Capital Area Multimodal Gateway

Capital Area Multimodal Gateway
Other names	East Lansing
Location	1240 South Harrison Road East Lansing, MI 48823 United States
Coordinates	42°43′09″N 84°29′42″W / 42.71917°N 84.49500°W / 42.71917; -84.49500Coordinates: 42°43′09″N 84°29′42″W / 42.71917°N 84.49500°W / 42.71917; -84.49500
Owned by	Michigan State University
Line(s)	GTW/CNR
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Bus operators	Megabus Greyhound Lines Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Indian Trails
Connections	Capital Area Transportation Authority
Construction
Parking	Yes; paid
Bicycle facilities	Bike racks
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	LNS
History
Opened	2016
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	64,357[1]  0.7%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Battle Creek toward Chicago Blue Water Durand toward Port Huron   Former services   Battle Creek toward Chicago International Limited Durand toward Toronto

The Capital Area Multimodal Gateway, also known as the East Lansing station, is an intermodal transit station in East Lansing, Michigan. Operated by the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA), it is served by Amtrak's Blue Water passenger train, local buses, and intercity buses. It opened in 2015 to replace a nearby Amtrak and bus station operating since 1974.^[2]

Description

The 7,300-square-foot (680 m²) station building includes a public waiting area, concessions, Amtrak and intercity bus ticket counters, and public restrooms.^[3][4] There are also three internal vestibules which can be accessed by users during the time the station is unstaffed and closed for the day.^[5] Outside are separate covered waiting areas for Amtrak and intercity bus riders, a bike storage area, a customer pick-up and drop-off area, and 150 long-term parking spaces.^[4]

The station serves Amtrak's Blue Water train. It also serves three intercity bus services: Greyhound, Indian Trails, and Megabus.^[6] Local CATA bus routes 20, 35, 39 stop at the station, and the facility also offers taxicab and bike-sharing. The property also has space on its south end of the site along the CSX Plymouth Subdivision to construct an additional platform for future passenger rail services if needed.

History

Historically, the major railroad depots in the Lansing metropolitan area were the Union Station and the Grand Trunk Western Station, both in Lansing. With the establishment of Amtrak in 1971, both stations lost their train service. Amtrak subsequently took over a building in East Lansing to serve as a station for its planned Blue Water train.^[2] This building had been built as a storage facility for Michigan State University in 1971.^[7] The Blue Water began servicing this facility on September 15, 1974.^[8] The service was renamed the Blue Water Limited on October 26, 1975, and became the International Limited on October 31, 1982, when the eastern terminus was extended to Toronto.^[8] The International Limited was operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak until it was discontinued in 2004 and replaced with the modern Blue Water line.^[9]

Plans for the new station complex, the Capital Area Multimodal Gateway, were announced in 2010, and originally included a new parking structure and improved bus facilities as well as bicycle parking.^[10] The project was intended to replace the older Amtrak station with updated facilities, and to consolidated rail and bus service into one intermodal transit station.^[2] The project was awarded a $6.3 million grant in July 2012 by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration, and by then the parking structure had been dropped from the plan. In addition to the construction costs, CATA paid a $3.2 million long-term lease for the site. The station property also included facilities for intercity bus service. Site work began in late July 2014, and included demolition of the old Michigan State University Surplus Store and Printing Services buildings on-site.^[11]

The original station closed after the last train departed on January 25, 2016, and operations moved to the newly built station located a few yards to the west.^[12]

Passenger statistics

Ridership for fiscal year 2015 was 64,643, a 0.5% decrease from 64,982 in fiscal year 2014.

Gallery

• 

  The old station

• 

  The old station

• 

  The last train to depart from the old East Lansing Amtrak station waits for passengers to board on January 25, 2016. The new station is in the background behind the old station.

Notable places nearby

• Michigan State University
• Lansing, Michigan
• Union Depot

See also

• History of railroads in Michigan

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Lansing (Amtrak station).

• Amtrak – Stations – East Lansing, MI
• East Lansing-Lansing Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Trains Web)
• East Lansing, MI (LNS) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)