Houston station (Texas)

Houston is an Amtrak intercity train station in Houston.

Houston, TX
Location	902 Washington Ave, Houston United States
Coordinates	29.76727°N 95.36754°W / 29.76727; -95.36754
Owned by	Union Pacific Railroad
Line(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Greyhound, METRO Bus, and Thruway Motorcoach
Construction
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: HOS
History
Opened	1959
Traffic
Passengers (2019)	20,460 [1]  2.55% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station San Antonio toward Los Angeles Sunset Limited Beaumont toward New Orleans
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Terminus Lone Star Ended 1979 Rosenberg toward Chicago Inter-American Ended 1981 Texas Eagle Until 1995 College Station toward Chicago Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Rosenburg toward Los Angeles Sunset Route Beaumont toward New Orleans

History

The present Houston station, which opened on October 26, 1959, was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad to replace Grand Central Station, which was just east of the present station. That station operated from September 1, 1934 until the property was sold to the U.S. Government in 1959 to become the site of the Houston main post office. Grand Central Station had replaced the original Houston & Texas Central depot of 1886.[2] When Amtrak was created it was one of two stations in Houston that served Amtrak trains, the other being Union Station, now part of Minute Maid Park. All Amtrak trains moved to Southern Pacific Station by the end of July 1974, and all trains were canceled or rerouted out of Houston except the Sunset Limited. The station continued to be owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad after the creation of Amtrak, and it has been owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, who bought out Southern Pacific.

A third station, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad Depot, was at the top of the Main Street viaduct, next to the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD). It was no longer an active passenger station by the end of 1958[3] and never served Amtrak. It was demolished, save for a section of platform under the Main Street viaduct.

Intermodal Transit Center

Whenever the funding would become available, the current Amtrak station was to be replaced by the Houston Intermodal Transit Center, just north of downtown, on the Union Pacific main line. It was planned to be a much larger facility with the tracks on a lower level, similar to Penn Station in New York. The project was cancelled in 2010.

Connections

• Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach connection to the Texas Eagle at Longview
• Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) bus service
• Connections to Greyhound Bus Lines service [4]

See also

• Transportation in Houston

References

1. "Amtrak service in Houston, TX" (PDF). Rail Passengers Association. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. "National Railway Bulletin". 47 (1). National Railway Historical Society. 1982: 18. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. "M-K-T Railroad Timetables". The Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co. 91 (5). November 1958.
4. http://www.greyhound.com/scripts/en/TicketCenter/locations.asp?state=tx%5B%5D

External links

• Houston, TX – Amtrak
• Houston Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
• Houston, Texas (HOS) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)