Houston (Amtrak station)

Houston Amtrak Station (Grand Central Station)
Houston Amtrak station
Station statistics
Address	902 Washington Avenue
Coordinates	29.76727°N 95.36754°W / 29.76727; -95.36754
Lines	Sunset Limited
Connections	Greyhound, METRO Bus, and Thruway Motorcoach
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	2
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	No
Baggage check	Yes
Other information
Opened	1886
Closed	2014 (proposed)
Rebuilt	1934, 1959
Accessible
Code	HOS
Owned by	Union Pacific Railroad
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	19,637  7% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station San Antonio toward Los Angeles Sunset Limited Beaumont toward New Orleans

The Houston Amtrak station is a train station in Houston, Texas, United States served by Amtrak, the U.S. national railroad passenger system.

The present station, which opened to passengers on October 26, 1959, was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad to replace the former Grand Central Station which was located just to the east of the current property. 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, in its turn, replaced the original Houston & Texas Central depot of 1886. When Amtrak was created it was one of two train stations in Houston that served Amtrak trains, the other being Union Station, which is now part of Minute Maid Park. All Amtrak trains were moved to Southern Pacific Station by the end of July 1974, and all trains were either canceled or rerouted out of Houston except the Sunset Limited. This station continued to be owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad even after the creation of Amtrak, and to this day is owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad since the merger of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific.

A third station, the Katy Railroad Depot, was located at the top of the Main Street viaduct, adjacent to the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD). It had ceased to be an active passenger station by the end of 1958 and never served Amtrak. It has now been demolished, except for part of the platform which still exists under the main street viaduct.

Intermodal Transit Center

Whenever the funding becomes available, the current Amtrak station will be replaced by the Houston Intermodal Transit Center, located just north of downtown, on the Union Pacific Main line. It is planned to be a much larger facility, with the tracks running underground, similar to the design of Penn Station in New York.

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

See also

• Transportation in Houston

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Houston, TX
• Houston Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)