Yep, just two days ago I went and read about all the different terminals there were.
Ugliest and Soul-less Amtrak Stations Used in Metropolises Today
- Thread starter user 1215
- Start date
Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:
Yes, by Detroit standards it's probably not an awful neighborhood.
By almost any other metric, surrounded by parking lots with no foot traffic, very few walkable services and those that are there have attendants behind bulletproof glass all combine for "awful" when compared with the rest of the neighborhoods you find Amtrak stations in.
While the midtown area (literally on the other side of the tracks) is coming around, and you're not as likely to get mugged and/or killed as you were five years ago, it's still pretty bad.
Big Green Chauvanist
Service Attendant
Did somebody mention stilts?
frequentflyer
Conductor
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,214
Oh no, not the bullet proof glass look again. Then again, its common in every Detroit small grocery and convenience store.
Hey, look at the bright side, every store in the area already comes with a pre-build Covid "sneeze barrier!"
PerRock
Engineer
The Detroit station now has a light rail connection to downtown. All in all it's in a pretty good neighborhood these days.
My vote for soulless in MI, would actually be Ann Arbor. It's the most used station in Michigan & is literally just an Amshack (a type 50C Amshack to be precise).
A light rail connection to a service that hasn't operated in over a year.
At least the Ann Arbor station has a restaurant next door, in the old train station, on top of more foot traffic and public transportation that's actually running with some frequency.
Oh, and trees and a view of something other than a parking lot and a White Castle.
PerRock
Engineer
It's not like they ran out of money & shut down, we had this thing call a pandemic... caused a lot if disruptions. QLine is supposed to be running again next month. There has been bus service running during the pandemic anyways.
As for Ann Arbor, none of that is really part of the station... when its a restaurant in A2 it's a plus, but a restaurant next door in Detroit is a negative? The Ann Arbor station doesn't really have that much foot traffic. It probably has the illusion of foot traffic, because you can't realistically park at the station, so need to park nearby and walk to it, another negative to Ann Arbor.
I'll believe it when I see it running again. I'm hard pressed to think of another public transportation service that shut down completely because of COVID. Even prior to COVID it had frequent and unexplained delays in service or days where it just didn't run at all. I think in the 5 times I tried to ride it on trips to Detroit, I was only successful once.
If the Whitney were next door to the Detroit Station as the Gandy Dancer is next to the Ann Arbor station, I'd bring that up as a reason to like the Detroit Station. It has nothing to do with the cities themselves. As far as a city I'd like to go visit, I prefer Detroit over Ann Arbor. The issue is that the Detroit Amtrak station is in an awful location that is not representative of what the City of Detroit has to offer.
Only people who defend Detroit at all costs would defend that station, just as only New Yorkers have anything nice to say about Penn. Sure, if you're used to it and it works for you, great. But any reasonable person with reasonable aesthetic standards would not find the area around the Detroit station to be in any way pleasant.
You haven't spent much time there. Wheeler Park (75 feet away) has a lot of kids, people walk to Casey's tavern and there's a lot of groups that enjoy Broadway Park on the other side of the train station. Residents and their dogs use that stretch of Depot street between the two parks. Also, not a lot of drug dealing or property crime--unlike the area around the Detroit Amtrak station.
There's plenty of parking literally on the other side of the Ann Arbor Amtrak station. You just walk over the bridge whose stairways they built for this purpose.
Also, people park and take the train from Ann Arbor because it's much less likely their car will get stolen--or, perhaps worse, broken into and then towed away--as frequently happens at the Detroit Amtrak station, judging by the semi-permanent presence of automotive glass that always seems to be in the parking lot.
Detroit is still the only Amtrak Station I've been to where the Agents are behind Bullet Proof Glass and an Armed Security Guard locks/unlocks the door for Ticketed Passengers Only.
They also advise you to not go outside while waiting for your Train or ride, and to not walk to the Greyhound Station which isn't that far away..
They also advise you to not go outside while waiting for your Train or ride, and to not walk to the Greyhound Station which isn't that far away..
What is a type 50C Amshack?
This wikipedia page (Amtrak Standard Stations Program) does a good job of explaining things, but essentially, Type 50C was designed for a peak of 50-100 passengers.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
The lower level will be fine too after they finish the rebuild.
And if they actually do go through with Phase II then the old Penn Station will be almost as spectacular as Moynihan, provided they manage to get rid of what was the Felt Forum, which they plan to, and develop the area between the Rotunda and Penn Plaza Tower an area that once was the taxi stand before 9/11.
Last edited:
SanDiegan
Service Attendant
Richmond, CA station ws like that in the 80's-90's. I am not sure if that had changed since the remodel.
I remember.
When I got off to catch BART to San Francisco I heard Gun Shots! It wasn't a fun place for sure!
Last edited:
SanDiegan
Service Attendant
The Austin, TX station is pretty dismal for such dynamic city. Are you going to nominate it Bob Dylan ? 
crescent-zephyr
Engineer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2015
- Messages
- 4,796
Looks pretty nice from the outside.
(Photo not mine - grabbed it from a google search.)
(Photo not mine - grabbed it from a google search.)
looks fine, but given what Austin ought to have as such a fine city, it’s a far cry from it.
it’s too bad that Austin can’t somehow create a central station that links up with its light rail system.
Amshacks and like stations are truly the death of Amtrak. There should be a push for trains to have stations more conveniently located...
Not like that’s gonna happen though.
It's an Old Mopac Station, that as you know is hard to find and has No Public Transportation.The Austin, TX station is pretty dismal for such dynamic city. Are you going to nominate it Bob Dylan ?
It's actually lots better than it used to be since UP put in New Chairs, Paved the Parking Lot, Painted the Inside and the Agents keep the Bathrooms locked so the Homeless don't camp out there anymore.
Last edited:
Excuse me, what? UP actually helping Amtrak?
neroden
Engineer
The major problem with the Austin Amtrak station is its only-accessible-by-car character. Despite being almost downtown, it has no decent sidewalk route to downtown; it needs one. The building itself is perfectly nice.
crescent-zephyr
Engineer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2015
- Messages
- 4,796
I remember walking to it but maybe I was on the other side of the tracks? I wasn’t catching the train. I rode the light rail and just walked around downtown.
Since they've built all the Condos around the Station, and closed the road that allowed access from 5th Street and Lamar, the only way to reach the Station from Downtown by Vehicle is to drive down S. Lamar, cross under the tracks, turn off to the right, go past the YMCA on your left and go up the steep Hill to the Station which is not visible till you reach the parking lot.
UP has also built fencing across the tracks from the Station to prevent access to the Tracks and the Station from the North side.
Even lots of Cab drivers and Ride Share Drivers don't know where the Station is since GPS doesn't give a clear picture of how to get there from here!
