Tour of St. Paul Union Depot, National Train Day

[Ispolkom]

There will be tours of SPUD on Saturday, National Train Day. It's a chance to see how the restoration is going.

 

[rtabern]

When I was at the MSP station last week, one of the station managers advised me Amtrak won't be moving to SPUD until December 20, 2012 at the earliest... however... with the harsh winters we have here in the Upper Midwest... it would probably be more likely early Spring 2013.

When #8 rolled by, I noticed they were putting up the platform shelters.

I am sure SPUD will be a welcome change from what I've seen -- but I hope they are some affordable hotels near the new station -- I like the reasonable rates Days Inn Midway has and how you can walk there from the Amtrak station.

 

[Guest]

I hope Amtrak keeps the Midway station as a stop as well. The free parking and not having to drive into a congested downtown area are both incentives to take Amtrak.

 

[the_traveler]

I'm not sure how far it is from Midway Station, but I highly doubt they would use both. In Boston, they use both South Station and Back Bay, but there are millions of people in Boston, and BBY alone has over 300,000 passengers. I don't think MSP serves that many.

 

[jebr]

Highly doubtful that they would use both. While the free parking may be lost (though there's probably a way to get free parking in downtown St. Paul, at least near Union Station, since it's the smaller of the two cities), it'll be much easier to access via public transit.

 

[Guest]

It's too bad that the new station stop will be further away from the higher population concentration of the Twin Cities which is on the Minneapolis side.

 

[Ispolkom]

It's too bad that the new station stop will be further away from the higher population concentration of the Twin Cities which is on the Minneapolis side.

I'm sure that a Minneapolis station would have been restored instead of SPUD, if any still existed in usable condition. But any new Minneapolis station would either a) be located in a desolate, industrial area no better than the present Midway Station, or b) would be on a spur line requiring each train to back into the station. Located on the east side of the metropolitan area, SPUD is also a more reasonable terminus for high-speed rail, since no high speed tracks are ever going to be built through St. Paul.

Minneapolis is bleating about how they have to have a railroad station, too, but the question is money. SPUD's restoration was financed with federal money that was a lot easier to come by 3-4 years ago. I'd think that the prospective Minneapolis football stadium is going to suck up any available local or state funds.

There's not going to be any free parking near the station, and the hotels near by (Crown Plaza, Hilton Garden Inn) aren't going to be as cheap as the Days Inn. On the other hand, public transportation links will be much better, and the neighborhood has more amenities. The city and county see SPUD as a center for downtown redevelopment, but they don't have the best record of success on such projects.

Moderator edit: correct quote coding.

 

[SubwayNut]

Remember that Light Rail is coming to the University Avenue corridor (going right passed the current station, which makes access to it a mess) in about 2014 and judging from the fact that trains operate from 4am to 1am on the Hiawatha Line you should be able to connect back to for example the cheep Day's Inn from every Empire Builder as long as the westbound isn't absurdly late.

 

[Exiled in Express]

When I was at the MSP station last week, one of the station managers advised me Amtrak won't be moving to SPUD until December 20, 2012 at the earliest... however... with the harsh winters we have here in the Upper Midwest... it would probably be more likely early Spring 2013.

When #8 rolled by, I noticed they were putting up the platform shelters.

I am sure SPUD will be a welcome change from what I've seen -- but I hope they are some affordable hotels near the new station -- I like the reasonable rates Days Inn Midway has and how you can walk there from the Amtrak station.

Holday travel seems like a poor time to make the move, dead of late January will probably inconvenience/catch off guard the least number of passengers. Half a dozen walkable hotels from SPUD, but not regularly under $100.

Will there be a shuttle for those passengers that park and depart from Midway but return to SPUD?

 

[rtabern]

I hope Amtrak keeps the Midway station as a stop as well. The free parking and not having to drive into a congested downtown area are both incentives to take Amtrak.

Nope... will not happen. Midway will be gone when they move to SPUD.

I think they should add a stop near Minneapolis Junction where they keep the 261... that would make the most sense... however there are a lot of challenges like Ispolkom mentioned.

 

[SRBear]

Anyone who thinks you can park for free in downtown St. Paul has never been to downtown St. Paul. My estimate is to park the car for a one week trip will cost about $485.00. There is public transportation if you live in Minneapolis or on the west side of St. Paul. Even on the east side of St. Paul, where I live, one cannot get public transport to downtown except during rush hour.

So it is back to the airport for me.

 

[jebr]

Anyone who thinks you can park for free in downtown St. Paul has never been to downtown St. Paul. My estimate is to park the car for a one week trip will cost about $485.00. There is public transportation if you live in Minneapolis or on the west side of St. Paul. Even on the east side of St. Paul, where I live, one cannot get public transport to downtown except during rush hour.
So it is back to the airport for me.

Where is that estimate coming from? I'm guessing that Amtrak may cover some or all of the parking cost if you have a train ticket. Even if they didn't, I can't imagine parking will be more than $5-$10/day. (It's not going to be $69 per night, unless you park on the street illegally and get booted and towed. Nowhere close...even Chicago only charges $20/day for parking at their book rate at Union Station, and parking is much, much more expensive there.)

Ideally, they'll find a way to make one of the Northstar stations work for passengers who need free parking. Otherwise Red Wing or St. Cloud are options.

 

[Trainut]

My wife and I went to check out the SPUD on new years day. We could not find any where to park downtown, other than in the depot. We were not in there more than 2 hours, there was not more than 10 cars in the place. The charge to park there for less than 2 hours was $5.00. The next day I called the SPUD office and asked why so much, they said that is what it will be.

Also talked with the ticket agent at the midway station, he said that he and all the Amtrak people will have to pay to park when they move to SPUD.

 

[jebr]

My wife and I went to check out the SPUD on new years day. We could not find any where to park downtown, other than in the depot. We were not in there more than 2 hours, there was not more than 10 cars in the place. The charge to park there for less than 2 hours was $5.00. The next day I called the SPUD office and asked why so much, they said that is what it will be.Also talked with the ticket agent at the midway station, he said that he and all the Amtrak people will have to pay to park when they move to SPUD.

Is that a daily fee or based on the hours? I remember seeing $5 mentioned somewhere when I went there to visit, but I don't remember if it was a flat daily rate or not.

 

[Ispolkom]

Mrs. Ispolkom works downtown a block from SPUD. Daily parking underneath the depot did use to be $5, and it's still somewhere around $6 at the TPT ramp.