Springfield Union Station (Massachusetts)

Springfield
Springfield Union Station in May 2013 before renovation
Location	66 Lyman Street Springfield, MA 01103
Coordinates	42°06′22″N 72°35′35″W / 42.106047°N 72.592936°WCoordinates: 42°06′22″N 72°35′35″W / 42.106047°N 72.592936°W
Owned by	Springfield Redevelopment Authority
Line(s)	New Haven–Springfield Line
Platforms	2 side platforms, 2 island platforms
Tracks	6
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: SPG
History
Opened	1839 (original station) 1851 (first Union Station) 1891 (second Union Station) 1926 (third Union Station) 1973 (first Amtrak station) November 1994 (second Amtrak station)
Traffic
Passengers (FY2014)	135,243[1]  4.72% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Pittsfield toward Chicago Lake Shore Limited Worcester toward Boston South Station Windsor Locks toward Norfolk, Newport News, or Lynchburg Northeast Regional New Haven – Springfield Line Terminus Windsor Locks toward New Haven New Haven – Springfield Shuttle Windsor Locks toward Washington, DC Vermonter Holyoke toward St. Albans Vermonter until 2014 Amherst Closed toward St. Albans   Starting in early 2018   ConnDOT Enfield toward New Haven Union Station Hartford Line Terminus   Former services   New York Central Railroad Westfield, MA toward Albany Boston and Albany Railroad Main Line North Wilbraham toward Boston

Springfield Union Station is an Amtrak railroad station in Springfield, Massachusetts. Constructed in 1926, Springfield Union Station is the fifth busiest Amtrak station in Massachusetts.^[1] Amtrak passengers currently use a small station across the tracks. Union Station is undergoing a $83 million renovation project; after July 2016 it will again be used as a railroad station. A new intercity and local bus terminal and a parking garage are also under construction as part of the project.

History

The original Union Station, ca. 1910

The new Union Station in 1926

Springfield's grand Union Station was constructed in 1926 by the Boston & Albany Railroad to replace a smaller Union Station, which had been adorned in unique Egyptian-style architecture. The station was built for $5.87 million.^[2]

Springfield is exactly equidistant to both Boston and Albany at 89 miles (143 km) from each. The New York, New Haven & Hartford (including the Central New England Railway) and Boston & Maine railroads also utilized the station.

The 1926 main station building and baggage building closed in the 1970s when the Boston & Albany railroad ceased to exist and Amtrak took over the station's passenger routes. The building had been neglected for a number of years and was in poor condition and the required rehabilitation to the building was deemed too costly. After this, Amtrak opened a makeshift station at street level within the passenger tunnel with the sole entrance being from Lyman street and the connection from the tunnel to the old station was sealed.

In 1994 Amtrak constructed the present station building at track level and sealed off the passenger tunnel except for the present Lyman street entrance and the southern most stairway and elevator shaft to track level and a modern elevator was installed in the remaining open shaft to connect from street level to the new station building above.

Renovation

In October 2008, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority released a redevelopment plan for Union Station. The plan, estimated to cost $65.2 million, called for restoring the 1926 Union Station Terminal building for reuse as an intermodal rail and bus station and fully building out the first floor and main concourse with rentable commercial space and ticketing and waiting areas for both rail and bus. The baggage building was to be demolished and baggage tunnel sealed. A parking garage and bus bays for both inter-city and regional bus services (which would replace the Peter L. Picknelly Transportation Center a block away) would go on the footprint of the former baggage building. Additionally the pedestrian tunnel to Lyman Street would be restored, and the platforms raised for handicapped accessibility.^[3] The final plan announced in December 2014, at a cost 75.7 million additionally includes restoring and building out the upper floors of the 1926 station building to usable vacant "shell space" which would include completing the required infrastructure and utility work on the floors with final finishing work to be done by the eventual tenants based on their needs. This space is aimed for use by office or other commercial tenants.^[4]

Demolition of the baggage building began on December 1, 2014 and was completed in early 2015.^[5] As of February 2016 the parking garage is now assembled and final side paneling is being installed on the remaining rear wall of the baggage building which serves as a retaining wall for the train viaduct above in preparation for the installation of the bus bays on the footprint of the former building. Additionally the restoration work on the station terminal building has begun. New windows and roofing have been installed and interior utilities and framing work has begun inside the building and passenger tunnel.^[6]

Station layout

Union Station is situated on a grade elevated plot of land one block wide and approximately four blocks long. The main passenger entrance was via the now-closed train hall on the north side of the station and located east to the former express freight facility with a second entrance on the south end from Lyman street (the present Amtrak entrance.) The eight former station tracks were accessed via an underground concourse between the train hall and Lyman Street that utilized stairs and elevators to connect to the platforms. A separate baggage and cargo tunnel with large freight elevators up to headhouses on track level existed to the west of the passenger concourse for transporting baggage and freight from the trains to the former baggage and freight warehouse west of the train hall. The former elevator headhouses remain an important visual element to the station as they have been adorned with large Amtrak logos.

Today the station consists of six tracks; tracks 1, 2 and 2a serve CSX's Boston Line and tracks 4, 6 and 8 serve the Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line. Amtrak trackage is independent from CSX. Amtrak trackages connects with Boston Line track 2A via dispatcher controlled switches at either end of the track. Each of the low level platforms retain the stairs and elevators which connect to the now closed concourse/street level. The current Amtrak station building is at track level adjacent to Track 8 and trains are reached by crossing the tracks at designated walkways. West of the station platforms the Amtrak New Haven-Springfield line immediately curves to the south while the CSX Boston Line continues on to cross the Connecticut River on a twin truss bridge.

The current construction project undergoing will restore the station's train hall and bring the station back to its 1926 through 1970s configuration with entrances on both the north (Frank B. Murray Street) and south sides (Lyman Street) and using the underground tunnels to reach track level. The abandoned passenger elevator and stair head houses will return to service though the baggage tunnel and freight warehouse will not and have been demolished.

Services

An Amtrak Shuttle train at Springfield

Amtrak Shuttle train lays over near the current station building

The primary service at Springfield Union Station are the New Haven – Springfield Shuttle trains connecting Springfield to the Amtrak's Northeast Corridor trains in New Haven. Moreover, an additional 1-2 Northeast Regional round trips start or terminate their service at Springfield as opposed to Boston.

Long distance services comprise Amtrak's Vermonter and the Lake Shore Limited "Boston section." The Vermonter currently uses the Connecticut river line to Connecticut and Vermont, while the Lake Shore makes use of the Boston Line platforms as it continues to/from Albany.

In the past a single Northeast Regional round trip (usually trains 142 and 145) would travel between New Haven and Boston via the so-called "Inland Route" via Springfield and the Boston Line, as opposed to the faster, electrified Northeast Corridor. In 2003, a problem pulled the Acela Express trainsets out of service and in an effort to find substitute rolling stock, Amtrak first curtailed the inland round trip to a 3 car shuttle between Boston and New Haven before canceling it completely. Today, all normally scheduled Regional trains using the Inland Route only use the portion between Springfield and New Haven; in the event of a service disruption on the Northeast Corridor trains may be scheduled to run via the "complete Inland Route." One such occasion was the replacement of the Thames River Bridge movable span in June 2008, when Amtrak scheduled 3 round trips per day over the Inland Route to substitute for the complete suspension of regular Northeast Corridor service.

In 2011, construction began on renovations to Conn River Line in Western Massachusetts, and on December 29, 2014 the Vermonter was re-routed onto the line.

Planned service

Springfield's renovated Union Station will be the northern terminus for the Hartford Line, a commuter rail service scheduled to enter service in early 2018.^[7]

Possible future service

Commuter rail service has been proposed for the rail corridor running between Springfield and Greenfield with four daily round trips.^[8] A 2014 state transportation funding bill included $30 million for acquiring used MBTA Commuter Rail rolling stock and new locomotives for the service.^[9]

Additionally, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation are conducting a study to examine the opportunities and impacts of more frequent and higher speed intercity passenger rail service between Boston and Montreal. The Boston to Montreal corridor runs from Boston to Springfield Union Station. From Springfield the rail corridor follows the route of the Vermonter northerly through Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield, Massachusetts, and Brattleboro, White River Junction, Essex Junction (Burlington), and St. Albans, Vermont. From St. Albans, the corridor continues to the Canadian border and onward to Montreal Central Station in Quebec. This study has been designated the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative.^[10]

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, Commonwealth of Massachusetts" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
2. Brennan, Tim (7 February 2015). "Springfield's Union Station renovation key to Pioneer Valley's future". The Republican. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
3. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority; Springfield Redevelopment Authority (Mass.) (7 October 2008). Redevelopment Plan for the Union Station Intermodal Transportation Facility (PDF). HDR, Inc. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
4. "Union Station to get Full Build-Out".
5. Kinney, Jim (26 November 2014). "Springfield Union Station baggage building demolition to begin Monday, Dec. 1.". MassLive. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
6. "Springfield Redevelopment Authority Page on Union Station".
7. Stacom, Dan (4 December 2015). "Springfield-To-New Haven Commuter Rail Cost Increases, Service Begins In 2018". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
8. Fritz, Anita (February 4, 2014). "Train platform will have access from Olive Street, transportation center". The Recorder. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
9. "Session Laws: Chapter 79 of the Acts of 2014". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
10. "About this Project". Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2015-01-15.

External links

• Springfield Union Station - Springfield Redevelopment Authority
• Amtrak – Stations – Springfield, MA
• Springfield, MA (SPG) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)
• Springfield Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)