Union Station (Pittsburgh)

Pittsburgh
Station statistics
Address	1100 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Coordinates	40°26′40″N 79°59′30″W
Lines	Capitol Limited   Pennsylvanian
Connections	Port Authority of Allegheny County
Platforms	3 + 1 disused
Tracks	2 + 3 disused
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Other information
Opened	1903
Rebuilt	1954 & 1988
Accessible
Code	PGH
Owned by	Amtrak
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	133,855  1.8%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Alliance toward Chicago Capitol Limited Connellsville toward Washington, D.C. Terminus Pennsylvanian Greensburg toward New York City
Pennsylvania Railroad Station U.S. National Register of Historic Places Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark Coordinates: 40°26′40″N 79°59′30″W Built: 1898 Architect: D.H. Burnham & Company Architectural style: Beaux Arts Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: rotunda: 73001587 station: 76001597 Significant dates Added to NRHP: rotunda: April 11, 1973 station: April 22, 1976 Designated PHLF: rotunda 1991, station 2003

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 in the United States.

History

Unlike many union stations built in the U.S. 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.

The restoration of Union Station in the mid-1980s converted the office tower into apartments, and is now called The Pennsylvanian which opened to residents on May 23, 1988. The concourse, which is no longer open to the public, was transformed into a lobby for commercial spaces on the ground floor and the paint cleaned off the great central skylight.

Current passenger service

Union Station continues to serve as an active railway station, but through a smaller passenger area on the Liberty Avenue side of the building. It is the western terminus of Amtrak's Pennsylvanian route and is along the Capitol Limited route. 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.

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. However, the line was difficult to integrate into other services, since it utilized a portion of an old single tracked former Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel. This tunnel travels beneath the offices of United States Steel, and the building's structural supports are on each side of the tunnel, prohibiting the installation of a second track. The station is still listed as part of the Red Line subway service but has had no regular service since 1993. As late as 2001, the line would only see, if any, up to two afternoon rush hour trains. It is not clear as to why service on this line was discontinued, but it is likely attributed to the aforementioned infrastructure limitations as well as limited ridership. Moreover, Penn Station is within the boundary of Port Authority's "Free Fare Zone," therefore service to the station does not generate any additional revenue.

The station continues to be used in extremely limited circumstances, including usage as part of the Port Authority's detoured transportation routes following Super Bowl XLV on 6 February 2011.

Port Authority bus connections

• 1, 11, 14, 39, 40, 44, P1, P2, G2 P7, P10, P12, P13, P16, P17, P67, P68, P69, P71, P78,

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

Images

• 

  The rotunda

• 

  Center of the rotunda

• 

  Union Station, ca. 1910

• 

  East Busway station near the railroad building.

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Pittsburgh, PA
• 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)
• The Pennsylvanian