Stations whose ridership has plummeted since the start of Amtrak

[SouthernRailway]

For the opposite of the “stations with surging ridership since the start of Amtrak” thread:

What stations are still in service but have ridership that has plummeted under Amtrak?

I’d vote for Greenville, South Carolina:

The Crescent is a shorter train than it was before Amtrak, so it simply can’t fit as many riders as it used to.

The northbound Crescent arrives later at night than it used to, and timekeeping is poor.

The station is now unstaffed.

My grandfather told me about the Southern Railway having a set-out sleeper in Greenville in the 1950s: you could board the sleeper just sitting there in the station and the train (I’d guess the Crescent) would attach it when the train arrived. And there were numerous passenger trains through Greenville. But now it seems as though 1 or 2 sleeping car passengers per train in Greenville (2 to 4 per day, with 2 trains) seems typical.

Any similar stations?

[Arborwayfan]

Good question. Maybe some of the Utah stations on the CZ? Provo and helper used to be at slightly better times of day on the Rio Grande Zephyr and the original CZ. Green River may have been a busier place back then, too.

[mtuandrew]

North Philadelphia

[Pensyfan19]

Not technically a station but the Atlanta region. Only train that runs near is the once daily Crescent whereas Union Station used to have dozens of trains from various railways per day.

[Arborwayfan]

Oh, of course! Then some of the Cardinal stations fit. Weren't still several trains a day into Cincinnati, for example, compared to just 3x a week each way now, for example?

[east point]

Pennsyfan" Atlanta actually had 2 main stations + present Peachtree station. That was Union station and Terminal station. Although no actual figures as late as 1958 7 Round trips a day at Peachtree station probably had more passengers than Amtrak does now.
Approximate~ ~Post war train counts subject to very false memories.
SAL =,3 thru RT + 1 terminate
SOU - 8 - 10 thru RT + 3 terminate
GaRR - 2 terminate
CofGa - 3 terminate
A&WP - 3 terminate one was thru with SOU
ACL - 3 terminate
NC&SL - 2 terminate
L&N - 3 terminate
There were several lines that had thru cars with others but Pullman had a large overhaul facility east of downtown that serviced many Pullmans every day. Had large buildings that were served by a transfer table between buildings

[east point]

Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Toledo, Michigan, Buffalo all stations, Springfield Ma, Pittsburgh, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Petersburgh, Savannah, Jacksonville, Tampa -, Miami and all stations in between, New Orleans, Birmingham, Memphis, Dallas, Houston, FtWorth, Austin, San Antonia, Denver, Salt Lake city, Any of the SW chief cities not served by other trains,

[John_Perkowski]

Denver Union Station.

Ogden Union Station

Kansas City Union Station

Omaha Union and BN Union Station

[rcthompson04]

I suspect all the Pennsylvania stations outside the Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor with the exception of North Philadelphia.

[Gilbert B Norman]

My grandfather told me about the Southern Railway having a set-out sleeper in Greenville in the 1950s

That car line was still there as of August '62 when I took a joyride Northward on #20 (Terminal Station still - "live and licking" - well of sorts).

While Greenville does have several small schools (Bob Jones, Furman, and a Clemson branch), it hardly has the same student traffic base as does Clemson - and there have been reports around here that Amtrak "doesn't exactly" make its product attractive for that student body.

[Arborwayfan]

I've changed my mind about Provo, and I think Salt Lake City needs reconsideration, too. In April 1971, Provo had just the RGZ 3x/week each direction. SLC had the RGZ (at Rio Grande Station), and the UP City of Los Angeles (at UP station, I assume; but they are very close to each other). WP, I believe, had ended service to SLC when it got out of the CZ, and the SP was in Ogden. Now, on the other hand, Provo (at two separate stations) and SLC (at one slightly relocated station) have daily Amtrak CZ and a couple dozen Frontrunner trains daily ex Sun. If 95 miles of Frontrunner counts as train service and those passengers count as passenger, both of those stations probably have way more than before Amtrak.

Also, I wonder about Denver, which now has several lines of frequent commuter rail (I guess that depends; someone could argue it's more like urban heavy rail transit) that probably carry more pax than the April 1971 trains).

But maybe the thread is asking only about stations where Amtrak carries fewer pax than its predecessors did in April 1971. Which did you mean, Southern Railway?

(Goes back to work, anticipating reading fun arguments about what kinds of service count. )

[SouthernRailway]

I'd say stations where rail ridership has plummeted, with all railroads serving the station and all types of passenger trains serving the station included.

Greenville, SC must top them all, or come close to topping them all: from a nice station with frequent service to down to just a handful of sleeping car passengers per day.

[artman]

Denver Union Station.

Ogden Union Station

Kansas City Union Station

Omaha Union and BN Union Station

Denver Union Station is a very busy station these days.

[Pensyfan19]

Denver Union Station.

Ogden Union Station

Kansas City Union Station

Omaha Union and BN Union Station

Denver Union Station is a very busy station these days.

In terms of short distance commuter in the form of RTD commuter rail, Denever is considered a busy station. However, in terms of long disnatce or intercity service, Denver has nowhere near as much as it used to. At least not yet until (privately owned, sorry ) Rocky Mountain Express starts intercity high speed rail service across the state.

[CarterB]

Indianapolis Union Station....once served by NYC, PRR many trains a day....now down to one.