Union Station (Dallas)

Union Station
Location	400 South Houston Street Dallas, Texas 75201 United States
Coordinates	32°46′34″N 96°48′27″W / 32.77611°N 96.80750°WCoordinates: 32°46′34″N 96°48′27″W / 32.77611°N 96.80750°W
Owned by	City of Dallas
Line(s)	Dallas/UP
Platforms	1 side and 2 island platforms
Tracks	5 + 2 through tracks
Train operators	Amtrak, TRE and DART Light Rail
Construction
Parking	20 long term and 20 short term parking spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: DAL
Fare zone	TRE Eastern
History
Opened	14 October 1916
Rebuilt	2008
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	50,180[1]  11.3% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Fort Worth toward San Antonio or Los Angeles Texas Eagle Mineola toward Chicago Dallas Area Rapid Transit Convention Center toward Westmoreland Red Line West End toward Parker Road Convention Center toward Ledbetter Blue Line West End toward Downtown Rowlett Trinity Railway Express Victory toward T&P Trinity Railway Express Terminus
Dallas Union Terminal
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Dallas Landmark
Location	400 S. Houston Street Dallas, Texas
Area	5 acres (2.0 ha)
Built	1916
Architect	Jarvis Hunt
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
NRHP Reference #	75001966[2]
Added to NRHP	May 29, 1975
Location
Union Station Location within Texas

Union Station, also known as Dallas Union Terminal, is a DART Light Rail, Trinity Railway Express commuter rail, and Amtrak intercity rail station located in the Reunion district of Downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) on Houston Street, between Wood and Young Streets. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Services

Looking across tracks and platforms

The station is served by Amtrak's Texas Eagle with Chicago as the northern terminus and either San Antonio or Los Angeles to the south. The light rail station serves as a stop on the Red and Blue lines as well as the TRE. Union Station provides access to the Greyhound bus terminal, the George Allen Courts Building, Dealey Plaza, the Hyatt Regency at Reunion, Reunion Tower and Reunion Arena.^[3]

The first floor is occupied by an Amtrak ticketing window, waiting room, and privately rented offices. The second floor contains the restored Grand Hall and several meeting rooms named after railroads that previously serviced Dallas. The second floor and a mezzanine are operated by Wolfgang Puck Catering.^[4]

Connecting DART Bus Routes are 1, 19, 21, 60, and D-Link 722

History

The Union Terminal Company constructed the Dallas Union Terminal, as Union Station was originally called, in 1916 to consolidate five rail stations scattered around Dallas into one, making Dallas a major transportation center in the Southwestern United States. At the peak of its usage, as many as 80 trains stopped each day at the station.^[5] It was designed by Jarvis Hunt, who designed other large train stations. Railroads served by the station included Texas & Pacific Railway, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt), Fort Worth & Denver Railway, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Burlington-Rock Island Railroad, St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (Frisco), Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (Katy), and Southern Pacific Railroad.

In 1954, the building served as a temporary library while the Dallas Public Library system built a new central library to replace the original Carnegie Library.^[6]

Originally, the 2nd level waiting room was connected to train platforms via an overhead walkway, but this design was never popular with travelers as they needed to climb a large number of stairs. Escalators were added, but the Grand Hall was finally abandoned in favor of renovated ticketing and a waiting room on the ground floor (still in use today). Also, an underground corridor replaced the overhead walkway, with ramps at each platform.

The last privately owned passenger train to serve Union Station, the Missouri Pacific Railroad's Texas Eagle, left on May 31, 1969. Amtrak service began on March 14, 1974 with the Inter-American between St. Louis and Laredo; the train evolved into today's Texas Eagle. DART's light-rail service began at the station on June 14, 1996.^[4] The station's upper-level waiting room was re-purposed into meeting and convention space for the Hyatt Regency Dallas, which is connected via an underground walkway.

In 1934, as part of the federally sponsored Public Works of Art Project, Jerry Bywaters and Alexander Hogue were granted the first commission in Texas to create a series of 10 murals depicting events in Dallas history. They had painted them on the walls of the second-floor lobby at the old Dallas City Hall Building, located on Harwood Street between Main and Commerce Streets. In 1954, the original murals were destroyed when City Hall relocated. When the station was renovated to accommodate light rail usage, the murals were partially recreated by Phillip Lamb along the train platforms at Union Station.^[5]

Former services

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe
Fort Worth toward San Angelo		San Angelo – Dallas		Terminus
Duncanville toward Cleburne		Cleburne – Paris		Reinhardt toward Paris
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad
Fort Worth toward Denver		Denver – Houston Fort Worth and Denver Railway		Waxahachie toward Houston
Rock Island Line
Irving toward Minneapolis		Minneapolis – Houston		Waxahachie toward Houston

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of Texas" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
2. Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
3. Cantu, Blanca (2008-08-13). "DART celebrates 25 years with free doughnuts at Union Station". The Dallas Morning News.
4. "Union Station Website". Retrieved 22 November 2009.
5. "Union Station". DART.org. Retrieved 2006-05-01.
6. "100 Years of History". Dallas Library. Retrieved 2006-05-01.

External links

• Union Station - Dallas Area Rapid Transit
• Union Station - Trinity Railway Express
• Amtrak – Stations – Dallas, TX
• Dallas Union Station, from Amtrak's Texas Eagle website
• Dallas, Texas (DAL) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)
• Dallas Amtrak-DART-TRE Station (USA Rail Guide — Train Web)