The city council in Sandpoint, Idaho has recently voted to pursue acquiring ownership of its Amtrak station which is currently owned by BNSF. There is much to this story, and I urge anyone interested to check out the website: www.sandpointtrainstation.com
The station building itself is currently closed to Amtrak passengers due to some ceiling tiles falling and other structural defects. The station is nearly 100 years old, and it is unlikely that Amtrak would repair the indoor waiting area. BUT, adjacent to the station is being constructed a highway bypass (US 95) around the downtown core. The Idaho Transportation Department has allocated about $900,000 toward building another "station" (that money wouldn't get you much more than a platform today). This was the assumption before most people were aware that Amtrak was thinking of leaving the city core. Now, the state says that the money could be applied toward repairing the current facility, providing Amtrak decides to stay there. Overseeing such a procedure would be best if some local entity controlled the structure, and that's why the city is attempting to purchase it.
Local people in Sandpoint are in contact with some other communities and the Great American Stations Foundation for help, but if anyone knows of other small or medium-sized communities (or other local entities) that own their own Amtrak station, I'd appreciate receiving that information, which would be passed on to those in Sandpoint who could then possibly contact the other communities for advice and information in their quest to acquire their local facility. Thanks.
--Mark Meyer
Mark Meyer
I'm not too sure about municipally-owned stations on Amtrak, but it has become a fairly common practice in suburban operations around the country, especially with newer agencies and line extensions.
Charlotte does not own the current Amtrak Station, but is building a new multimodal gateway station in city center. It will contain Amtrak, Greyhound, CATS Commuter rail, CATS Street Car, and CATS Buses. There is also some commercial development planned around it.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
VerMontanan The city council in Sandpoint, Idaho has recently voted to pursue acquiring ownership of its Amtrak station which is currently owned by BNSF. There is much to this story, and I urge anyone interested to check out the website: www.sandpointtrainstation.com The station building itself is currently closed to Amtrak passengers due to some ceiling tiles falling and other structural defects. The station is nearly 100 years old, and it is unlikely that Amtrak would repair the indoor waiting area. BUT, adjacent to the station is being constructed a highway bypass (US 95) around the downtown core. The Idaho Transportation Department has allocated about $900,000 toward building another "station" (that money wouldn't get you much more than a platform today). This was the assumption before most people were aware that Amtrak was thinking of leaving the city core. Now, the state says that the money could be applied toward repairing the current facility, providing Amtrak decides to stay there. Overseeing such a procedure would be best if some local entity controlled the structure, and that's why the city is attempting to purchase it. Local people in Sandpoint are in contact with some other communities and the Great American Stations Foundation for help, but if anyone knows of other small or medium-sized communities (or other local entities) that own their own Amtrak station, I'd appreciate receiving that information, which would be passed on to those in Sandpoint who could then possibly contact the other communities for advice and information in their quest to acquire their local facility. Thanks. --Mark Meyer
I am not sure that by "Great American Stations Foundation", you are refering to a now defunct organization or the Amtrak initiative "Great American Stations"
Here is the link http://www.greatamericanstations.com/
They invite communication with your area Amtrak Government Affiars person and seem ready to offer a good deal of guidance. It seems they would offer introductions to others who have walked the walk.
Jay
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
CSSHEGEWISCH I'm not too sure about municipally-owned stations on Amtrak, but it has become a fairly common practice in suburban operations around the country, especially with newer agencies and line extensions.
Amtrak owns 46 of the approximately 525 stations that it serves. It maintains 181 stations, including the 46 that it owns. The largest stations owned by Amtrak, through a structured subsidiary, are New York's Penn Station, Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, and Chicago's Union Station.
Most of the stations are owned by a local government or an authority created by a local government. For example, Union Station in Dallas is owned by the city. Amtrak rents a small portion of it. The station in Fort Worth, which is located in an intermodal transit complex, is also owned by the city. Amtrak shares the station with Greyhound, the Trinity Railway Express, and the T, which is Fort Worth's local transit agency.
VerMontanan Local people in Sandpoint are in contact with some other communities and the Great American Stations Foundation for help, but if anyone knows of other small or medium-sized communities (or other local entities) that own their own Amtrak station, I'd appreciate receiving that information, which would be passed on to those in Sandpoint who could then possibly contact the other communities for advice and information in their quest to acquire their local facility. Thanks. --Mark Meyer
The stations in Mineola, Cleburne, and Temple Texas, amongst others, are owned by the city. About ten years ago, at least, Mineola upgraded its station as part of its effort to get the Texas Eagle to stop there. And Cleburne upgraded its station sometime in the last decade, although the Eagle already stopped there. If I remember correctly, the Cleburne upgrade was a function of a roadway relocation project.
The city of Longview just completed the transaction to take ownership of their station about two or three weeks ago. It had been in negotiations for a while, but UP did finally sell it. The railroad still retains ownership of the land the depot sits on, but the building itself is now in Longview's hands.
It's one of the busiest stops on the line and if you've ever been there, you know that the building is rather large, but Amtrak only occupies a small section of it, and the waiting room is tiny.
Marshall's T&P depot, on the other hand, is technically owned by Union Pacific, but the Marshall Depot foundation runs it--there is a museum and gift shop, office space for rent, as well as the Amtrak ticket office and waiting room. Amtrak occupies part of the building but pays no rent--the Depot board takes care of their electricity, cleaning, etc. It was something of a trade-off; the depot agreed to allow Amtrak the use of the building and in exchange, Amtrak staffed the station. There was only 1 part-time employee there until recently, when the place went full time and added 2 additional agents.
Both Rocky Mount and Wilson NC are city owned stations
The Cities of Irvine, Fullerton and Santa Ana California all own busy Amtrak (and Metrolink) stations.
Need a station? There is a full-page ad in the "2010 Private Car Charter Guide", published by the American Association of Private Rail Car Owners ( www.aaprco.com ) offering the White River Junction, VT (ex-B&M and CV) station for sale. This is a handsome building and the $875,000 asking price seems reasonable. Check www.WRJTrainStationForSale.com for more info.
Hays
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