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  • Stations that Amtrak should move elsewhere

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1525121  by Ridgefielder
 
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:52 pm The existing Hartford Connecticut Station, even though, extremely close to downtown is on a viaduct not in the best shape. I don't think that a second track will ever get built there. I know that CDOT and Amtrak are waiting for the highway construction until a brand new underground Hartford Station consisting of two tracks can be built.
Hartford is definitely getting rebuilt. Both the railroad and highway viaducts that wall off Downtown from Asylum Hill are at the end of their design lives. They're both going to be torn down, with the tracks and I-84 relocated to a covered trench and a new multi-track station built, most likely on Asylum Street. Union Station will be re-purposed. It's a massive project that's going to take years but it's happening.
 #1525123  by Jeff Smith
 
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/oGkVLXvXyVkgiT9U6

About 4 or so years ago I worked in the old Federal Building on High St, just up the hill, and lived on Asylum Hill. Used to hang out at the Federal Cafe as a matter of fact.

Union Station is a nice building, but the railroad viaduct is definitely decrepit. The trackway closest to the building is basically splinters, and the outside trackway has been paved over. CTFasttrack might have proved useful as a ROW, but nope, they wanted buses.

84 runs both over (eastbound) and under (westbound) Asylum. The tracks pass under 84 on both ends. They'll have to close Church St, and probably take Spruce St., to get this done, which means they'll have to move the bus station somewhere else.

It's going to be an interesting squeeze.
 #1525155  by njtmnrrbuff
 
I am going to use this phrase to describe what the railroad tracks and station platforms will go through at Hartford-"Providenced." I think up until the late 70s to early 80s, the Providence Station was at grade but then it was built underground.

I hate to say this about Albany, NY but the station is pretty good the way that it is. There needs to be plenty of parking there as many people who use the station in Rennselaer are coming from towns where you need a car. It's so close to Downtown Albany.
 #1525159  by Suburban Station
 
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 7:39 pm I am going to use this phrase to describe what the railroad tracks and station platforms will go through at Hartford-"Providenced." I think up until the late 70s to early 80s, the Providence Station was at grade but then it was built underground.

I hate to say this about Albany, NY but the station is pretty good the way that it is. There needs to be plenty of parking there as many people who use the station in Rennselaer are coming from towns where you need a car. It's so close to Downtown Albany.
I dont think anyone would rationally choose to put the station where it is instead of the west side of the river but what's done is done. It just isnt worth the money required to fix it. Its probably just fine for albany to be mostly a park n ride. I'd rather see more service up to saratoga.
 #1525167  by mtuandrew
 
Re: Savannah, as much as I would like a rail transit option, it sounds like a job for a tourist (trackless) trolley. More of Amtrak’s stations ought to include a last-mile bus connection to the city center, if they’re significantly far away. (Lamy-Santa Fe for instance, if they don’t relocate to a RailRunner stop. Jacksonville should get a direct bus as well.)
 #1525176  by TomNelligan
 
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 7:39 pmI am going to use this phrase to describe what the railroad tracks and station platforms will go through at Hartford-"Providenced." I think up until the late 70s to early 80s, the Providence Station was at grade but then it was built underground.
The switch at Providence happened in June 1986 and involved a line relocation as well as a new station. Trains reached the 1898 Providence Union Station on an elevated viaduct that occupied what the city and developers saw as valuable land, so the tracks were moved maybe a thousand feet closer to state capitol building , to the base of the hill on which it stands. The current station sits above the tracks, but the tracks and platforms are actually at ground level, not really in a tunnel but underneath the concrete and steel supporting the station and the Providence Place mall.
 #1525207  by Jeff Smith
 
mtuandrew wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:52 pm Re: Savannah, as much as I would like a rail transit option, it sounds like a job for a tourist (trackless) trolley. More of Amtrak’s stations ought to include a last-mile bus connection to the city center, if they’re significantly far away. (Lamy-Santa Fe for instance, if they don’t relocate to a RailRunner stop. Jacksonville should get a direct bus as well.)
I was thinking the same thing. Great minds....

It doesn't necessarily need to be an Amtrak bus, though.
 #1525218  by Suburban Station
 
TomNelligan wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 9:51 pm The switch at Providence happened in June 1986 and involved a line relocation as well as a new station. Trains reached the 1898 Providence Union Station on an elevated viaduct that occupied what the city and developers saw as valuable land, so the tracks were moved maybe a thousand feet closer to state capitol building , to the base of the hill on which it stands. The current station sits above the tracks, but the tracks and platforms are actually at ground level, not really in a tunnel but underneath the concrete and steel supporting the station and the Providence Place mall.
unfortunately the old station was well connected to the bus system. only now are they talking about relocating the transit center closer to the station. there were certainly some tough tradeoffs that were made but providence appears to have "invested" pretty heavily into redeveloping/demolishing itself in the name of urban renewal.
 #1525231  by Ridgefielder
 
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 7:39 pm I am going to use this phrase to describe what the railroad tracks and station platforms will go through at Hartford-"Providenced." I think up until the late 70s to early 80s, the Providence Station was at grade but then it was built underground.
That's exactly how I'd describe it. With the difference that, while the Providence station and line relocation essentially precluded ever re-using the east side tunnel to access the East Junction branch and the lines to Bristol/Fall River, the Hartford station relocation wouldn't sever any connections.
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