Union Station (Pittsburgh)
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| Pittsburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Station statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Address | 1100 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 |
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| Coordinates | 40°26′40″N 79°59′30″W / 40.44444°N 79.99167°WCoordinates: 40°26′40″N 79°59′30″W / 40.44444°N 79.99167°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lines | Capitol Limited Pennsylvanian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Port Authority of Allegheny County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 3 + 1 disused | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Code | PGH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Amtrak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traffic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers (2008) | 142,828 ▲ 19% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Union Station or Pennsylvania Station (commonly called "Penn Station" by locals) is a historic train station at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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[edit] History
Unlike many union stations built in the US to serve the needs of more than one railroad, this facility connected the Pennsylvania Railroad with several subsidiary lines; for that reason it was renamed in 1912 to match other Pennsylvania Stations.
The station building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built 1898–1903. The materials were a grayish-brown terra cotta that looked like brownstone, and brick. Though Burnham is regarded more as a planner and organizer rather than a designer of details, which were left to draftsmen like Peter Joseph Weber, the most extraordinary feature of the monumental train station is his: the rotunda with corner pavilions. At street level the rotunda sheltered turning spaces for carriages beneath wide low vaulted spaces that owed little to any historicist style. Above, the rotunda sheltered passengers in a spectacular waiting room. Burnham's firm went on to complete more than a dozen projects in Pittsburgh, some on quite prominent sites. The rotunda is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
The restoration of Union Station in the mid-1980s converted the office tower into condominiums. The waiting room, no longer open to the public, was transformed into a lobby for the condominiums, and the paint cleaned off the great central skylight.
[edit] Current passenger service
Union Station continues to serve as an active railway station. It is the western terminus of Amtrak's Pennsylvanian route and is along the Capitol Limited route. For getting to and from Pittsburgh by train, the former route is considered to be far more useful, as the latter passes through Pittsburgh late at night and very early in the morning. Until 2005, Pittsburgh was served by a third daily train, the Three Rivers (a replacement service for the legendary Broadway Limited), an extended version of the Pennsylvanian that terminated in Chicago. Upon its cancellation, the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited marked the first time in Pittsburgh's railway history that the city was served by just two daily passenger trains.
Union Station's Amtrak station code is PGH.
[edit] Penn station (PAT station)
The Port Authority opened a spur to Penn Park station in 1988, to link the 1985 downtown subway to the East Busway.[2] However, the line was single track due to infrastructure limitations and was difficult to integrate into other services. The station is still listed as part of the 42 South Hills Village service but has had no regular service since 1993.[3]
[edit] Port Authority Bus Connections
- 3L, 3M, 42S, 58C, 58P, 58V, 63A, 63B, 68A, 68B, 68D, 68F, 68G, 68J, 73B, 78A, 78C, 78E, 83B, 88A, 93A, AV, AVN, EBA, EBS, EBX, G, GR, HP, LP, P, PG, T, U, & W
[edit] Suburban Transit Connections
- Beaver County Transit Authority Routes 1, 3, & 4
- Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation Commuter
- Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority Route A
- New Castle Area Transit Authority Route 71
- Washington City Transit Commuter & Commuter Express
- Westmoreland County Transit Authority Routes 1 & 4
[edit] Images
 The rotunda |
 Center of the rotunda |
 Union Station, ca. 1910 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
- ^ "The Antique Motor Coach Association of Pennsylvania - The 80's at PAT - 1980 - 1989". 2008. http://www.amcap.org/history/alleghenycnty/pat/pat_part4.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
- ^ "Port AUthority Information - Penn Station". http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/Portals/guideways/eastbus/penn.html. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Union Station (Pittsburgh) |
- Images of Union Station, Pittsburgh
- Burnham's papers at the Carnegie Mellon Library
- Port Authority of Allegheny County Station Info
- Pittsburgh Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
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