Birmingham station (Alabama)
Birmingham station | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Crescent at Birmingham. | |||||||||||
| Location |
1819 Morris Avenue Birmingham, AL | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°30′46″N 86°48′25″W / 33.51278°N 86.80694°WCoordinates: 33°30′46″N 86°48′25″W / 33.51278°N 86.80694°W | ||||||||||
| Owned by | CSX | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | |||||||||||
| Platforms | 2, 1 used by Amtrak currently | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | 30 short term on site, Long Term located half block away. | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | No | ||||||||||
| Disabled access | No | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Station code | BHM | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1960 | ||||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||||
| Passengers (2013) |
48,759[1]  0.1% | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Birmingham station is a train station in Birmingham, Alabama, serving Amtrak. It is located on the site of a station originally built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1960, although Amtrak did not use the building itself and it was torn down in the 2000s. Amtrak's Crescent provides daily service between New York City, Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana.
The L&N built the new station for $500,000, replacing Union Station which it had used since 1887. One writer described this new station as "modern in every respect."[2]:322 When Amtrak assumed control of most inter-city passenger service on May 1, 1971, its Floridian continued to use the L&N station. The Southern Railway, which had declined to join Amtrak, continued to use its own station several blocks to the northeast. On February 1, 1979 the Southern Railway conveyed its passenger service to Amtrak and the Southern Crescent (shortened to Crescent) began serving the ex-L&N station as well.[3]:310 Amtrak discontinued the Floridian in October, 1979 but the Crescent has operated uninterrupted ever since. Between 1989-1995 Alabama funded a Mobile, Alabama section of the Crescent named the Gulf Breeze.
Birmingham plans in 2010 to build a new multimodal station at the site of the 1960s Louiville and Nashville station. It will connect to the current station which will be reconfigured for access to the platforms.[4]
See also
- Birmingham Terminal Station a separate passenger station in use from 1909 until it was demolished in 1969.
References
- ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2013, State of Alabama" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ↑ Herr, Kincaid A. (1960). The Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 1850-1963. University Press of Kentucky.
- ↑ Cox, Jim (2011). Rails Across Dixie: A History of Passenger Trains in the American South. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 9780786445288. OCLC 609716000.
- ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet FY 2010" (PDF). Amtrak Fact Sheet. Amtrakvice. 2010-12-11.
External links
Media related to Birmingham, Alabama (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons
- Amtrak – Stations – Birmingham, AL
- Birmingham Amtrak/L&N Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
- Birmingham (BHM)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)