| Tampa Union Station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Address | 601 Nebraska Avenue Tampa, FL 33602 |
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| Lines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Thruway Motorcoach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 6 (1 in use) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1912 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Code | TPA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | City of Tampa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers (2010) | 131,054[1] 18% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tampa Union Station (TUS) is a historic depot in Tampa, Florida, United States. It is located at 601 North Nebraska Avenue (SR 45).
Opened on May 15, 1912, by the Tampa Union Station Company, its original purpose was to combine passenger operations for the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and the Tampa Northern Railroad at a single site. In 1974, as Union Railroad Station, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. After its condition deteriorated substantially, Tampa Union Station was closed in 1984; Amtrak passengers used a temporary prefabricated station building (one of a type dubbed "Amshack"s) located adjacent to the station platforms after the building was closed.
Tampa Union Station was acquired in 1991 by the nonprofit Tampa Union Station Preservation & Redevelopment Inc. (TUSP&R) via a mortgage held by CSX, the freight railroad company which was the corporate descendant of its original railroad owners. TUSP&R raised over 4 million USD for the building's restoration through grants and loans from sources including the Florida Department of Transportation (ISTEA funds), the City of Tampa (grant funds) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (no interest loan). At the completion of the restoration in 1998, the station reopened to Amtrak passengers and the public. CSX donated the station to the City of Tampa that same year.[3]
During the course of the restoration, numerous abandoned documents from the Pullman Company, Tampa Union Station Company, and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad were discovered in the station. TUSP&R volunteers sorted these documents and preserved them by archiving them at the University of South Florida Library (USF) Special Collections Department[4] and (in the case of the Pullman Company materials), the Newberry Library in Chicago.[5]
The City of Tampa's Real Estate Division manages Tampa Union Station for the City. The Division has leased portions of the facility to private tenants, including a second floor office once occupied by the Pullman Company, and the former baggage building (which housed an art gallery until spring 2008; it now serves as the offices of a real estate firm).
In September 2008, a permanent endowment for the care and upkeep of Tampa Union Station was established at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay[6] by a group of private donors. Income from the endowment goes to the City of Tampa to assist with the maintenance of the facility.
Additionally, 2008 saw the founding of Friends of Tampa Union Station,[7] an all volunteer, nonprofit organization which advocates for the preservation and use of Tampa Union Station as both a landmark and transportation asset. The group was founded in cooperation with the City of Tampa and the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers.
The City of Tampa's official Poet Laureate, James E. Tokley, Sr., in 2009 authored a poem, "The Epic of Union Station" which commemorates Tampa Union Station's history. Mr. Tokley performed a dramatic reading of the poem at Union Station on May 9, 2009, as part of National Train Day festivities held at the station on that day.[8]
Currently, Tampa Union Station operates as an Amtrak station for the Silver Star line. It also provides Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach services to Orlando, Lakeland, Pinellas Park-St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Sarasota, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers,.[9]
The station was originally built with eight tracks, only one is in regular use today (designated as "Track 2"), with adjacent Track 3 used for private railroad cars and special display trains on occasion (as was the case on National Train Day 2008 and 2009, when Amtrak equipment was displayed on Track 3 [10]). Although the other tracks remain in place, they are out of service; some have been severed from the main track. Original track bumpers, constructed of poured concrete, are also still located at the end of several of the remaining tracks. Adjacent to each of these bumpers are flower pots that have "TUS" imprinted on them.
Other original but disused infrastructure remains today in deteriorated condition, including the train wash and car repair facility; both of these elements were added by Amtrak in the 1980s.
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