Cleveland Amtrak Station

[Railroad Bill]

Will be boarding Amtrak #49 LSL from Cleveland this summer. Are there any places to park a car longterm around the depot area? Will be gone almost two weeks on a west coast trip to Oregon.

 

[clearfork]

The area around the station is for parking. There is no long-term or short-term parking. And, there is no cost. I have parked there (not for two weeks) with no problem. Others have told me, however, that cars have been damaged there. The entire area is fenced in, but of course it is open during station hours.

Just a thought, but if you were so moved, the RTA has a stop at the AMTRAK station (actually, Browns stadium). Thus, you could take the Rapid to Terminal Tower, switch to the flats/lakeshore line, and park somewhere else. Where are you driving from?

 

[AlanB]

Just a thought, but if you were so moved, the RTA has a stop at the AMTRAK station (actually, Browns stadium). Thus, you could take the Rapid to Terminal Tower, switch to the flats/lakeshore line, and park somewhere else. Where are you driving from?

Actually there is a stop right at the Amtrak station, but they only stop on request and then I believe only to drop people off. You must walk to the regular station about a block or two away to board the train.

Now, that said, the real problem with this idea is the fact that the GCRTA doesn't operate the trains on the Waterfront line basically between the hours of midnight to 6:00AM. That means that only the Eastbound Lake Shore arrives at a point when one can take the light rail from the Amtrak station back into town. For the eastbound Capitol you'll have to sit in the station for several hours till the light rail starts up.

And for both westbound departures (LSL & Capitol), you'll need to arrive at the Amtrak station before midnight and hang around there until your train arrives. It's not a horrible station, but it's also not a great station either.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Thanks everyone. Looks like some limited possibilities because of Rapid timelines. We considered parking at the airport and taking Rapid downtown from there. We live 60 miles from Cleveland and have already asked friends to take us to Amtrak stations at 4 am previously. Did not want to wear out our welcome with them. May take an older auto and check with police to see what their thoughts are about leaving our car at the Amtrak station.

Best wishes

RB

 

[Guest]

We live 60 miles from Cleveland and have already asked friends to take us to Amtrak stations at 4 am previously. Did not want to wear out our welcome with them. RB

Well, I'll also add this for what it's worth. I live 90miles from the Cleveland station and 110 miles from the Toledo station. For westbound LSL, it's worth the extra 20 miles to leave from Toledo a bit after 6 am than from Cleveland around 4am. And, the Toledo station is a bit nicer and I've never worried about the parking there. Also, eastbound times (on CL) are palitable for coming home.

 

[AKA]

I do 4-5 trips a year out of Cleveland. Never a problem. We go for up to two weeks at a time. Cabbies are always around dering train times and very quite at other times. I never worry nabout it. Recent moving of homeless camp nearby has really made it quite.Its removed form traffic and out of the way. Not many people even know its there :huh: . I left my car unlocked for 10 days once on a trip to San Francisco every thing was OK when we got back. Go have a good time and dont worry about the car! Staff in Cleveland is very good and watchful. Lot is locked up at about 1:00 - 1:30 PM and opened again at 9:30 PM so station is open all night. RTA police also run patrols along the waterfront line nearby.

 

[Tracksentinel]

That area used to have a bad reputation years ago but after taking 4 trips out of CLE in the last 3 years I can pretty much safely say that there isn't anyone around to cause trouble in the area of the station. The cops recently ran off a group of homeless folks who had been camping not far from there under a pedestrian bridge that runs to Brown's Stadium. That area is frequently patroled by Norfolk Southern Police as it is considered a sensitive area around where the bridge over the Cuyahoga River is.

I mean I wouldn't park my new Benz down there for any great length of time. But then again I wouldn't park it at Hopkins Airport for that long either, and definitly not at ANY Rapid transit station ANYWHERE.

If you can borrow a less than desirable car to leave there that would be best but I wouldn't sweat too much over it. That's what insurance is for anyway.

 

[rile42]

I drive up from near Columbus several times each year and always park there. I've never had any trouble. I just make sure I park under one of the lights in the lot.

 

[Ronny Sagle]

All of these posts are from 2007. Are there any recent experiences?

 

[AKA]

All of these posts are from 2007. Are there any recent experiences?

About 18 months ago my car window was broken to gain entry. Along with apox 8-10 others. Strange thing is the only thing stolen was my jack. However everything in the car was thtown out. Overall upwards of $1000 damage. This however in all fairness seems to be an isolated incident. Probably kids.They even left my cd's. Not their taste.

Cleveland agents covered our windows with bags to keep out snow. They also put out car contents back in the cars. They got it right too. They are the best.

No recent events that I know of and I have made 8 trips since. I still park and leave the car 6-7 days at a time.

I would not worry . Go and enjoy.

 

[rile42]

I had one of the older posts here about parking at CLE. I have taken quite a few trips since my last post and leave my car or truck there every time. I do recall some getting windows broken a few years ago but that is the only time I know something has happened. The only problem I've had over the years has been arriving a few times when a winter gale/blizzard was coming in off Lake Erie. I had a foot of ice and snow plastered to one side of my car one late March.

If you are still reticent about parking there, there is a hotel just a few blocks away that has a parking garage. I used it many years ago on my first two trips before I started using the Amtrak lot. They gave me a decent deal to park there. I dropped off the people I was traveling with at the station, drove to the parking garage and then walked back to the station. It is also a very cheap car ride if you want to do it that way. If I recall the hotel was on Lakeshore Drive. Someone from up there might know the name of the place.

 

[chertling]

Since this has been brought back up... I will add one other item regarding the RTA Waterfront Light Rail. AlanB was correct that it doesn't operate during the "Normal" Amtrak arrival times. However I found out first hand a few months ago, thanks to a very late Capitol Limited (7AM on the westbound CL) that it no longer operates on Weekdays... Green and Blue line service terminates at Tower City on weekdays, and only extends onto the Waterfront Line on Weekends. At first glance, that seemed pretty counter-intuitive to me, but I guess it serves mostly tourist destinations that see most of their traffic on weekends (Browns stadium, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, etc)

 

[Railroad Bill]

Since my original post back in 2007, we have left our car at the CLE lot over a dozen times without incident. The gates are locked during non station hours but there was an incident back in March of 2009 where someone broke into a dozen cars in the late evening. No one at the station noticed what was going on outside but the agents did bag the broken windows as mentioned above and called the police. Not heard of any further problems.

Police patrols were supposedly beefed up after that and that may have ended the problem.

 

[wayne]

I'm going to be taking a 2 week bike trip around the lake an I'm thinking of leaving my truck here(2000).Can you still get in the lot even though you are not a passenger on amtrak?

 

[Railroad Bill]

I suppose you can leave your vehicle there since you do not need a sticker, etc to park. But remember that the gates are locked between 1PM and 9PM when the station is closed and you cannot get access to your vehicle until agents come to unlock the gates after 9PM.

So as long as you do not need access during the afternoon and early evening, you would be o.k. :unsure:

 

[wayne]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep those hours of operation in mind. I often park in airports long term lots when I take a trip like this but looking at the traffic route from Cleveland airport, I would rather stay away from those busy roads.

 

[hello]

We're thinking of stopping in CLE -- returning from WAS on the way to CHI to catch the CZ. What is the station like? I know the train is supposed to leave CLE around 3 AM. -- if we arrive at the station around midnight, is there anywhere to sit/restrooms/etc.? From the previous posts is sounds as though the area is safe enough in the station -- once the employees open the station -- which I believe is around 930 PM. Any suggestions for hotels? We would like to visit the R&R Hall of Fame, and also the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

[AKA]

Station is staffed. Has restrooms and seating area, vending machines. There is nothing nearby. Hotels are not within walking distance but cabs are always waiting for trains. Let me back up a bit, nothing in walking distance at that time of the night. Hotels are nearby but would require a cab ,you will have to do the math on that. Pro football hall of fame is apox. 30 miles south of Cleveland in Canton Ohio. Again you can do the math. I cant speak about car rental. Will leave that for someone else. The R&R hall of fame is just acrossed the way from the station, an easy walk. I guess you could wait it out till opening time in the station. The station has ample seating is generaly clean and hardly ever crowded. The Cleveland agents are the best. Good luck.

 

[hello]

Thank you, AKA, for the info! We are trying to decide between spending 4 nights or 5 nights there, only because of the late arrival time/early departure time. We probably will NOT be renting a car ... so will look into public transportation between Cleveland and Canton. We would like to spend 2 days at the R&R Hall of Fame, and 1 day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

As a resident of Canton may I offer some advice? Rent a car.

The easiest way to get from Cleveland to Canton is a 60-90 minute drive South on I-77 through Akron, its a nice drive but the traffic out of Cleveland, and in and around Akron can be, well traffic.

The Capitol Limited stops in Alliance, Ohio at godforsaken hours too, but it is only a 20-minute drive from Alliance to Canton, sadly though there are no car rentals near the Alliance station.

Rent a car for a day or two from Cleveland, drive down to Canton and see the HoF, I would advise you come on a night that the McKinley Bulldogs (my alma mater) are playing a game, they play their HS school home games in Fawcett Stadium (the HOF's stadium), it's pretty cool! There's a Motel 6 off of the Beldon Village exit (about 10-15 minutes from the HOF) that has cheap rooms that are kept decent.

If you want any more advice feel free to ask!

 

[hello]

Thank you, ALC_Rail_Writer, I had seen the Alliance stop -- but unfortunately we ALWAYS have luggage -- so we need to check our luggage through. We were hoping that there would be some type of public transportation ... as we also enjoy a bus ride ... it's like a guided bus tour without the narration. We also, hate driving when we don't know the area ... just too stressful for us.

We will be in a roomette from WAS to CLE, but from CLE to CHI we will be coach ... a question about boarding at 3 AM: is there a possibility of getting seats together(?) ... will we be waking people, already on board, up as we board the train, or is there a car for ALC/CLE? We will be checking bags at CLE through to EMY, so will not need to worry about bags in CHI at the Metropolitan Lounge.

We will also look into "Lolly the trolley" ... love that name ... as they were the only one I found that did a Cleveland City tour.

Again, thank you for your thoughts ....

 

[Eric S]

We're thinking of stopping in CLE -- returning from WAS on the way to CHI to catch the CZ. What is the station like? I know the train is supposed to leave CLE around 3 AM. -- if we arrive at the station around midnight, is there anywhere to sit/restrooms/etc.? From the previous posts is sounds as though the area is safe enough in the station -- once the employees open the station -- which I believe is around 930 PM. Any suggestions for hotels? We would like to visit the R&R Hall of Fame, and also the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I recently (in July) stayed at a Doubletree Hotel (Doubletree Cleveland Lakefront/Downtown, I believe) in downtown Cleveland, within walking distance of the Amtrak station, probably 3-4 blocks. I seem to recall that most other downtown hotels were farther, and at 3:00am would probably be in the cab range, rather than walking range, for most people.

I didn't stay in the station long, but it had the basic necessities (restrooms, seating, vending machines) but not much more.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Usually they put the TOL-PGH people in the last two cars so that they won't bug the WAS/CHI people in the first coach during the night's activities.

I have always seen them with pairs of seats, they check ahead and take careful look at the manifest.

 

[hello]

EricS, yes a cab would definitely be out best option ... barring a hotel having a shuttle. I have been looking at Hotwire and Priceline ... lots of choices.

ALC_Rail_Writer, I was hoping that it would be like that ... but great to know that they will "try" to keep us together.

 

[raisin]

All of these posts are from 2007. Are there any recent experiences?

About 18 months ago my car window was broken to gain entry. Along with apox 8-10 others. Strange thing is the only thing stolen was my jack. However everything in the car was thtown out. Overall upwards of $1000 damage. This however in all fairness seems to be an isolated incident. Probably kids.They even left my cd's. Not their taste.

Cleveland agents covered our windows with bags to keep out snow. They also put out car contents back in the cars. They got it right too. They are the best.

No recent events that I know of and I have made 8 trips since. I still park and leave the car 6-7 days at a time.

I would not worry . Go and enjoy.

I had to change several tickets at the CLE Amtrak station a while back. The agent was perhaps the single friendliest Amtrak employee I've ever run across. He went way above and beyond the call to help me out and figure out how I could make the changes in the most cost-effective way possible.