Union Station (Dallas)

Union Station
Dallas Area Rapid Transit 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°W / 32.77611; -96.80750Coordinates: 32°46′34″N 96°48′27″W / 32.77611°N 96.80750°W / 32.77611; -96.80750
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
Connections Dallas Streetcar
DART Local Bus: 11, 19, 21, 60
D-Link: 722
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 (1916-10-14)
Rebuilt 2008
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 45,132[1] Decrease 10.1% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Texas Eagle
toward Chicago
DART
toward Westmoreland
Red Line
toward Parker Road
toward UNT Dallas
Blue Line
Trinity Railway Express
toward T&P
Trinity Railway ExpressTerminus
Dallas Union Terminal
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, officially Eddie Bernice Johnson 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 is the northern terminus of the Dallas Streetcar and 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]

In October 2016, the station was renamed the Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station in honor of US. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson.

Former services

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe
toward San Angelo
San Angelo – DallasTerminus
Duncanville
toward Cleburne
Cleburne – Paris
Reinhardt
toward Paris
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad
toward Denver
Denver – Houston
Waxahachie
toward Houston
Rock Island Line
toward Minneapolis
Minneapolis – Houston
Waxahachie
toward Houston

References

  1. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of Texas" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. ↑ National Park Service (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. 1 2 "Union Station Website". Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Union Station". DART.org. Retrieved 2006-05-01.
  6. ↑ "100 Years of History". Dallas Library. Retrieved 2006-05-01.
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