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We have had a good run on some of the best Amtrak stations in the country.

Lets try a different spin: What is the most disappointing city station on Amtrak?

What is the city, and what makes this particular station fall short?

CNJ wrote:We have had a good run on some of the best Amtrak stations in the country.

Lets try a different spin: What is the most disappointing city station on Amtrak?

What is the city, and what makes this particular station fall short?

Surprisingly I'm going to nominate Atlanta.

Disappointing in the level of service offered (come one, 1 train a day each way? Can we at least get a day only train WAS-ATL?).

But also disappointing in where it is. No MARTA connection easily available, very limited parking and no place for a rental car company have any cars (even if only for drop-off).

For a city of that size, I'd expect more.

Orlando.

The station itself is okay (if a bit small), but the location is terrible with a hot dog wagon the sole source of nutrition unless you want to get ripped off and then poisoned at the grinder shop across the street (although they're not bad hot dogs). The scenery consists of foot doctors, funeral homes, and crumbling neighborhoods of questionable occupancy. Many homes seem deserted. Last time I was there, even the taxi's avoided the neighborhood (because of the dubious occupants or the barrel-sized potholes all over the place, I couldn't tell which). Considering the vacation adventure awaiting many potential travelers to Orlando, the place is a dump.

This station should really be on Church Street, where the action is (in Church Street station, oddly enough). I can see why Church Street isn't appropriate for yard operations, but I don't see any reason why passenger service can't be made to fit the positive atmosphere. Maybe people would then feel inclined to consider starting their vacation adventure with a train trip to one of the east coast's most popular vacation destinations....?

South Bend, Indiana. The station certainly didn't look that nice from trackside, which says a lot for SOB.

Orlando

The station itself is okay (if a bit small), but the location is terrible with a hot dog wagon the sole source of nutrition unless you want to get ripped off and then poisoned at the grinder shop across the street (although they're not bad hot dogs). The scenery consists of foot doctors, funeral homes, and crumbling neighborhoods of questionable occupancy. Many homes seem deserted. Last time I was there, even the taxi's avoided the neighborhood (because of the dubious occupants or the barrel-sized potholes all over the place, I couldn't tell which). Considering the vacation adventure awaiting many potential travelers to Orlando, the place is a dump.

I don't think the district is all that bad. My wife and I walked from the station to the CBD a few years ago and felt no fear. The station itself looks all right to me. The style is nice and the waiting area was ok. Of course there was more service then. I saw the Sunset waiting to go and there were three trains a day to Miami. The one they have abolished was the one we took for a day trip from Winterhaven, no longer possible.
So, no I don't think it is the worst station. The only really bad station I have visited is New York Penn.

I'd nominate St. Louis, MO in the 30 years of a "Amshack". The 1978 station built after Union Station closed served until December 2004 when a new one opened. The 2004 station was only intended as an interim terminal until the new St. Louis intermodal terminal was completed in 2008. The station was in an isolated area along a railyard under a highway viaduct.

The Omaha, NE, Amshack. There's a possibility Kansas City may have to move back into its Amshack, though... talk of closing Union Station again... sigh.

I agree with the comments regarding Atlanta. The station, while basic, isn't so bad but the location could be better. When I took the Crescent to Atlanta way back in '02 to attend a friend's wedding, I took a cab to a nearby car rental place, and I seem to recall that I was reimbursed for cab fare. I forget exactly how that deal worked, but in any case, it would obviously be more convenient if MARTA served the station, or if a car rental place were within easy walking distance.

I would like to nominate the Miami, FL station. The cab driver who was taking me back had no idea where it even was!

I'll second the old St.Louis amshack. It was in a really weird, hard to find location under highway overpasses. Driving in after dark I was always convinced I was lost. The contrast between it and the grand abandoned mass of Union Station was pretty surreal. This was before Union Station was turned into a mall, and it could be even weirder now with the old station lit up at night. My faulty memory has it and the old glass roofed trainsheds nearby and visible from the amshack.
I've only seen the Omaha station from the outside, but it seems similar, plopped at the end of the old platforms. The old station looks pretty decrepit, but was never as impressive as St. Louis I was able to find a plan on the web to turn it into condos, but it sure doesn't look like any work is being done.

I will also have to agree with the posters regarding Atlanta. The station is not bad, but it is very small. We arrived aboard an on-time #19 on the 4th of July weekend in 2008. Big crowd getting off and another good size crowd waiting to board, all packed into that little station. It took over an hour to get the checked bags. Could not blame the employees as there were only 3 of them. They had to unload a mountain of checked bags coming in and had another large pile waiting to be loaded.

Enterprise had a location less than one mile from the station. They picked us up on our arrival. When we were leaving, we dropped the luggage at the station then dropped off the car. It was an easy walk (downhill) back to the station.

@mtuandrew, I will kindly ask you to remove your South Bend nomination in light of the declining murder rate in surrounding neighborhoods and recent Conrail blue paint job (nevermind the NS takeover and CSS heritage of the station) with broad white stripe. The station is quality right down to the Conrail quality look.


Er... Actually it's a dump with a new paint job. So bad the local interurban quit the station. A shame that town with a quality university has such a dump of a station. Andrew is right.


And for my vote: The former Roosevelt Road Metra Electric/South Shore station was once part of IC's Central Station, which Amtrak served for 1.5 years. We call it the "tarpaper palace" on the Metra forum. The worst train station in America. (It's gone as of 2008)

Here's a link to a story on the financial problems with KCUS:

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1441078.html

I'd still take the old Amshack over the previous Ambubble.

In terms of location, the Jacksonville station is truly awful.

Washington Union Station, in the period before it was restored, was really poor. Now it's a gem.

Well I know it's not Amtrak, but the VIA Rail Canada station in Victoria, BC, the southern terminus for trains 199/198 and 299/298 leaves much to be desired. A little shack on the edge of downtown Victoria.

Chessie GM50 wrote:I would like to nominate the Miami, FL station. The cab driver who was taking me back had no idea where it even was!

I was about to say how surprised I was, because it get's a lot of tri-rail use... when I did a wikipedia search and found theres an actual amtrak station further north from the tri-rail terminus. Wow, I had no idea.

Fortunately, theyll be moving soon.

You can see here what I THOUGHT was Miami amtrak, and to the left where it will be in 2-6 years

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 74,,0,-0.2