The Worst Amtrak Stations Youve Actually Seen?

[JSmith]

I've not a very seasoned Amtrak rider, but of the stations I've seen:

Tukwila, Washington looked like just a platform with an automatic vending machine. I guess it's more of a commuter rail station that Amtrak just happens to serve as well.

Grimsby, Ontario is a VIA station, but served by Amtrak's Maple Leaf. It's essentially just a heated bus shelter.

Rochester, NY has a pretty bleak station. The platform shelter roofs have been removed with the frames left standing for some reason, and the men's room was rather alarming. It basically lives up to every dingy bus station stereotype.

I've only been to Penn Station twice, but I don't remember it being too bad. I found it exciting to be in such a bustling train station. (But I have memories from about 20 years ago of taking Amtrak to Grand Central Terminal, and that was much nicer!)

 

[alanh]

BEN. This is from about 10 years ago, but I don't believe it's improved.

 

[greatcats]

A few observations on above comments: I agree that New York Penn leaves something to be desired and is a rather lousy excuse for such a major transportation facility, but it is not all bad. Certainly improvements have been made and the main concourse isn't so bad looking, except for the lousy, inadequate restrooms. ( When I was still employed b y NJ Transit, I could go in the crew facilities. ) The lower concourse is something of a horror story and tends to stink and I always wondered about emergency evacuations from those crowded platforms.

I do take issue with the listing of Williams Junction, Arizona. It is a strange setup, a platform with lights out in the forest at the Junction. B ut it functions quite well, with a van or bus to take passengers to or from the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. I have used this several times and the hotel lobby makes for an elegant waiting room and my car was looked after by the van drivers. While not an Amtrak staffed station, the front desk has a manifest of the expected passengers and are there to greet you while waiting for the train.

The arrangement at Kingman aren't the greatest, with the vacant Santa Fe station, but at least there is the semblance of a station facility with the two storefronts a half block away, one a drab, but inhabitable waiting room and the other a crew register room. Have not boarded there, buit have driven in and looked the place over.

 

[the_traveler]

Haven't been in those parts recently, but how about Fort Edward, NY?

I was there about a year ago. They have done a lovely rebuild on the outside. Unfortunately, they ran out of money, so the inside is empty. I mean completely empty. All interior walls and the floor removed down to bare dirt empty.

FED used to be my home station when I grew up. It used to be a great building, but later it was used as a private (party) office, leaving only the waiting room open. Then they even closed the (small) waiting room. I haven't seen it in years, but I'm glad it got a facelift. Now if they could do the inside too!

The platform was not great either. If the second track was being used, boarding was on the grade crossing next to the station!

Has Whitehall, NY or Ticonderoga, NY improved in the past 20 years? :huh: I remember them being Amshacks (or less)!

 

[MattW]

Atlanta. Pitiful excuse for a city of our size. Horribly inefficient, tiny, underused, bad part of town, hard to get to.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Enjoying all the posts about the BEST, lets try the WORST that youve actually been to/seen?Beaumont,Texas does not count, has to be a station that is an actual stop/used by AMTRAK! :lol:

(a building in other words!LOL)

IMHO:

1)Sanderson,Texas(LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

2)NYP

3)NOL

4)SAS

5)Detroit

***The next one will be "They coulda been a contender" when this one is done***

Out of curiousity, since I am going there in October, what is wrong with NOL that causes it to be on the list?

Shared with Greyhound/inadequate #of seats for waiting crowds

Bathrooms are outside/sort of porta potties/have been under repair inside for a long while

Nothing really to eat/drink except some junk vending machines

By far the worst First Class Waiting Area(The Magnolia Room??????)

Per Amtrak police lots of problems with thefts in station/on trains to/from NOl

NOL is a great town,deserves better! :angry:

Cabbies that try to clip pax(not Amtraks fault but station could have a dispatch system!The fare to FQ is $8,not $15!!!)

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Penn Station, New York in this category. What a dump that place is, and has been for as long as I can remember (and, yes, that includes the original Pennsylvania Station).
NYP is a haphazardly arranged maze that is crowded, filthy, and even dangerous. It's had more unsuccessful facelifts than Joan Rivers. There are few places to sit, and if you find a seat, you will in short order be solicited by one or more of the local "characters" that inhabit the facility. Food options are basic, and most are not in the Amtrak portion of the station. Need to use the facilities? Oh boy, are you in for a treat. I shudder to think of the female perspective of that issue.

I have not been in any train station or airport in the world worse than Penn Station, New York. If someone has to frequent NYP on a regular basis, AGR Select+ with its Club Acela access would be worth its weight in gold.

I love PSNY. It has a certain character to it. I mean it is both the busiest train station in the country- and probably, in terms of square footage, the largest homeless shelter in the world. And yet, of all the train stations I have been to in my life, I have to say that PSNY, Lorton auto Train, and Sanford Auto Train stand alone as places I have not been solicited. And the dining in Penn Station is pretty good in my opinion. Ever try Papaya down on the LIRR concourse? Their burgers are second to Five Guys for fast food burgers, IMHO.

Not to mention the countless hallways and corridors, half of whose existence appears to be unknown to even Amtrak- during rushour, they can be crowded. I think its where the homeless people vacate to during rush hour. And yet... I know all of them. The station doesn't confuse me at all anymore.

 

[manchacrr]

Enjoying all the posts about the BEST, lets try the WORST that youve actually been to/seen?Beaumont,Texas does not count, has to be a station that is an actual stop/used by AMTRAK! :lol:

(a building in other words!LOL)

IMHO:

1)Sanderson,Texas(LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

2)NYP

3)NOL

4)SAS

5)Detroit

***The next one will be "They coulda been a contender" when this one is done***

Out of curiousity, since I am going there in October, what is wrong with NOL that causes it to be on the list?

Shared with Greyhound/inadequate #of seats for waiting crowds

Bathrooms are outside/sort of porta potties/have been under repair inside for a long while

Nothing really to eat/drink except some junk vending machines

By far the worst First Class Waiting Area(The Magnolia Room??????)

Per Amtrak police lots of problems with thefts in station/on trains to/from NOl

NOL is a great town,deserves better! :angry:

Cabbies that try to clip pax(not Amtraks fault but station could have a dispatch system!The fare to FQ is $8,not $15!!!)

Also, as far as food goes, there is a Subway Restaurant in the station. It is immediately to the left as you enter the station.

 

[DET63]

Enjoying all the posts about the BEST, lets try the WORST that youve actually been to/seen?Beaumont,Texas does not count, has to be a station that is an actual stop/used by AMTRAK! :lol:

(a building in other words!LOL)

IMHO:

1)Sanderson,Texas(LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

2)NYP

3)NOL

4)SAS

5)Detroit

***The next one will be "They coulda been a contender" when this one is done***

Link to a picture of the Sanderson station. (This is a large file, so if you are on dial-up, forget about it!)

 

[DET63]

A rare view of an empty Penn Station.

 

[DET63]

Amtrak Station

11 West Baltimore at the corner of Woodward in

Detroit's New Center Area

​

More info

 

[espeefoamer]

Houston.It is a small cramped station,in a bad part of town,and it is under a freeway.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Atlanta. Pitiful excuse for a city of our size. Horribly inefficient, tiny, underused, bad part of town, hard to get to.

The worst thing about it is the lack of decent parking. I would never try to wedge my car into that space directly in front, would go to the Masonic parking instead. As to "tiny", you do know the history,don't you?That it was never meant to be a major station, it was built merely as a suburban stop. Never meant for resaurants, flower stands,barber shops,etc.

As it turned out the only passenger trains left in ATL were using that brief suburban stop before heading to the Terminal Station(one of two stations downtown.) I think they could have done worse than having that ready-made facility turned into the main station, better that than an Amshack 30 miles away.Plus it is already sitting right on the main line, more so than the older large downtown stations did.

You have to give it credit for looking like a "real" railroad station, albeit very small.

With only two trains a day, it seems adequate to me.Keep in mind it used to serve about twelve trains a day in the mid 50's apparently well enough, keeping in mind that all twelve of those trains did their basic business downtown.

Believe it or not, it was spruced up a bit for the 1996 Olympic. Primarily the addition of that small park.

Not sure what you mean about it being a bad part of town. I know that motel across the connector has a bad reputation, maybe the neighborhood on Deering Road is not that nice, though I drive through it sometimes and it looks ok. Keep in mind the station is now considered to be in the lower edge of Buckhead, Atlanta's' old rich neighborhood. And of course it is mostly commercial, the city is full of places much much worse.

As for being hard to get to, I guess that is relative to where you live. You are never going to have maximum convenience for a city of this size. Of course my perception may be a bit blurred since I live only six blocks way.

Yes, of course I would welcome a downtown intermodal station.

Bottom Line: What I am trying to say is that what we are left with today is the result of the passenger train almost disappearing, I am glad we still have this little station. It is not like Amtrak (or the Southern Railroad before it) deliberately set out to, say,"Let's build the ugliest smallest most inconvenient station we possiby can!" On the contrary, we are left with what we have for the reasons noted above.

Do not hesitate to PM me if you want to know more about those twelve trains, the old stations their location of anything simiar.

Bill

 

[PRR 60]

For what it matters, NYP is just awesome. I love people.

I agree with the NYP people watching pleasures. You see everything there: the good, the bad, and the ugly (lots of ugly). Watching the human parade at Penn is the entertainment that makes hanging out for a train bearable.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Maybe not the worst, but while we're talking about Amtrak stations disguised as bus stops...

1) Winnemucca, NV (follow the link)

http://jamesbrownontherails.blogspot.com/2...nemucca-nv.html

2) Rouses Point, NY; first stop for the Adirondack en route from Montréal to NYP. Welcome to the United States of America...

 

[Upstate]

Not to mention the countless hallways and corridors, half of whose existence appears to be unknown to even Amtrak- during rushour, they can be crowded. I think its where the homeless people vacate to during rush hour. And yet... I know all of them. The station doesn't confuse me at all anymore.

That is my big problem with it. Its very confusing to the traveler who occasional changes trains there. I have changed trains there four times and still have no clue as to how the layout works. Last time I was there I was coming in on an Empire Service and I think they pulled into a NJT platform so that really was a *** moment.

There is really nothing they can do to change NYP though. It is what it is by the virtue of its location and all they can do is put up signs and maps. I just try to keep my connections at WAS where I know where everything is since it is a simple station and it was my metro stop when I lived up there.

 

[NativeSon5859]

NOL is not that bad. It has been spruced up some over the past few years. At least it has the Magnolia Room...could it be nicer? Sure...but, it's better than nothing. I think the seats in the main waiting room need to be replaced, but I think the number of them is more than sufficient....there's at least 80 seats on the Amtrak side. I'll put it this way, I've never had to wait for a seat to open, even on days when the trains go out with a heavy load. There's a Subway, BBQ place, and some vending machines in the terminal, plus a gift shop. Taxi's are readily available (and generally being ripped off is not a problem...it has never once happened to me or to anyone I know), and there's always a police presence in the station. In addition, keep in mind that Greyhound only has something like 8 buses a day out of NOL now...that's down significantly from what they had a few years back....so it's not like the station is overcrowded with Greyhound passengers. Overall, the station serves its purpose well, and it's in a convenient downtown location, just a few minutes ride from all major hotels/tourist areas.

 

[NativeSon5859]

My vote for the worst:

Sanderson, TX. Looks like it used to be nice way back in the day...now, pretty terrible.

The old Jackson, MS station before it was renovated was pretty bad, as well.

I would say Beaumont but it doesn't have one...just the dreaded slab.

 

[cpamtfan]

I love PSNY. It has a certain character to it. I mean it is both the busiest train station in the country- and probably, in terms of square footage, the largest homeless shelter in the world. And yet, of all the train stations I have been to in my life, I have to say that PSNY, Lorton auto Train, and Sanford Auto Train stand alone as places I have not been solicited. And the dining in Penn Station is pretty good in my opinion. Ever try Papaya down on the LIRR concourse? Their burgers are second to Five Guys for fast food burgers, IMHO.
Not to mention the countless hallways and corridors, half of whose existence appears to be unknown to even Amtrak- during rushour, they can be crowded. I think its where the homeless people vacate to during rush hour. And yet... I know all of them. The station doesn't confuse me at all anymore.

Same for me. When I first went to NYP, I was logging way to many miles, but now I know every little nook and cranny of the station. If you really look at it from a different perspective, it isn't really hard. I've also done the same with WUS and GCT.

Now the worst station I've ever visited (and I haven't been to many) was probably Newark Penn. I just thought it need some work, but its got potential if they ever want to fix it!

 

[had8ley]

I love PSNY. It has a certain character to it. I mean it is both the busiest train station in the country- and probably, in terms of square footage, the largest homeless shelter in the world. And yet, of all the train stations I have been to in my life, I have to say that PSNY, Lorton auto Train, and Sanford Auto Train stand alone as places I have not been solicited. And the dining in Penn Station is pretty good in my opinion. Ever try Papaya down on the LIRR concourse? Their burgers are second to Five Guys for fast food burgers, IMHO.
Not to mention the countless hallways and corridors, half of whose existence appears to be unknown to even Amtrak- during rushour, they can be crowded. I think its where the homeless people vacate to during rush hour. And yet... I know all of them. The station doesn't confuse me at all anymore.

Same for me. When I first went to NYP, I was logging way to many miles, but now I know every little nook and cranny of the station. If you really look at it from a different perspective, it isn't really hard. I've also done the same with WUS and GCT.

Now the worst station I've ever visited (and I haven't been to many) was probably Newark Penn. I just thought it need some work, but its got potential if they ever want to fix it!

Newark is a palace compared to some of the stations in the south and the west...

 

[Greg]

The worst stations are all the ones on the line between NOLA and JAX because they have NO TRAINS stopping!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Enjoying all the posts about the BEST, lets try the WORST that youve actually been to/seen?Beaumont,Texas does not count, has to be a station that is an actual stop/used by AMTRAK! :lol:

(a building in other words!LOL)

IMHO:

1)Sanderson,Texas(LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

2)NYP

3)NOL

4)SAS

5)Detroit

***The next one will be "They coulda been a contender" when this one is done***

Link to a picture of the Sanderson station. (This is a large file, so if you are on dial-up, forget about it!)

Either this pic is OLD or they have used stimulus funds to fix it up since I was there last month! :lol:

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

NOL is not that bad. It has been spruced up some over the past few years. At least it has the Magnolia Room...could it be nicer? Sure...but, it's better than nothing. I think the seats in the main waiting room need to be replaced, but I think the number of them is more than sufficient....there's at least 80 seats on the Amtrak side. I'll put it this way, I've never had to wait for a seat to open, even on days when the trains go out with a heavy load. There's a Subway, BBQ place, and some vending machines in the terminal, plus a gift shop. Taxi's are readily available (and generally being ripped off is not a problem...it has never once happened to me or to anyone I know), and there's always a police presence in the station. In addition, keep in mind that Greyhound only has something like 8 buses a day out of NOL now...that's down significantly from what they had a few years back....so it's not like the station is overcrowded with Greyhound passengers. Overall, the station serves its purpose well, and it's in a convenient downtown location, just a few minutes ride from all major hotels/tourist areas.

I agree the NOL station is not that bad, though it can seem raunchy at times, esp. the restrooms. I think it has been forgotten or not realized that the NOL station is actually RELATIVELY NEW, in railroad years, that is. It was built brand new in about 1954, a true "union" of various stations around the city. I was ten years old at the time and was very impressed.

So 1954 seems like a long time ago, well, it would be for highways and airports. But very few railroad stations have been built new since then at least for a city that size, not counting little amshacks.

You mention that Greyhound is down to eight buses a day. That is disturbing, not that I wish the pooch to "blossom and bloom" but I do not want the silver dog to go away altogether. It and the plane suit my needs on a very few rare occasions.

I am going to give a brief list of at least some of the direct service routes one could take out of New Orleans in the mid 50's. This is all very loose, very imcomplete, just to make it clear what a big deal it was.

Jackson,Memphis,St.Louis (branch off to), Chicago (present route)

Mobile, Montgomery,Birmingham,Nashville, Louisville, Cincinati

Evansville, St. Louis (branch off to), Chicago

Jacksonville (same as Sunset Limited route, if it ever happens again)

Dallas, Fort Worth

Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta, WAS, NYC (former Crescent and Piedmont Limited)

Birmingham, Atlanta,WAS,NYC (train called the Crescent today, formerly called the Southerner)

Birmingham,Chattanooga,Knoxville,WAS, NYC (pre Amtrak train known as the Pelican)

Houston, Los Angeles (present route,largely,aside from Phoenix, etc)

Baton Rouge, Houston(different from above)

Fort Smith, Little Rock, Kansas City

Alexandria, Shreveport,Texarkana,Kansas City

and who knows what I am overlooking

 

[Bob Dylan]

They tore down the old Amtrak station in Beaumont because homeless people had broken the doors and windows and were living in it.They are going to build a new station. The city had picked out a new much better location but they couldn't reach an agreement witht the host railroad. Since the station is to be paid for by stimulus funds they have a deadline to start construction so the new station will be at the same location as the old station.

Thats still a problem Stan as you know, The Location is as bad as no building!Perfect example of cooperation between politicians and

railroads,but then as you know Texas isnt known for their brillant or practical office holders and the UP is perhaps the most anti-Amtrak

Railroad ever!"Let them eat cake" seems to be the motto here! :blink:

 

[Bob Dylan]

A rare view of an empty Penn Station.

Re: empty NYP: Amazing!Must be a scene from one of those end of the world/evacuate NYC flicks or else a Mitt Romney

rally!Seriously,how does this happen???And a rose by any other name,its still basically a dump!

Re; Detroit pic: I have not been there in the daytime,always caught the Wolverine in the early AM to CHI or came in late

and the doors would be locked until just before train time, the staff there were the ones who advised tohave someone

waiting or else drop you off close to train time!I still find it small and cramped for a major city station, especially

when there are so many really beautiful and interesting buildings in Detroit including the old,falling apart station that was

mentioned in a previous post somewhere??

Re: Rouses Point,NY:welcome to USA indeed!Looks like the same architect who did the Sanderson Station!

The Nevada "station" must be great in the winter and the HOT! summers in Nevada, but it beats Beaumont!!!!!LOL