by Tadman
MTU Andrew asked me for a review of the newly refreshed SPUD. I've used it perhaps 3 times in the last two years, every time coming or going to Chicago on 7/8.
Overview: SPUD is a historic depot that was long forgotten, then revitalized when people realized a few things: downtowns matter, suburbo-industrial area depots are not conducive to ridership, and people actually ride trains. It is fairly formulaic for mid-size city grand stations. You once had 50-100 trains/day, now you have 2/day, how does the station remotely support itself. Imagine JFK or O'Hare with 2 flights/day. Nuts.
The answer is to make it a transit hub, with local bus, LD bus, light rail, and Amtrak. And also add some restaurants, office tenants, museum, et al... See Cinci, KC, Denver, Dallas, et al... Like KC, today's passenger waiting area is the concourse above the tracks. At one time, with the load factors of pre-1960, there were enough passengers that the concourse was a wide hallway and passengers waited in the grand hall.
This usually works but when the train is 8 hours late, as it was once eastbound, there is not enough seats. We wound up sitting on the floor. Thanks to the track-a-train map, we didn't sit there for 8 hours, more like 1-2.
The renovation was done quite nicely. The building is in good shape and kept up. But it's kind of boring, because I'm not really into buses, and that's 99pct of traffic. Also, because the light rail has to swing by the capital, it street runs out front, when it could be under the concourse.
Finally, although SPUD is a better location than Midway, it's not great. Saint Paul has something like 10pct of residents in the TC area. Minneapolis is far bigger. I understand the GN station is gone and MILW station is landlocked and one-ended, but a brief stop in Minne would be nice. Uber quotes 35 minutes ride to Minne, light rail quotes 45. This would be similar to the way the Eagle stops at both Dallas and Fort Worth, and the California trains stop at Jack London and Emeryville. That said, I have no idea if the trackage in Minneapolis would support this. How does the train go through town? The North Star station is empty at 1030p, but requires a backing move. More to follow on that comment.
Overview: SPUD is a historic depot that was long forgotten, then revitalized when people realized a few things: downtowns matter, suburbo-industrial area depots are not conducive to ridership, and people actually ride trains. It is fairly formulaic for mid-size city grand stations. You once had 50-100 trains/day, now you have 2/day, how does the station remotely support itself. Imagine JFK or O'Hare with 2 flights/day. Nuts.
The answer is to make it a transit hub, with local bus, LD bus, light rail, and Amtrak. And also add some restaurants, office tenants, museum, et al... See Cinci, KC, Denver, Dallas, et al... Like KC, today's passenger waiting area is the concourse above the tracks. At one time, with the load factors of pre-1960, there were enough passengers that the concourse was a wide hallway and passengers waited in the grand hall.
This usually works but when the train is 8 hours late, as it was once eastbound, there is not enough seats. We wound up sitting on the floor. Thanks to the track-a-train map, we didn't sit there for 8 hours, more like 1-2.
The renovation was done quite nicely. The building is in good shape and kept up. But it's kind of boring, because I'm not really into buses, and that's 99pct of traffic. Also, because the light rail has to swing by the capital, it street runs out front, when it could be under the concourse.
Finally, although SPUD is a better location than Midway, it's not great. Saint Paul has something like 10pct of residents in the TC area. Minneapolis is far bigger. I understand the GN station is gone and MILW station is landlocked and one-ended, but a brief stop in Minne would be nice. Uber quotes 35 minutes ride to Minne, light rail quotes 45. This would be similar to the way the Eagle stops at both Dallas and Fort Worth, and the California trains stop at Jack London and Emeryville. That said, I have no idea if the trackage in Minneapolis would support this. How does the train go through town? The North Star station is empty at 1030p, but requires a backing move. More to follow on that comment.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.