Houston (Amtrak station)

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Houston Amtrak Station (Grand Central Station)

Amtrak's eastbound Sunset Limited at the Houston Amtrak station.

Station statistics

Address

902 Washington Ave

Lines

Sunset Limited

Connections

Greyhound, METRO Bus, and Thruway Motorcoach

Platforms

1 side platform, 1 island platform, several abandoned island platforms

Tracks

two active, seven abandoned, two storage spurs

Parking

Yes

Bicycle facilities

Baggage check

Yes

Other information

Opened

1905

Closed

2012 (proposed)

Rebuilt

1934, 1960

Accessible

Code

HOS

Owned by

Union Pacific Railroad

Traffic

Passengers (FY2007)

13,214 ▲ 21.7% (Amtrak)

Services

Sunset Limited, Thruway Motorcoachservice to Longview, Trailways service to Galveston, Private Charter

The Houston Amtrak station is a train station in Houston, Texas, United States served by Amtrak, the U.S. national railroad passenger system.

Originally built as the Southern Pacific Railroad Station, when Amtrak was created it was one of two train station in Houston that served Amtrak trains, the other being Union Station, which is now part of Minute Maid Park. All Amtrak trains where moved to Southern Pacific Station over the course of the late seventies, and all trains were either canceled or rerouted out of Houston except the Sunset Limited. This station continued to be owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad even after the creation of Amtrak, and to this day is owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad since the merger of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific.

A third station, the Katy Railroad Depot, was located at the top of the Main Street viaduct, next to the University of Houston–Downtown. It has never served Amtrak, and has been demolished, except for part of the platform which still exists under the main street viaduct.

[edit] Intermodal Transit Center

In 2012, the current Amtrak station will be replaced by the Houston Intermodal Transit Center, Located just north of Downtown, on the Union Pacific Main line. It will be a much larger facility, with the tracks running underground, similar the design of Penn Station in New York.