Southeast of the station, the tracks make a sharp turn and cross the river on the historic Steel Bridge. To the northwest, they follow the river, passing through rail yards before crossing the river again on the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1.
The station is owned by the city of Portland and operated by Prosper Portland, the city's urban renewal agency. The city earns $200,000 a year from nearly 30 tenants. Amtrak, the main tenant, has a continuing lease in 2021.
Services
The main atrium waiting room at Portland Union Station in Oregon
The station is one of two western termini for the Empire Builder, Amtrak's major long-distance train to the Pacific Northwest. The train splits at Spokane, with one section continuing to Portland by way of the Columbia River Gorge and the other continuing to Seattle. It is also a stop for the Seattle-Los AngelesCoast Starlight, Amtrak's long-distance West Coast train. It serves as the southern terminus for two daily Cascades trains from Vancouver, British Columbia and four daily Cascades trains from Seattle, and the northern terminus for two Cascades trains from Eugene.
As of 2018, Union Station is the fifth-busiest Amtrak station in the Western United States (behind Los Angeles, Sacramento, Seattle and Emeryville) and the 21st busiest overall.[5]
Bus connections
Portland's former Greyhound bus terminal is the next building to the south, having moved to the building (from a location in the center of downtown) in 1985.[6] Greyhound vacated the facility in September 2019 in favor of a curbside pickup location nearby.[7]
Station details
Union Station is situated near the western bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland's Old Town Chinatown. The site is bound by Northwest Glisan, Hoyt, and Irving streets to the south; Northwest Broadway Street and Station Way to the west; Northwest Overton Street and Naito Parkway to the north; and Northwest Ironside Terrace and industrial and commercial zones to the east.[8]:3
History
Union Station in 1913
The initial design for the station was created in 1882 by McKim, Mead & White. Had the original plan been built, the station would have been the largest train station in the world.[9] A smaller plan was introduced by architects Van Brunt & Howe, and accepted in 1885. Construction of the station began in 1890. It was built by the firm of Wakefield and Bridges for the Northern Pacific Terminal Company at a cost of $300,000 ($11million in 2023 adjusted for inflation), and opened on February 14, 1896. The roof is made of bright red metal roof tiles, with exposed detailed pressed red brick, grey sandstone trimmings, and pebbledash stucco masonry exterior. A feature was the projecting metal canopies with cast iron support posts at the entryway. [10] The annex, also constructed in 1896 also by Wakefield and Bridges, contained the freestanding steam plant, storerooms, telegraph office, laundry, and police-room. At the Depot's opening in 1896, the yards in front of the station contained six parallel railroad tracks. Passengers gained entry to the tracks by passing through along, narrow, enclosed one-story shed appended to the east side of the station. The tracks remained unsheltered for almost 10 years. [11][12]
The track shelters were built in response to the expected increase in travellers arriving by rail to attend the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland.[13]
The signature piece of the structure is the 150-foot-tall Romanesque Revivalclock tower with its four-sided 1898 Seth Thomas eight-day pendulum clock, has become one of the most iconic and recognizable features of the station. Each of the clock faces is 12 feet in diameter, with a minute hand 6 feet long and an hour hand 5 feet long. The clock has a 14 foot pendulum and 1,000 pounds of counterweight that drops almost 50 feet over 7 days.[14] It is wound every seven days. Neon signs were added to the tower in 1948.[15][16] The signs read "Go by Train" on the northeast and southwest sides and "Union Station" on the northwest and southeast sides.
The nearby Interlocking Tower, also called the “VC tower” was built in 1914 to replace an earlier, wooden, building at this same location that served the same function related to the complex track switching function necessary for the operation of the station-related trackage. Construction was likely related to improvements required to changes in operation after the Terminal Company granted use of Tracks 1 and 2 to the Oregon and California Railroad and Southern Pacific railroad. The building is a small two-story brick volume with a decorative parapet, glazed terra cotta or white “face brick” detailing remains virtually unaltered on its exterior. The Interlocking Tower at Union Station is believed to be the only remaining building of its type in Oregon, and one of just five in the western United States. Now leased to Tri-Met, the original interlocking function ended on November 5, 1997.[13] This interlocking tower was added to the National Registry of Historic Places form for Portland Union Station in a 2015 update .
Dissatisfaction with the lack of a clear, formal entry and confusing circulation patterns and dramatically increased passenger load were factors that led to the need to remodel. In 1927, the prestigious Portland architectural firm of A.E. Doyle was hired by the Terminal Rail Company to remodel the station. Pietro Belluschi, a young designer with little architectural training at the time, was put in charge of the remodel. With input from Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Northern Pacific, the owners of the Terminal Rail Company, the drawings were finished in 1929. Major changes included: structural, functional and formal reordering of the main waiting room (including removing interior cast-iron columns) and associated public spaces; reorganizing the entry and exit sequences from the street and tracks; and functional and formal reorganization of the wing between the restaurant dining room and the main hall. Dormers were added to permit more natural light to enter the station. All new exterior finishes were closely matched to the old. Marble for the floors and walls was shipped from Italy for the remodeling. Little has changed in the station since this remodel in 1930.[17][13]
In 1931, a pedestal was built in the station's courtyard and the Oregon Pony 1862-built locomotive was put on display in front of the station.[18] The locomotive was moved to Cascade Locks Oregon in 1970.[19]
In the early 1920's, ninety trains moved in or out of the station daily, 52 steam trains and 38 electrics; a train would arrive or depart about every 11 minutes. Expansion of service at Union Station related to the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway line in 1920s required significant changes to the building and track, and at its peak period of operation in the late 1940s Union Station had as many as 30 separate tracks, continuing east to Front Avenue. Over time, freight rail became less utilized as some businesses turned to trucks instead of railroads for shipment of goods.[20]
In the years prior to Amtrak's assuming passenger operations on May 1, 1971, the Union Pacific's City of Portland ran to Portland from Chicago via Utah. Amtrak ran a successor train, the Pioneer, on a similar route to Portland until 1997.
The neon signs on the tower went dark in March 1971, because the railroads using it, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern and Southern Pacific, were preparing to transfer all of their remaining passenger services to Amtrak.[15] For that reason, the station's then-owner, the Portland Terminal Railroad (itself jointly owned by those three railroads), decided to discontinue operation of the signs.[15] In 1985, two local non-profit groups, the National Railway Historical Society (Pacific Northwest chapter) and the Oregon Association of Railway Passengers, led a fundraising campaign for public donations to enable the signs to be restored to operation.[15] New neon tubes, in place of the old, were installed in July,[22] and the signs were switched back on and returned to regular use in September 1985.[23] The "Union Station" signs remain illuminated continuously, while the "Go by Train" signs flash on and off,[22] in a sequence of "Go", then "Go by", then all three words, then off and on and repeat.
An interior hallway at Portland Union Station in Oregon
In 1987, ownership of the station and surrounding land was transferred from Portland Terminal Railroad to the Portland Development Commission (now Prosper Portland) as part of the Downtown/Waterfront urban-renewal district.[24] Shortly afterwards, Union Station underwent a renovation. It was rededicated in 1996 for its 100th anniversary.
In 2004, the roadway in front of the station was reconfigured, providing a new connection to the northwest and a forecourt. In addition, the area is being redeveloped, including new housing where railroad tracks once were.
In 2023, Prosper Portland re-evaluated the alignment of its continued ownership of Portland Union Station with the economic development mission of the agency. They concluded that a sale to an entity with a transportation-focused mission was in the best long-term interest of stakeholders and the station itself.[25] According to The Oregonian, talks to sell Union Station to Amtrak stalled in early 2024 and Prosper Portland was still seeking a buyer who would be able to finance seismic retrofitting and other upgrades that are estimated to cost $250million.[26]
The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene.
The Empire Builder is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971.
King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Cascades, Coast Starlight, and Empire Builder, as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anchors a major transit hub, which includes Link light rail at International District/Chinatown station and Seattle Streetcar service. It is located at the south end of Downtown Seattle in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, near the intersection of South Jackson Street and 4th Avenue South, and has four major entrances. It is the 15th-busiest station on the Amtrak system, serving as the hub for the Pacific Northwest region.
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The 467-mile (752 km) corridor runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, through Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, to Eugene, Oregon.
The Coast Starlight is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formation in 1971, was the first to offer direct service between Seattle and Los Angeles. Its name is a combination of two prior Southern Pacific (SP) trains, the Coast Daylight and the Starlight.
The BNSF Railway Bridge 5.1, also known as the St. Johns Railroad Bridge or the Willamette River Railroad Bridge, is a through truss railway bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) and completed in 1908, it was originally a swing-span bridge, and its swing-span section was the longest in the world at the time. However, 81 years later the main span was converted from a swing-type to a vertical-lift type, in order to widen the navigation channel. The lift span is one of the highest and longest in the world. The bridge consists of five sections, with the two sections closest to the bank on each side fixed.
The Kelso Multimodal Transportation Center is an Amtrak train station located near downtown Kelso, Washington, United States. The station also serves the neighboring city of Longview, which is located just across the Cowlitz River. The station is served by Cascades and Coast Starlight trains. Greyhound Lines provides national and regional bus service, while RiverCities Transit provides local transit. Shuttle vans, taxis and rental cars can also be hired at the station.
Pacific Central Station is a railway station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which acts as the western terminus of Via Rail's cross-country The Canadian service to Toronto and the northern terminus of Amtrak's Cascades service to Seattle and Portland. The station is also Vancouver's main intercity bus terminal. The station is wheelchair accessible and is staffed with full Via services. The station is a candidate for the northern terminus of a possible future high-speed rail line being considered primarily by the US state of Washington.
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The Centralia Union Depot is an Amtrak train station in Centralia, Washington, United States. It is served by the Cascades and Coast Starlight trains.
The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.
Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6 or BNSF Railway Bridge 9.6, also known as the Columbia River Railroad Bridge, is through truss railway bridge across the Columbia River, between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, owned and operated by BNSF Railway. Built by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) and completed in 1908, it was the first bridge of any kind to be built across the lower Columbia River, preceding the first road bridge, the nearby Interstate Bridge, by a little more than eight years.
Eugene station is a train station in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Coast Starlight passenger train and is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Cascades corridor. The station is also served by the Cascades POINT bus service.
Rail transportation is an important element of the transportation network in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rail transportation has existed in Oregon in some form since 1855, and the state was a pioneer in development of electric railway systems. While the automobile has displaced many uses of rail in the state, rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.
The Pacific Northwest Corridor or the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor is one of eleven federally designated higher-speed rail corridors in the United States and Canada. The 466-mile (750 km) corridor extends from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, British Columbia, via Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region. It was designated a high-speed rail corridor on October 20, 1992, as the one of five high-speed corridors in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).
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MAX Light Rail :
Green Line 
Orange Line 
Yellow Line at Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt and Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan stations 
Transit bus services:
