE FORMER NORTHERN PACIFIC DEPOT at Sand Point, Idaho, remains standing despite the recent construction of the Sand Creek Byway, which lifts U.S. Highway 95 off the city’s cramped streets and onto an elevated causeway. When the Byway was first proposed in 2002, the 1916 depot’s survival was questionable, but in 2011 the city forged a partnership with Amtrak, whose daily Empire Builder makes its only stop in Idaho here, and owner BNSF Railway which will en- sure the structure’s survival. However, parking is now limited to a small lot on the station’s south side and the dirt access road that leads to Sandpoint Junction, where Montana Rail Link and BNSF tracks diverge just to the north, has been gated. The thick row of trees that once lined the edge of Sand Creek has been replaced by a backdrop of concrete, cars, and trucks. — BRUCE KELLY
22 OCTOBER 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM
D.C. STATION EXPANSION PLANNED: On July 25, 2012, Amtrak released its $7.5 bil- lion, 16-year Washington Union Station Mas- ter Plan to revitalize the capital’s landmark rail station. The plan will allow the facility, built in 1907, to handle three times the num- ber of passengers and twice the number of trains it currently does. The first phase, which would take place between 2012 and 2017, would improve the existing concourse and add two new tracks and platforms. Between 2017 and 2022 the east side of the facility would be reconstructed with larger platforms and new passenger concourses. Third phase, between 2018 and 2022, would see the western stub tracks rebuilt and a trainshed constructed over all tracks. The fourth phase, which would start in 2023, would add a new lower level with new tracks, platforms, and its own con- course with completion set for 2028.
E-TICKETING GOES SYSTEMWIDE: On July 30, 2012, Amtrak expanded the use of electronic ticketing to the entire system. Be- ginning last year it was gradually introduced on various routes, beginning with the Boston- Portland, Maine, Downeaster route. After
BRUCE KELLY
EDWARD L. JOHNSON
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70