Lakeland station

Lakeland
Amtrak inter-city rail station

Lakeland Amtrak station from across Lake Mirror Drive
Location 600 Lake Mirror Drive
Lakeland, Florida 33801
 United States
Coordinates 28°02′44″N 81°57′07″W / 28.04547°N 81.95193°W / 28.04547; -81.95193Coordinates: 28°02′44″N 81°57′07″W / 28.04547°N 81.95193°W / 28.04547; -81.95193
Owned by City of Lakeland
Line(s)
  Silver Star
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Connections Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach
Citrus Connection
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Parking 28 short term spaces[1]
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code Both LAK and LKL[Note 1]
History
Opened 1998
Traffic
Passengers (2012) 25,630[2] Increase 3.8%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
toward Miami or New York City
Silver Star
toward Miami
  Former services  
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Winston
Main Line
Auburndale
Kathleen
toward High Springs
High Springs – LakelandTerminus
Location
Location of the Lakeland Amtrak Station
Location of Lakeland Amtrak Station within Florida

Lakeland is a train station in Lakeland, Florida, that is served by Amtrak, the national passenger rail system of the United States. It is served by the Silver Star train, which runs daily between New York City and Miami.[Note 2] The station is located on the northern shore of Lake Mirror.

Lakeland is unique among all Amtrak stations in that it has two separate Amtrak station codes; one for passengers traveling to and from points north and the other for passengers traveling to and from points south. Because of unique routing of the Silver Star, after arriving at the Lakeland Station, the train heads west to Tampa. However, upon leaving Tampa, the train returns over the same route back to the Lakeland Station. After making a second stop at the Lakeland Station, the train continues on a bit further east along its previous route and then finally turns north or south. This applies to both the northbound and southbound runs. Passengers disembarking at Lakeland Station do so before the train heads to Tampa and passengers boarding at Lakeland only do so after the train returns from Tampa.[Note 1] This logical arrangement allows passengers boarding or debarking at the Lakeland station to avoid having to make an unnecessary trip to Tampa before continuing on their way. (Excluding Tampa, the next southbound stop on the Silver Star is in Winter Haven and the next northbound station is in Kissimmee.)

History

As seen from the parking lot and drop-off area beneath the station itself

The original Lakeland station's structure was opened by the South Florida Railroad in 1886 as a two-story wooden edifice that burned down in 1901. The replacement proved to be inadequate for contemporary railroad needs and was replaced in 1910 by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) with a one-story brick building. This too would be hit by a fire in February 1918 that caused $25,000 worth of damage. The building was given a second story and reopened on January 31, 1919.

The current station's structure was built in 1998 as a replacement for the 1960-built ACL station located about 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of the current station. That station became a Seaboard Coast Line Railroad station when the ACL and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad merged July 1, 1967. Though the former station building was demolished in 2008, the passenger platforms and covers remain. In addition to the Silver Star the previous station was also served by the Champion until 1979.

On April 15, 2009, the Lakeland station made news headlines when a decomposed female body was discovered by a passenger waiting for a late-running train.[4] The body was identified as 34-year-old Shawn Hazel Turk and in August 2011 Reginald Riggins was arrested in connection with her death. It is believed that Mr. Riggins had never met the victim prior to April 9, 2009 (the night of her death).[5] Riggins was later convicted of murdering of Turk and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.[6]

Services

Besides the Silver Star, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach (with connection service by Martz First Class) is provided to the following: Orlando (train station), Tampa (train station), Pinellas Park (Clearwater and St. Petersburg), Bradenton, Sarasota, Port Charlotte, and Fort Myers. Thruway Motorcoach service is also provided (with connection service by Amtrak) to Dade City (train station), Wildwood (train station), The Villages (Spanish Springs Shuttle Station), Ocala (train station), Gainesville (Rosa Parks Region Transportation System Downtown Station), Waldo (train station), and Jacksonville (train station) since train service by the Palmetto was discontinued south of Savannah, Georgia in 2004.

Connections

Notes

  1. 1 2 The station code LAK is used for arrivals from and departures to points north and the station code LKL is used for arrivals from and departures to points south.[3] Therefore, the proper order of the station codes used for a southbound train (Route 91) is as follows: ...KIS (Kissimmee), LAK, TPA (Tampa), LKL, and WTH (Winter Haven).... The order of the station codes for the northbound train (Route 92) is just the reverse: ...WTH, LKL, TPA, LAK, and KIS.... Essentially, with regards to station codes, LAK functions as though the Lakeland Station is located north of Tampa and LKL functions as though the Lakeland Station is located south of Tampa.
  2. ↑ As of 15 July 2013, the southbound train (Route 91) is scheduled to stop (LAK) at 11:40 pm to discharge passengers and again (LKL) at 1:21 pm to receive passengers. The northbound train (Route 92) is scheduled to stop (LKL) at 4:04 pm to discharge passengers and again (LAK) at 5:53 pm to receive passengers.

References

External links

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