Dallas Union Station

Exterior view of Dallas Union Station

The Dallas Union Station is the main station of the Texan city of Dallas . It is located at the western end of downtown Downtown Dallas under the Reunion Tower , the city's landmark.

history

On March 12, 1912, the State of Texas approved the establishment of the Union Terminal Company. The company should build a modern passenger station for all rail lines leading to Dallas. The share capital was $ 48,000. The eight rail companies serving Dallas Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy); Texas and Pacific Railway ; Houston and Texas Central Railroad (later part of the Southern Pacific ); Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (later ATSF ); Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway (later Burlington-Rock Island Railroad ); St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railway (Frisco); Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway (later CRIP ); St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas (Cotton Belt) each participated with an eighth.

The cost of construction was estimated at three million US dollars. Thirty-year bonds totaling $ 3.193 million were issued to fund it.

In 1916, what was then called the Dallas Union Terminal was opened and replaced the five stations around the city that had been used until then. At the best of times, 80 trains stopped at Dallas Central Station every day.

Originally, the second floor was intended as a waiting hall, from which all platforms could be reached. However, since the area was very high, it was hardly used. The installation of escalators did not help either. In 1954, for example, the main train station was also used as a temporary space for the Dallas Central Library, the Dallas Public Library , before it moved into its own rooms. The upper floor is now used as the conference room of the Hyatt Regency Dallas , which has direct access between the hotel and the hall in the train station.

The originally high access was replaced by a deep access tunnel to the platforms. With the decline of passenger traffic, the station was less and less frequented, the last private rail company stopped on May 31, 1969. Amtrak has served the station since May 14, 1974 with a line between St. Louis and Laredo, which is now known as the Texas Eagle wrong.

In 1983, planning began for a light rail system , which, after some delays, was finally opened in 1996 and has a stop at the Dallas Union Terminal. At the same time, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit created the Trinity Railway Express regional train to Fort Worth, which starts at the main station and, after a few extensions, has also led to downtown Fort Worth since 2001 .

Since October 2016, the station has been dedicated as Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station .

According to current plans, the terminus of the Texas Central High-Speed Railway will be built in the adjoining Cedars district of Dallas, about half a mile away. It is unclear in the early planning stages whether the state-planned “Dallas-Fort Worth Core Express Service” will lead to the Dallas Union Station.