'New' Union Station for Raleigh, NC

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brianpmcdonnell17 said:
I apologize if there is a more recent thread on the subject, but this is the only one I could find. Raleigh Union Station will be opening on January 31, 2018. As of now, the building is nearly complete as is the basic structure for the platform.
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20171014_093354.jpgThe attached photo was taken on October 14th, 2017 from the current Amtrak platform. The new platform is in the front of the photo with the new station building visible in the back.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
Raleigh Union Station will be opening on January 31, 2018. ... the building is nearly complete as is the basic structure for the platform.
Click to expand...
The attached photo was taken on October 14th, 2017 from the current Amtrak platform. The new platform is in the front of the photo, with the new station building visible in the back.
Click to expand...
Sorry, Brian. I'm having trouble 'reading' the photo and caption.

The current platform is low level, on the left. Across the tracks is the high-level platform under construction. Where is the station? Wasn't it supposed to be a rebuilt historic period warehouse building? But I only see a framework of a metal building not nearly finished. Far distance is a red-brick hulk, quite a long walk from the platform, could it be the station?

Anyway, thanks for the update.
 
WoodyinNYC said:
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
Raleigh Union Station will be opening on January 31, 2018. ... the building is nearly complete as is the basic structure for the platform.
Click to expand...
The attached photo was taken on October 14th, 2017 from the current Amtrak platform. The new platform is in the front of the photo, with the new station building visible in the back.
Click to expand...
Sorry, Brian. I'm having trouble 'reading' the photo and caption.

The current platform is low level, on the left. Across the tracks is the high-level platform under construction. Where is the station? Wasn't it supposed to be a rebuilt historic period warehouse building? But I only see a framework of a metal building not nearly finished. Far distance is a red-brick hulk, quite a long walk from the platform, could it be the station?

Anyway, thanks for the update.
Click to expand...
My understanding is that the present / old ex-Southern station headhouse, is to the left or behind the photographer. The photographer is standing on the single platform of said station.

To the right was the former location of the NS by-pass tracks and sidings. The metal frame you can see is the platform canopy under construction plus access ramps from the underpass. The converted warehouse is more to the right beyond the edge of the picture.
 
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WoodyinNYC said:
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
brianpmcdonnell17 said:
Raleigh Union Station will be opening on January 31, 2018. ... the building is nearly complete as is the basic structure for the platform.
Click to expand...
The attached photo was taken on October 14th, 2017 from the current Amtrak platform. The new platform is in the front of the photo, with the new station building visible in the back.
Click to expand...
Sorry, Brian. I'm having trouble 'reading' the photo and caption.The current platform is low level, on the left. Across the tracks is the high-level platform under construction. Where is the station? Wasn't it supposed to be a rebuilt historic period warehouse building? But I only see a framework of a metal building not nearly finished. Far distance is a red-brick hulk, quite a long walk from the platform, could it be the station?

Anyway, thanks for the update.
Click to expand...
You are correct about the platforms; sorry if I was unclear. The new station was developed on the site of an old warehouse, but does not at all resemble it. The new station building is the metal and glass structure in the back center of the photograph. Why do you think it needs a lot more work? From passing by on the train, the outside structure of the building appears complete. The areas of the wall that may appear empty actually have glass.
Sent from my SM-J327P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
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cirdan said:
Some up to date information available here ...

https://www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/PlanDev/Articles/UrbanDesign/UnionStation.html
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Well, O.K. then. Great set of shots courtesy Raleigh taxpayers.

If they had labeled stuff in even one of them, like, future platform, future tracks, parking, etc. Sigh.

But I do get the big picture.

Nice to see that station will have some elbow room and a place for greenery. Looks like it could be a handsome piece of architecture and a landmark for the city. Imagine people knowing where the train station is and being proud of it.
 
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It's great to see a publicrail project that actually plans for future expansion. I especially like the inclusion of the future concourse along the former Seaboard line to Richmond.That, I assume, will be the Southeast HSR line to Washington.
 
Did anyone notice the future platform from SAL Norlina to the NS line to Selma and maybe onward ? That has all sorts on implications. Such as Petersburg - Raleigh - Selma - "A" line to Savannah.
 
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The implication of that part of the station is mostly about Petersburg - Raleigh - Cary - Greensboro - Charlotte at present. Of course the Star would also likely be rerouted through That platform to Savannah via Cary too.

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Not talking about the leg to Cary. The wye leg that goes toward Selma from Norlina shows a future platform on the station plan.
 
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It's only sensible to build in provisions for all possible future platforms. Don't assume that this means any services will use them in the forseeable future; particularly the Selma-Norlina leg is mostly just future-proofing. The Cary-Norlina route is a serious plan and may happen in the near future, however.
 
west point said:
Not talking about the leg to Cary. The wye leg that goes toward Selma from Norlina shows a future platform on the station plan.
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There is no platform planned specifically for the Selma leg of the Wye. Actually none on the Cary leg either which has a very sharp curve.

According to the plans the only other platform will be well north of where the Cary and Selma legs meet up heading towards Norlina as part of the SEHSR. This platform will be linked to the main building by what is shown as the Future Concourse along the Norlina to Cary leg of the Wye. But the platform will be accessible both for Norlina - Cary and Norlina - Selma trains.

For details of plan development, see this slideset:

https://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PlanDev/Documents/UrbanDesign/UnionStation/PRTF/CORUnionStationUpdate_111411.pdf

I don't think this suggest any specific plans to run anything along that leg of the Wye.

NCDOT's main plans are to run along the Cary - Selma leg all the way out to the Atlantic Coast some day, continue to run at least some service from Rocky Mount to Charlotte, and mainly concentrate on Charlotte - Raleigh, and Raleigh - Norlina - Petersburg - Richmond. Incidentally the possibility of running something from Norlina towards Selma remains open but not a priority.

As for any service from Raleigh towards Fayetteville and Savannah via Selma, that will be a very tough one, since there is no connection in that direction at Selma and it is relatively difficult to find the space for such a connection there. I would chalk that up only as a very theoretical possibility that will most likely never happen.
 
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I do see one potential problem in the plans, and that's parking. I see 30-some parking places, which is a few more than exist at the current station, but that's not going to be enough. Early discussions talked about a nearby parking garage being built. Obviously it's not part of this project, but sufficient, inexpensive parking will probably be necessary to allow the ridership to reach its potential.

jb
 
John Bobinyec said:
I do see one potential problem in the plans, and that's parking. I see 30-some parking places, which is a few more than exist at the current station, but that's not going to be enough. Early discussions talked about a nearby parking garage being built. Obviously it's not part of this project, but sufficient, inexpensive parking will probably be necessary to allow the ridership to reach its potential.

jb
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Agreed.

If they do build the planned LRT system for accessing the station, it might alleviate the issue somewhat, but not entirely. The "intense mixed use" area identified in the plan for the area, may include a parking structure as part of such a development though. So we'll have to see how all that develops too.

Shawn Ryu said:
Any plans for LRT, streetcar or BRT to really make this a transit hub?
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Take a look at the slides near the end of the slideset that I posted a link to above. Yes, there is an LRT link planned, is the short answer. As for when it will exactly happen, that remains an open issue I guess.
 
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SubwayNut said:
Parking? Isn't that what subrurban station In Cary is for. Park & Ride passengers.
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That too, though Cary does not exactly have a huge amount of parking nor space available to put in more either.

OTOH, the free downtown circulator route in Raleigh will be routed via the new station, saving the three block walk to it that is involved now. And there are several large parking structures for public parking on the route of the free downtown circulator too.
 
The large building under construction across the street known as The Dillon includes a very large parking deck which is intended to provide some parking for train passengers. While the parking will likely not be free, it will definitely be plentiful.

I have some issues with the general layout of this station. Passengers walking between the platform and the station building are stuck with a rather long, sloping walk along the 'concourse' to the station building itself. Furthermore, the concourse connects to the very back of the station, meaning that anybody trying to walk from a train to a job downtown, say, gets to walk about an extra 1000 feet in order to do so.

Building a station inside the Wye makes great sense. But I feel they were too hung up on reusing the existing Viaduct Building (and all they really reused of it. were the steel girders anyway.) While IMO this sort of long walk to/from the platforms would be fine for a temporary situation, nothing about the finish and scope of work they're doing here feels temporary. So we will have an extremely beautiful train station that is an exceedingly pleasant space to wait for your train, or to orient oneself upon arrival to the city, but a rather inconvenient walk from the platform to the station itself.
 
Yeah, the long walk is sort of an artifact of the following:

(1) future-proofing -- it will be an equally long walk to the HSR platforms when they get built

(2) allowance for cars and trucks to get inside the wye -- the natural, short underground route to the platform can't be used because the car route to get under the east leg of the wye is sloping down through where it would go

At least the entrance is closer to downtown Raleigh than the old station on the "wrong side of the tracks", and rerouting the "R Line" downtown circulator to it should help.
 
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The new station will get a lot of acclaim despite the long walks. Actually the walks aren't that much longer than between one end of the RDU parking deck and the far end of the C or D concourse in RDU Terminal 2.

But I still intend to use CYN when I'm headed south and RMT when I'm headed north.
 

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