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Originally posted by palmland:
This articlementions a couple more.

But, I'm happy to report my local station, that Amtrak declared was the worst on the route of the Silver trains, has been fully restored. I believe it was ADA money that financed most of it. Still can't figure out how the restoration included copper gutters and downspouts, new solid wood doors to match the originals, and a complete redo of the canopy that was about to fall down.

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quote:

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Originally posted by sojourner:
What I dislike about Savannah station is the location--taxis to downtown are a fortune. This is a problem with many stations on the Silver line. The whole idea of train travel is to get downtown to downtown, not the 'burbs!

David P: I don't get your "dis" of Louisiana. I have never been to Houston, but along with Las Vegas, it is at the bottom of my list of places I want to visit. So in my imagination its having the ugliest train station in America would be appropriate.

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Don't blame him, Sojourner - he was just quoting the article! Why not read it and see what stations you would put on the list!
BTW, I've been to both Houston and Vegas. I wouldn't mind seeing Vegas again, but I've had all I ever want to see of Houston!
 

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Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
 
Ms. Sojourner, both Charleston and Savannah once upon a time had stations located in their downtowns. However, both were accessed by long backup moves (think Tampa) and in the interest of efficiency and reducing schedule time, the Atlantic Coast Line made the decision to locate both stations away from the Downtown areas.

Simply a trade off; efficiency vs. convenience for some passengers.
 

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
 
Sorry, Jerome, I didn't read the article, afraid to hit links since I got a virus or something that way.

I would vote for some of the stations with no building at all as among the worst. Especially in bad weather.
 

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Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
 
Hah - Been so long since I looked at the article that I had forgotten that I was merely repeating a barb from the original writer.

Pretty impossible to defend something one cannot remember.
 

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
 
Mr Norman, There is no efficiency in having a train station so many miles from where most train travelers want to go. It is not just an added expense; it's an added time factor. And it discourages use--especially when we're talking about cities that have a lot of tourist business, like Charleston and Savannah--so it's bad for business. (In a city where most of your travelers are probably locals taking the train out and back, they own cars and can be dropped off in the suburbs, or park by the train. But when many of your travelers are tourists, a lot of them don't want to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere, especially at night, and have to find or arrange transportation.)
 

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Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
 
Sojourner, you are correct that today's tourists would much prefer a downtown station in Charleston and Savannah. However we can't blame Amtrak for this one. The 'new' Charleston station was built in North Charleston in 1956 and Savannah was built in 1962, long before Amtrak and in the days when the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard railroads had a booming passenger business to Florida points. With the increasingly better air service and highway system reducing travel time for snow birds was very important then.

The problem is of course the geography with the historic downtown areas having wide rivers on their borders causing railroad mainlines to be built where it is easier cross west of town. Even postwar, only one train (the Palmetto) still used the old Charleston station downtown. All others used the North Station (close to the 1962 one) but provided bus service downtown.

Today, only the wealthy live in the historic area with the majority in the newer suburbs of Mt. Pleasant and James Island that is just as convenient to use the newer stations.

Of course this begs the question. With so many tourists now visiting these cities, why doesn't Amtrak offer a Thruway bus to downtown as well as the suburbs and perhaps to some of resort areas like Kiawah Island and Hilton Head.

But there is some hope. The viaducts that carried tracks to downtown Savannah for the Central of Georgia railroad are still in place and terminate near the visitor center. In Charleston the tracks are still active with considerable industrial business including the Port on Bay St. that sees daily trainloads of BMW's.

But don't look for Amtrak to do this. It would be a state sponsored service to Macon and Atlanta or Columbia and Greenville. Not likely in my lifetime.
 

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Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
 
But don't look for Amtrak to do this. It would be a state sponsored service to Macon and Atlanta or Columbia and Greenville. Not likely in my lifetime. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Do you see any hope for Richmond?
 

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Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
 
Jerome, there is always hope. The question is: is there any money?. Certainly this is doable as the roadbed and much of the trackage is in place and useable to upgrade the line to Main St. station from RVR and then on down to the connection on the secondary line (former Seaboard) at Centralia with the main line Amtrak now uses.

However I suspect if it is part of the Southeast HSR project a new right of way might be envisioned at least as far as Main St to avoid any conflict with CSX's Acca yard. However I would vote for an incremental approach - just upgrade what's there plus signaling and perhaps a second track to address some of CSX concerns.

Maybe someone at 500 Water St. will realize a new relocated yard/intermodal/transload facility outside of town would be in their best interest and free up the yard for passenger rail access and real estate/industrial development.
 

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Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
 
If only the loop tracks behind Broad Street Station hadn't been taken up, that building could have served as an excellent multimodal station. Maybe even like Denver's Union Station! Can't be undone now, not with the State DMV on the former site of the tracks.
 

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Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
 
That is too bad, but at least it wasn't torn down like many great old stations. But Main St. can be an excellent terminal too. If the shed area is developed, again, for restaurants and retail, the main building is more than adequate for passengers. Of course rather than develop the shed, putting the tracks back in would provide plenty of storage and servicing for all terminating trains.

And, Main St. is arguably in a better location than Broad St. as it is closer to the core downtown and all the tourist activity around the Capital and Shockoe Slip. RVR should should still be retained for a suburban stop for the sizable population out on the west end.
 

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Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by palmland:

RVR (Staple's Mill) should should still be retained for a suburban stop for the sizable population out on the west end.

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