Stations With Worst Locations

[SarahZ]

I'm not sure why Detroit is on this list. The station is located on Woodward Avenue (a major highway), just north of Wayne State University, and is situated only a few blocks from I-94, I-75, and The Lodge.

If people live in Metro Detroit, they have their choice of Pontiac, Troy, Royal Oak, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor. They don't have to drive to Detroit to board a train.

 

[Chessie]

And then there is Princeton Jct. at West Windsor - quite a mouthful. Some of the station boards actually carry the full moniker.

I forever wish we didn't need the dinky.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I'm not sure why Detroit is on this list. The station is located on Woodward Avenue (a major highway), just north of Wayne State University, and is situated only a few blocks from I-94, I-75, and The Lodge.

If people live in Metro Detroit, they have their choice of Pontiac, Troy, Royal Oak, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor. They don't have to drive to Detroit to board a train.

I added Detroit because of its lack of transit access and distance from urban core. Every major Amtrak-served city not on the list that I could think of is in or very close to the downtown of that city. Once the streetcar opens than I agree that it shouldn't be on the list.

 

[neroden]

If a station name is hyphenated, you can guess it's in the wrong city.

Ha, good point. Even the Bingen-White Salmon station is located in Bingen, which is one-third the size of White Salmon...though neither is exactly a booming metropolis.

I think you could make an exception for Bloomington-Normal. The station is in Normal, which is moderately smaller than Bloomington. But the station is right on the edge of Illinois State University, which must surely be a big source of passengers.

Another exception might be Champaign-Urbana. The station is located in downtown Champaign, the larger of the two cities. And it's within reasonable walking distance of the University of Illinois, whose campus straddles the two municipalities.

Yeah, those two are definitely exceptions.

 

[neroden]

I think there may be a plan to build a connection to the blue line at some point but I'm not 100% certain - and it won't be anytime soon.

I believe this plan is actually funded, with backing from the Mayor. Three block walkway. They're extending the underground walkway which goes to the Amtrak parking garage to connect to the Clinton St station mezzanine. A bit of a Rube Goldberg job.

 

[SarahZ]

I'm not sure why Detroit is on this list. The station is located on Woodward Avenue (a major highway), just north of Wayne State University, and is situated only a few blocks from I-94, I-75, and The Lodge.

If people live in Metro Detroit, they have their choice of Pontiac, Troy, Royal Oak, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor. They don't have to drive to Detroit to board a train.

I added Detroit because of its lack of transit access and distance from urban core. Every major Amtrak-served city not on the list that I could think of is in or very close to the downtown of that city. Once the streetcar opens than I agree that it shouldn't be on the list.

You can hop on one of the Woodward Ave. bus routes and take it 2-3 miles south, which puts you in the heart of downtown Detroit. (I'm using Comerica Park and Greektown as reference points.) Not to mention, the station is less than a mile from the campus of Wayne State University.

I'm not trying to nitpick. I agree that Detroit needs better transit, but the station is still close to downtown and the university.

Also, remember that the Detroit station is not the major station for the area. The majority of people who live in "Detroit" actually live in the suburbs, which are served by the stations I listed previously.

 

[jebr]

I would also add Minneapolis and San Francisco, but the nearby stations are located in other major cities so their locations is not necessarily bad.

I would say that Minneapolis is honestly much better off than San Francisco. The Mississippi River is much, much easier to cross than the San Francisco Bay is, and Minneapolis and St. Paul are much more of equal cities than San Francisco and Oakland seem to be. Minneapolis and St. Paul are also more spread out as a metropolitan area than San Francisco seems to be, so I don't think having the station in downtown St. Paul is as much of an issue for convenience for a majority of residents.

If a station name is hyphenated, you can guess it's in the wrong city.

St. Paul - Minneapolis would be another exception I would have for this rule, mainly for the reasons stated above. Also, from a practical perspective, the current route lends itself much more easily to a downtown St. Paul stop than a convenient Minneapolis stop, and I don't think downtown St. Paul is that out-of-the way for most people traveling on the current Amtrak services. As corridor services build, I do see a need for having better connectivity to downtown Minneapolis, but even a downtown Minneapolis stop would only be significantly more convenient for downtown businesses and those taking transit from west of downtown Minneapolis.

I do think having a suburban stop would be helpful for those from the north and west metro to more easily access Amtrak. I've often thought a stop in Fridley would be worth the extra few minutes for a stop. Other Northstar commuter rail stations would probably work as well, but from the local documents I've read Fridley seems to have the most excess parking capacity. The only issue may be the platform length and, in Fridley's case, potential congestion on the mainline (it's still an issue at the other locations, but I believe there's more traffic there that splits off at Coon Creek.) There's an off chance that it could cause confusion during the morning rush at the stop, but I think most people would easily figure out the difference between the Amtrak trains and the Northstar trains.

 

[fairviewroad]

In terms of the "hyphenated station" rule-of-thumb, the exceptions all seem to be places where the city pair is frequently referred to that way anyhow. When I lived in Illinois lots of people talked about going to Champaign-Urbama as though that was the name of a single city. But nobody (I assume) talks about Albany-Renssellaer that way outside of the context of the Amtrak station, or Bingen-White Salmon, for that matter.

 

[StriderGDM]

Albany NY, it's not even in the right city.

Seriously, the station is quite nice, but distant from downtown Albany and mass transit there sucks.

 

[JayPea]

About Bingen-White Salmon: When the SP&S first laid tracks along the north bank of the Columbia River, in the first decade of the last century, the station was just called White Salmon, as the land the station was situated on was part of the White Salmon community. But in 1924, Bingen incorporated and the station was now located in Bingen. The citizenry of Bingen now demanded the station be renamed. But the SP&S was reluctant to do so, especially since White Salmon businessmen threatened to do all their shipping via Hood River, OR, across the Columbia. Bingen filed lawsuits, which ended up in the Washington Supreme Court. The suits were finally settled, in Bingen's favor, in 1930. The SP&S at that point renamed the station Bingen-White Salmon. And when Amtrak began serving the north bank of the Columbia, they kept the dual names. And now you have all you need to know about Bingen-White Salmon. :lol:

 

[TylerP42]

Toledo is located about a mile from Downtown Toledo with no local bus service. And it drops you off between the hours of 12AM and 6AM.

 

[Everydaymatters]

If a station name is hyphenated, you can guess it's in the wrong city.

Ha, good point. Even the Bingen-White Salmon station is located in Bingen, which is one-third the size of White Salmon...though neither is exactly a booming metropolis.

I think you could make an exception for Bloomington-Normal. The station is in Normal, which is moderately smaller than Bloomington. But the station is right on the edge of Illinois State University, which must surely be a big source of passengers.

Another exception might be Champaign-Urbana. The station is located in downtown Champaign, the larger of the two cities. And it's within reasonable walking distance of the University of Illinois, whose campus straddles the two municipalities.

Yeah, those two are definitely exceptions.

The station code for Bloomington/Normal is BNL and you can use either city to get a ticket. However, for Champana tickets, you must enter "Champaign". Try getting a ticket to "Urbana" and you'll find that "no stations match your entry". So where is the U of I? Is it in Champaign or Urbana? Does anyone iknow?

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

The station code for Bloomington/Normal is BNL and you can use either city to get a ticket. However, for Champana tickets, you must enter "Champaign". Try getting a ticket to "Urbana" and you'll find that "no stations match your entry". So where is the U of I? Is it in Champaign or Urbana? Does anyone iknow?

Both. The border of Champaign and Urbana is Green Street which cuts right through the middle of campus. Champaign is to the west and Urbana is to the east. Most of the academic buildings are in Urbana but the athletic facilities are in Champaign. It turns out the train station is in ... Champaign.

 

[PerRock]

I'm not sure why Detroit is on this list. The station is located on Woodward Avenue (a major highway), just north of Wayne State University, and is situated only a few blocks from I-94, I-75, and The Lodge.

If people live in Metro Detroit, they have their choice of Pontiac, Troy, Royal Oak, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor. They don't have to drive to Detroit to board a train.

I added Detroit because of its lack of transit access and distance from urban core. Every major Amtrak-served city not on the list that I could think of is in or very close to the downtown of that city. Once the streetcar opens than I agree that it shouldn't be on the list.

You can hop on one of the Woodward Ave. bus routes and take it 2-3 miles south, which puts you in the heart of downtown Detroit. (I'm using Comerica Park and Greektown as reference points.) Not to mention, the station is less than a mile from the campus of Wayne State University.

I'm not trying to nitpick. I agree that Detroit needs better transit, but the station is still close to downtown and the university.

Also, remember that the Detroit station is not the major station for the area. The majority of people who live in "Detroit" actually live in the suburbs, which are served by the stations I listed previously.

If you're discounting bus service connections, then even cities like Ann Arbor deserve to be on the list, it's outside of downtown and not counting the one bus route that stops there, no transit connections to downtown, the U, or anywhere else.

However the Detroit station will be much better connected shortly with the opening of the Woodward Ave/M-1/Q-Line Streetcar.

Toledo probably deserves to be on the list, it's not really near anything.

peter

 

[rtabern]

I would nominate Quincy, IL. Good luck getting from the station to the historic riverfront or hell... even a bathroom isnt even walking distance of the station.

 

[PaulM]

I would nominate Quincy, IL. Good luck getting from the station to the historic riverfront or hell... even a bathroom isnt even walking distance of the station.

But it is adjacent to a cow pasture that would serve if you get desperate.

The citizens don't seem to mind its location. Its parking lot is larger than most cities with 10 times the population; and it is often full. As I've said elsewhere, Quincians won't patronize a business unless you can see a corn field from the parking lot.

 

[Dave Van]

How about STRANGEST station?????

Prince WV.....a pretty little station, one of the very few manned in WV, very COOL Art Deco design with huge 'Cheesie' cat in floor of station. The town of Prince is nothing more than the station!!! Nothing else. Beckley is not far away but no way to get there other than private vehicle. A strange set up.

 

[neroden]

Toledo is located about a mile from Downtown Toledo with no local bus service. And it drops you off between the hours of 12AM and 6AM.

It's really not that bad a walk.... if there were a train which stopped in the daytime.

If a Toledo-Detroit train were reinstated, it *could* stop on the north side of downtown near Central Avenue and Detroit Avenue, but I think that's actually a worse location (residential on one side, desolation on the other).

 

[fairviewroad]

About Bingen-White Salmon: When the SP&S first laid tracks along the north bank of the Columbia River, in the first decade of the last century, the station was just called White Salmon, as the land the station was situated on was part of the White Salmon community. But in 1924, Bingen incorporated and the station was now located in Bingen. The citizenry of Bingen now demanded the station be renamed. But the SP&S was reluctant to do so, especially since White Salmon businessmen threatened to do all their shipping via Hood River, OR, across the Columbia. Bingen filed lawsuits, which ended up in the Washington Supreme Court. The suits were finally settled, in Bingen's favor, in 1930. The SP&S at that point renamed the station Bingen-White Salmon. And when Amtrak began serving the north bank of the Columbia, they kept the dual names. And now you have all you need to know about Bingen-White Salmon. :lol:

Very interesting, thanks!

 

[cirdan]

Another one worth mentioning is Hosuton.

It's not very far from the center really, and if the streets were more walkable and more welcoming, people would do that. But the way it is now, no.

The people who planned the light rail system also totally ignored the need to link to the station. I'm not even sure if there's a decent bus going anywhere from there these days.

And to add insult o injury, the site Texas Central are proposing for the bullet train is even further out and less connected.

 

[Eric S]

Another one worth mentioning is Hosuton.

It's not very far from the center really, and if the streets were more walkable and more welcoming, people would do that. But the way it is now, no.

The people who planned the light rail system also totally ignored the need to link to the station. I'm not even sure if there's a decent bus going anywhere from there these days.

And to add insult o injury, the site Texas Central are proposing for the bullet train is even further out and less connected.

A connection between Amtrak (and Greyhound) and local and regional transit was planned at one point - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Intermodal_Transit_Center - and it looks like there is some sort of transit center connecting local/regional buses and light rail there now

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

I say Lompoc-Surf. Totally not near Lompoc, in fact it's inside Vandenberg AFB.

Also, Palm Springs. Absolutely nothing, except for taxis to the actual city.

 

[bretton88]

Maricopa has to take the prize. Nothing serves it and it's not close to Phoenix without a very expensive shuttle or taxi ride.

 

[railbuck]

The station code for Bloomington/Normal is BNL and you can use either city to get a ticket. However, for Champana tickets, you must enter "Champaign". Try getting a ticket to "Urbana" and you'll find that "no stations match your entry". So where is the U of I? Is it in Champaign or Urbana? Does anyone iknow?

Both. The border of Champaign and Urbana is Green Street which cuts right through the middle of campus. Champaign is to the west and Urbana is to the east. Most of the academic buildings are in Urbana but the athletic facilities are in Champaign. It turns out the train station is in ... Champaign.

To be slightly more accurate: Both. The border of Champaign and Urbana is Wright Street which cuts wright through the middle of campus, just west of the Quad. Champaign is to the west and Urbana is to the east. Green Street cuts right through the middle of campus the other direction, just north of the Quad. Most of the academic buildings are in Urbana and most of the athletic facilities are in Champaign. A few academic buildings (Library, Architecture, and Natural Resources) straddle the city line.

Oddly, Google Maps labels the station Urbana even though it's clearly in downtown Champaign. I'll see if we can get that corrected.

 

[GaSteve]

How about STRANGEST station?????

Prince WV.....a pretty little station, one of the very few manned in WV, very COOL Art Deco design with huge 'Cheesie' cat in floor of station. The town of Prince is nothing more than the station!!! Nothing else. Beckley is not far away but no way to get there other than private vehicle. A strange set up.

Prince is no longer a staffed station.