Amtrak Saddest Stations? <POLL QUESTION>

I'll counter the Newark Penn Station argument and say that its not so sad. Yes, there are homeless people. Yes, there are crazy people. But hey, at least its bustling, and in a city on the rise (albeit slowly). Its a gateway to Devils games, Red Bulls games, and concerts and serviced by myriad rail lines (and a light rail line).

When I think sad, I don't necessarily think Amshacks, I think about large underutilized old beautiful stations that are often falling apart. Some examples would be:

Toledo
Pittsburgh
Indianapolis
Kansas City
New Orleans
Cincinnati

I realize that some of these have been beautifully restored, but their heydeys of rail service are long behind them.

Detroit and Buffalos old terminals would also fit the bill but they're not technically Amtrak anymore.

Seems to me there are a few different categories here.
-Grand stations that are underused (Toledo, Cincinnati)
-Modern buildings that replaced something much nicer (Buffalo, St. Louis)
-Stations that are inadequate for the amount of traffic handled (Stamford)
-Stations that are falling apart (Hartford)

Some fall into more than one category. Penn Station NY, for example, is both inadequate for the amount of traffic and an ugly modern replacement.

Also- Kingston, RI is one of the prettiest small stations I know, and is always kept clean, manicured and in good repair. However, having the Acela blast by doing 150mph when you're standing on the low-level waiting for the Regional is one of the more terrifying railroad experiences I've had. Got to put that down on the list somewhere.

Pittsburgh indeed. I took the Pennsylvanian once, and was underwhelmed. More like a bus-stop in the corner of a parking lot. Is it even still the original station? Otherwise, it's a great rail town to catch some action. I stayed across from PNC park facing a pretty heavily used rail-line. And Pittsburgh is definitely a town on the rebound.

Did Amtrak ever stop at Pawtucket-Central Falls? I know trains still go underneath every day. That place has been a dump for years.

Hartford shouldn't be on the list. It has a Subway, Dunkin Donuts, bathrooms, cash machine, news stand, ample parking, taxis, new digital monitors, and an elevator to the platform. Amenity-wise it's pretty good.

The viaduct is falling apart, but planning is far along to rebuild I-84, which will include relocating the tracks and replacing viaduct.

Charleston, SC is an embarrassment to the Palmetto State. Such a wonderful historic city deserves much better. First of all, the station is not actually in Charleston, but in one of the worst sections of North Charleston. It looks like something from the 1950s, and it's surrounded by a chain-link fence to boot.

Boston South Station is inadequate for the amount of business. Back Bay is sad because an apparently nice 1929 station was torn down in the 1980s & replaced with a generic, and the B&A platform is unpleasant and low-level.

I'm going to completely disagree on Hartford. I've used it plenty of times. Architecturally it looks nice except for the additions on the downtown side. The parking is inadequate; there's a small lot across the street, and otherwise completely screwed up street parking. If you're counting the lots on the downtown side, I wouldn't trust them, and they're inconvenient. They've redone the sidewalks on the downtown side that actually reduced the amount of street parking available. It's only convenient to pick up passengers on the bus side of the terminal; half of that is now a CTDOT bus stop (not the reserved Peter Pan area). They reversed the traffic pattern, and taxi's now use the far side of the station; completely inconvenient with luggage. They could fix the traffic pattern, and return the taxis, but with the new bus stop it would be tough. As it is now, jackwagons stop in the middle of the street, or the bus stop, to pick up passengers on the bus side because there's not enough room anywhere else to do it. Yes, there's a Subway and DD. That's about it. And inadequate seating for those who use them. Security is a joke. I had a fall and cut on my forehead, and those idiots didn't even have a first aid kit. There's one elevator to the platform and it's poorly marked and slow. The shuttle stops by the long staircase; no escalator.

I've also heard that the tracks may be moved; that's just a rumor right now. Are they going to move the entire bus operation, too? Because that would seem to have to be done as well.

Jeff,

I've only used the Hartford station once, but from your story, it sounds like you would have been handled better at Willoughby.

Les

Don't get me wrong, the station has major potential. I wouldn't call it "sad", but there are a lot of issues. I lived within walking distance, so the logistical issues I point out weren't really a problem for me. But Hartford Transit District really screwed the area up. Half the improvements were done half-assed, and they didn't think through a lot of their "improvements".

The first thing I'd do, if I were Amtrak, I'd move back to the main hall and use the inside track; let CTDOT have the current track. A better boarding experience would be very nice. There's nothing wrong with the main hall. But the bus portion of it is VERY inadequate, and Amtrak is a second class citizen there.

Ridgefielder wrote:Seems to me there are a few different categories here.
-Grand stations that are underused (Toledo, Cincinnati)
-Modern buildings that replaced something much nicer (Buffalo, St. Louis)
-Stations that are inadequate for the amount of traffic handled (Stamford)
-Stations that are falling apart (Hartford)

Some fall into more than one category. Penn Station NY, for example, is both inadequate for the amount of traffic and an ugly modern replacement.

Also- Kingston, RI is one of the prettiest small stations I know, and is always kept clean, manicured and in good repair. However, having the Acela blast by doing 150mph when you're standing on the low-level waiting for the Regional is one of the more terrifying railroad experiences I've had. Got to put that down on the list somewhere.

For me, I think there needs to be some component of "Sadness to Population Factor" in here as well.

For a city in the top 5 in population in the US, Houston' Amtrak Station has got be right there.

No hate for Indianapolis? It's a depressing cave underneath the old trainshed with loud, flickering fluorescent lights. Terrible experience. Amherst (now closed) was pretty bad too. There was a building, but I think half was rented out to a private business and the rest was empty.

The under track level station at Indy,is more of a Greyhound hub,not a rail station,access to track level is
restricted,crowded when multiple buses are empting/loading,poor snack bar,just a BAD overall experance!

Unfortunately, there are just too many substandard stations! Pittsburgh is no prize, the reborn Denver station puts Amtrak in a small hallway with no reasonable way to get to and from the train unlike its predecessor configuration, NYP is just a national embarrassment and since I used to use Stamford when it was a major NYNH&H station with many fond memories, I found the unbelievably badly designed Metro North concrete monster a poster child for incompetent architecture. I use Syracuse quite a bit, and while it works, the platform is way too short for its primary train, the Lake Shore Limited, necessitating two stops and usually a 20 minute dwell while passengers are ticket checked on the platform...and this happens twice a day = about 34 hours per year of wasted time. Perhaps a survey by category: worst design, worst condition, dirtiest, worst manned, etc.

Do we have a thread for "Amtrak's Happiest Stations"? I like the idea up-thread about different categories - best waiting room, best boarding/platforms, best location, best foodservice, best shops, best small/medium/large station, etc.