Union Station (Los Angeles)

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A view of Union Station familiar to many of downtown Los Angeles' visitors.

Union Station in Los Angeles, which opened in May 1939, is known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the United States, but even with its massive and ornate waiting room and adjacent ticket concourse, it is considered small in comparison to other union stations. It was formerly designated the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT), but its current owner, Catellus Development, officially changed the name to Los Angeles Union Station (LAUS).

The facility served as a backdrop for the 1950 film Union Station, which starred William Holden and Nancy Olson. Many television shows and motion pictures have incorporated the station as a backdrop, including Speed, Pearl Harbor, Blade Runner, Star Trek: First Contact, and the Fox television series 24. ^[1]

Union Station is located opposite L.A.'s historic Olvera Street.

1 Architecture
2 History
- 2.1 Historic designations
3 Current services
4 Run-through tracks project
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Architecture

The waiting room at the Los Angeles Union Station.

Union Station was designed by the father and son team of John Parkinson and Donald B. Parkinson, who also designed Los Angeles City Hall, and whose firm designed many landmark Los Angeles buildings from the late 19th century onward. The structure combines Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne style, with Moorish architectural details such as eight-pointed stars. Enclosed garden patios are on either side of the waiting room, and passengers exiting the trains were originally directed through the southern garden. The lower part of the interior walls is covered in travertine marble, and the upper part is covered with an early form of acoustical tile. The floor in the large rooms is terra cotta tile with a central strip of inlaid marble (including travertine, somewhat unusual in floors since it is soft). Other parts of the station's flooring are colored tiles with Aztec influences.

A bird's eye-view of Union Station.

Attached to the main building to the south is a small masterpiece, the remarkable station restaurant designed by southwestern architect Mary Colter (the last of the "Harvey House" restaurants to be constructed as a part of a passenger terminal). Although now usually padlocked and stripped of many interior furnishings, the topology of its rounded central counter dynamically thrust forward, its streamlined booths, and the inlaid floor patterns still constitute a busy and evocative sense of place. As with many Angelean locations, it has only survived by serving as an occasional filming location.

[edit] History

The Santa Fe Railway's combined Super Chief / El Capitan pulls into Track 10 at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) on September 24, 1966.

The station originally served the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Southern Pacific Railroad, and Union Pacific Railroad, as well as the Pacific Electric Railway and Los Angeles Railway (LARy). Established on the site of L.A.'s first Chinatown, it saw heavy use during World War II, but later saw declining patronage due to the growing popularity of air travel and automobiles.

Now Union Station is once again heavily visited, especially since the construction of the Metro's Red Line subway station and Gold Line light rail station. Union Station also serves Amtrak and Metrolink passenger trains. The station currently has 10 train tracks, and approximately 80 train departures on weekdays (not counting the Gold and Red Lines). The attached Patsaouras Transit Plaza serves several bus lines including Rapid and regular Metro lines, as well as downtown DASH shuttles.

[edit] Historic designations

National Register of Historic Places #NPS–80000811
Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monument #101

[edit] Current services

Metro provides service to Union Station in the form of two rail lines (Red, Gold); and several bus routes. Its headquarters is located in nearby Gateway Plaza. Amtrak and Metrolink serve the station as well. Los Angeles World Airports recently opened a Flyaway express bus service to Los Angeles International Airport, similar to the one already in use for the Van Nuys area.

[edit] Amtrak

Preceding station		Following station
Van Nuys	Coast Starlight (Los Angeles-Seattle)	Terminus
Glendale	Pacific Surfliner (San Diego-San Luis Obispo)	Fullerton
Bakersfield	San Joaquins (Bus Connection to Bakersfield-Oakland/Sacramento)	Terminus
Terminus	Southwest Chief (Los Angeles-Chicago)	Fullerton
	Sunset Limited (Los Angeles-New Orleans)	Pomona
	Texas Eagle (Los Angeles-Chicago via San Antonio)	Pomona

Bolded routes are operated by Amtrak California

[edit] Metrolink

Preceding station		Following station
Terminus	91 Line (Riverside)	Commerce
Glendale	Antelope Valley Line (Lancaster)	Terminus
Terminus	Orange County Line (Oceanside)	Commerce
	Riverside Line (Riverside)	Montebello
	San Bernardino Line (San Bernardino/Riverside)	Cal State L.A.
Glendale	Ventura County Line (Montalvo, Ventura)	Terminus

[edit] Red Line

The Red line has an island platform in the station's basement. The car yards are located just east of the station. This station serves as an important transfer point, with connections with Metrolink and Amtrak, and several bus routes at the nearby Patsaouras Transit Plaza.

There are two entrances to the Red Line Station, one through the Patsaouras Transit Plaza on the east side of the complex and another through Union Station's main entrance on the west side of the complex, facing Alameda Street.

[edit] Gold Line

The Gold line's terminal is also at this station on grade level. The Gold line's platforms are located beside those of Metrolink and Amtrak. The art installation is that of Beth Thielen. The artwork is entitled Images of Commonality/Nature and Movement.

Gold Line platforms are accessible only via a passageway containing a staircase and an elevator, and use Tracks 1 and 2. When the Gold Line Eastside Extension opens, the starting point will also be at Union Station.

The Los Angeles Metro Rail
Next station (West) Civic Center	Red Line	Next station (East) Terminus
Next station (South) Little Tokyo	Gold Line	Next station (East) Chinatown (local) Highland Park (express)

[edit] FlyAway bus service

Main article: FlyAway Bus

On March 15, 2006, direct FlyAway Bus service was initiated between Union Station and Los Angeles International Airport. The blue buses operate every 30 minutes between 5 am and 1 am and on the hour between 1 am and 5 am.

[edit] Run-through tracks project

With the number of trains using Union Station expanding, the stub-end layout of trackage at the station is becoming a liability. Trains are required to back out of the station resulting in delays as multiple trains must use the same tracks to get out of the station.

CalTrans and the Federal Railroad Administration have drafted a plan to create two run-through tracks that would connect the south end of Union Station with existing BNSF trackage south of the 101 Freeway, which is directly south of Union Station. The Run Through Tracks would exit Union Station on a bridge crossing over the freeway, and continue on an elevated structure for approximately one mile until they reached the BNSF trackage on the west bank of the Los Angeles River.

The final environmental impact report was published by the FRA in November 2005.^[2]