Indianapolis

[justinslot]

A few years ago I stayed at the Crowne Plaza and walked the underpass to the station to catch the cardinal In the early morning. I lived to tell the tale.

About a year ago I stayed outside of the city at a cheaper hotel and was dropped off at the station.

The station itself is one of the worst transit stations I've been to. Probably tied with the greyhound bus stop in Daytona Beach. Plan on spending as little time as possible in the actual station.

Yes, that's my aim: as little time as possible in what sounds like a terrible station.

So, the underpass: is that a walkway directly from the Crowne Plaza to the station? A quick walk I hope...my plan is to be at the hotel bar for as long as possible, with constant refreshing of the Amtrak app.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

It's a public sidewalk underpass that goes underneath the previous platforms of Union Station. The hotel uses the platforms on the hotel side, and Amtrak uses the one remaining platform on the station side.

So yes... You walk outside of the hotel, turn right, under the underpass, and then the station doors are on your right.

As a side note I was totally comfortable walking around the area during the day... Shapiros Deli is not a far walk. Mmmmmmm!

 

[justinslot]

Thanks.

For the record: I'm going to a conference in Nashville, and then I was going to go to the casino in Metropolis for a few nights and maybe hit the Superman museum. And then I was looking around for a ride home (to PHL) and IND seems to be the closest Cardinal stop to Metropolis, and the Cardinal seems like my best bet to get home versus some elaborate STL-CHI-WAS-PHL thing. Plus I've never been on the Cardinal before. But if there's a better way to PHL from Metropolis, IL than driving to IND I'm open to suggestions.

 

[amtrakpass]

Sounds like a good trip. The cardinal would be fun if you haven't been. My only other suggestion is it looks like Carbondale is only about an hour drive from metropolis and has 3 trains so that may be an option to start your trip.

 

[Asher]

The station itself seems to have a bad reputation that I think is unfair.its not a point of interest, but it is close to downtown. My wife and I departed the Eastbound Cardinal at about 5:am and except for convincing in-laws that they would be safe ( they fretted for weeks about picking us up ) it was all good. Indianapolis is a nice place to visit, friendly people and the Speedway is a must visit if you have ever driven an Automobile.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

You think it has an unfair reputation? Tell me what is good about the station? It has all the charm of a downtown police station. Ha.

The only cool thing about it is the historical significance, it was the first "Union Station" in the world. And while the actual station is now the hotel and convention center, the Amtrak platform is part of the original platforms.

 

[zephyr17]

I travel to Indianapolis with some regularity and I vote that the Indianapolis station is a pit. It is definitely in the running for Amtrak's worst staffed station.

It is on the opposite side of the tracks and opposite side of the street (Illinois) from the historic Union Station headhouse. It seems to be in part of what used to be the Railway Express Agency Indianapolis facilities (my mother and grandfather worked for Railway Express in Indianapolis). While it uses the one Union Station platform, it otherwise is not part of and has none of the character of Indianapolis Union Station.

I agree that Indianapolis is a nice place, and its downtown is quite charming, especially the river walk. The current station is a rotten introduction to the city. The new airport, though, is really well designed and very nice.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Zephyr pretty much nailed it as pertains to Indianapolis and Union Station.

In lots of ways the same story pertains to Dallas and to Pittsburgh with their Dungeon like Basement Stations and the Beautiful Old Station upstairs turned into a Wolfgang Puck Catering Biz and High End Condos!

 

[trainman74]

By the way, if you don't like the bar at the Crowne Plaza, there are two bars (a "sports bar" and a "wine bar") in the Omni Severin Hotel, which is also very close to the Indianapolis station.

 

[ericjeeper]

When we departed out of Indy back in Jan. There were homeless sleeping IN the depot. Made pallets right on the floor and went to sleep..

Made me weary since I had to leave my CC at home.

 

[justinslot]

Sounds like a good trip. The cardinal would be fun if you haven't been. My only other suggestion is it looks like Carbondale is only about an hour drive from metropolis and has 3 trains so that may be an option to start your trip.

That's interesting...Carbondale looks like it might be the closest Amtrak station to Nashville too. It would be more expensive/have more connections/take longer overall to go that way than either Indy or Atlanta but...less driving (and I hate driving.) The car rental options are pretty limited though...looks like just one Enterprise.

Why must Nashville be so off the grid and so beloved by the people who choose conference locations? I don't even like country music...

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I've tried Carbondale, Memphis, and Indy when needing to go to/from Nashville area. Carbondale is a good choice because there are several trains each day (I think 4 each way counting the City).

If you go from Carbondale... the Business Class is the 2-1 seating usually. You only get 1 free drink though. Still.. I think it's worth it on this train.

The morning trip is pretty nice... usually see deer in the fields and such. You go through alot of small towns just waking up.... pretty easy to see what inspired the "City of New Orleans" song to be written.

The only reason I consider Indy at all is because of the awesome Hoosier State train. But with only one departure each way, and odd timing (super early departure in the morning... super late arrival at night).. even a full dome doesn't always convince me.

 

[Manny T]

I took a round trip on the Hoosier State between Chicago and Indianapolis last month in Business Class. Everything about the train ride was terrific, thanks to Iowa Pacific.

The Amtrak station is another story. It's downtown, and there are plenty of nice hotels in the vicinity, including Marriotts of which there are several. I stayed at one and it was top notch. Like all hotels in this class, there were plenty of bars and restaurants on site; others are in easy walking distance.

Make no mistake about it, the Amtrak station in Indianapolis is on par with any you will find in the Third World. It is disgusting and unusable, strong words but that is my unvarnished opinion. A concrete industrial box, it has no charm or amenities, but at least it should be functional. It isn't. Posted hours are 24/7; whether it is actually open 24/7 I don't know. The east bound Cardinal/HS has a scheduled arrival of 11:50 PM; the west bound Cardinal/HS has a scheduled departure of 6 AM. Hence station operations are basically through the night. I see the point of NOT closing the station: if the eastbound arrives at midnight (or later if delayed), why close the station only to reopen a few hours later to receive westbound PAX departing at 6 AM?

You can see where this is heading. Every person in Indianapolis with no place to go overnight makes a beeline for the station. By the time I arrived at 5:30 AM to catch the HS, every chair was taken with dozing persons, and so was most of the floor space. Yes, dozens of people were sprawled out on the floor sleeping. You had to step over them. Train passengers were standing with their luggage. It was a very unpleasant, crowded, and unprofessional environment. Not finding a seat in the station, I went up to the track to wait, which wasn't a good idea either. They were moving the train into the station and didn't want PAX on the platform at this time. So I ended up waiting in the vestibule at the top of the stairs.

Someone, whether Amtrak police or Indy police or Indy social services (are there any in Mike Pence's state?) are not doing their job. Amtrak passengers suffer as a result. Just saying.

 

[justinslot]

I've tried Carbondale, Memphis, and Indy when needing to go to/from Nashville area. Carbondale is a good choice because there are several trains each day (I think 4 each way counting the City).

If you go from Carbondale... the Business Class is the 2-1 seating usually. You only get 1 free drink though. Still.. I think it's worth it on this train.

The morning trip is pretty nice... usually see deer in the fields and such. You go through alot of small towns just waking up.... pretty easy to see what inspired the "City of New Orleans" song to be written.

The only reason I consider Indy at all is because of the awesome Hoosier State train. But with only one departure each way, and odd timing (super early departure in the morning... super late arrival at night).. even a full dome doesn't always convince me.

Re: Carbondale: how do you handle getting to Nashville from there? Is there anything besides the one Enterprise as my googling suggests?

 

[MikefromCrete]

I took a round trip on the Hoosier State between Chicago and Indianapolis last month in Business Class. Everything about the train ride was terrific, thanks to Iowa Pacific.

The Amtrak station is another story. It's downtown, and there are plenty of nice hotels in the vicinity, including Marriotts of which there are several. I stayed at one and it was top notch. Like all hotels in this class, there were plenty of bars and restaurants on site; others are in easy walking distance.

Make no mistake about it, the Amtrak station in Indianapolis is on par with any you will find in the Third World. It is disgusting and unusable, strong words but that is my unvarnished opinion. A concrete industrial box, it has no charm or amenities, but at least it should be functional. It isn't. Posted hours are 24/7; whether it is actually open 24/7 I don't know. The east bound Cardinal/HS has a scheduled arrival of 11:50 PM; the west bound Cardinal/HS has a scheduled departure of 6 AM. Hence station operations are basically through the night. I see the point of NOT closing the station: if the eastbound arrives at midnight (or later if delayed), why close the station only to reopen a few hours later to receive westbound PAX departing at 6 AM?

You can see where this is heading. Every person in Indianapolis with no place to go overnight makes a beeline for the station. By the time I arrived at 5:30 AM to catch the HS, every chair was taken with dozing persons, and so was most of the floor space. Yes, dozens of people were sprawled out on the floor sleeping. You had to step over them. Train passengers were standing with their luggage. It was a very unpleasant, crowded, and unprofessional environment. Not finding a seat in the station, I went up to the track to wait, which wasn't a good idea either. They were moving the train into the station and didn't want PAX on the platform at this time. So I ended up waiting in the vestibule at the top of the stairs.

Someone, whether Amtrak police or Indy police or Indy social services (are there any in Mike Pence's state?) are not doing their job. Amtrak passengers suffer as a result. Just saying.

Isn't it also the Greyhound station? That's why it's open 24 hours a day.

 

[Asher]

You think it has an unfair reputation? Tell me what is good about the station? It has all the charm of a downtown police station. Ha.

The only cool thing about it is the historical significance, it was the first "Union Station" in the world. And while the actual station is now the hotel and convention center, the Amtrak platform is part of the original platforms.

I pointed out its not a point of interest, just a place to board or depart. I'm not susgesting one hangs out there, but I would not avoid a very nice city just because its not up to par with Podunk or Los Angeles Union Station.

 

[Manny T]

Not sure how the fact that Amtrak shares the station with Greyhound would relieve Amtrak of the responsibility for keeping it clean, accessible and available to its passengers, although it might explain why it's open 24 hours, if Greyhound has overnight departures.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I've tried Carbondale, Memphis, and Indy when needing to go to/from Nashville area. Carbondale is a good choice because there are several trains each day (I think 4 each way counting the City).

If you go from Carbondale... the Business Class is the 2-1 seating usually. You only get 1 free drink though. Still.. I think it's worth it on this train.

The morning trip is pretty nice... usually see deer in the fields and such. You go through alot of small towns just waking up.... pretty easy to see what inspired the "City of New Orleans" song to be written.

The only reason I consider Indy at all is because of the awesome Hoosier State train. But with only one departure each way, and odd timing (super early departure in the morning... super late arrival at night).. even a full dome doesn't always convince me.

Re: Carbondale: how do you handle getting to Nashville from there? Is there anything besides the one Enterprise as my googling suggests?

Greyhound has a decent nashville to Carbondale connection. If I need a morning train, I'll stay in a hotel in Carbondale. Usually I can get a pretty good rate.

Greyhound to Memphis is a bit of a pain... It's a great schedule but the bus goes to the memphis airport. Then it's uber or city bus to downtown. Still workable.

 

[zephyr17]

Not sure how the fact that Amtrak shares the station with Greyhound would relieve Amtrak of the responsibility for keeping it clean, accessible and available to its passengers, although it might explain why it's open 24 hours, if Greyhound has overnight departures.

It really is primarily a Greyhound station that Amtrak happens to use twice a day.

 

[railiner]

The last time I rode Greyhound through Indianapolis was back in the '80's. At that time they were in their own large and fairly modern (late '60's) terminal, very similar to the one in Columbus, Ohio.

With their current level of routes and schedules, that facility, like many other's, would be a redundant "white elephant", so it made sense for them to move into a shared intermodal facility, as they have done elsewhere...

 

[SubwayNut]

At least greyhound is still stopping downtown in Indy.

In numerous city's their now stopping in the exurbs without public transit options. Edmonton (well Via has also been relegated out of downtown) is the latest, with greyhound joining Via Rail at their exurban station. Competely inequitable: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/08/a-changing-downtown-with-no-room-for-greyhound/495860/?utm_source=nl__link3_081516

 

[justinslot]

By the way, if you don't like the bar at the Crowne Plaza, there are two bars (a "sports bar" and a "wine bar") in the Omni Severin Hotel, which is also very close to the Indianapolis station.

There seems to be a goodly amount of bars around the station actually, if Google maps is any guide...and it looks like Indy's closing time is 3 AM. At least I won't be bored if the Cardinal is late.

 

[justinslot]

By the way, does Indy have a place to store my carry ons a la Chicago or Washington, or do I have to carry them with me to the hotel bar/whichever bar?

 

[KmH]

https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=IND

But, no lockers.

 

[justinslot]

https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=IND

But, no lockers.

Do you mean the "baggage storage?" I saw that, but wasn't sure if it implied a watched/secure area or not.