(rshsdepot) Kansas City, MO

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Links:
http://www.unionstation.org/
http://www.kcsciencefiction.org/union.htm
http://www.kcmuseum.com/timeline.html
http://communities.prodigy.net/trains/gally012.htm


TRAINS WILL RETURN TO KANSAS CITY'S UNION STATION

The Associated Press

Trains are scheduled to arrive at Union Station again by November, returning
the historic station to its roots as a transportation gateway.
A $5 million contract has been signed to build a new Amtrak station for the
six trains and 300 to 400 passengers who ride trains each day into Kansas
City. Construction will start soon.

The new station also is being designed to accommodate commuter rail service
that has been envisioned to serve Johnson County and other suburban areas.

Currently, train travelers enter the city at an underground station under
the Main Street viaduct.

Turner White, chief executive of Union Station Kansas City Inc., called the
return of train service the pinnacle of a $250 million project that restored
the 88-year-old station in 1999.

"The arrival of Amtrak gives the station a complete package of educational
and civic use, and now transportation," White said.

Jeff Reeder, project manager for TranSystems Corp., the engineering firm in
charge, said planning for the new station had been in the works for several
years. Amtrak will use a passenger waiting and ticketing area already set
aside in the northeast corner of the station's Grand Hall.

At its peak in 1920, the station was served by 207 trains daily operated by
12 railroads, including the Santa Fe, the Frisco, the Wabash, the Missouri
Pacific, the Kansas City Southern and the Chicago Great Western. Amtrak took
over passenger service in 1973. The last passenger train pulled out of Union
Station in 1985, when operations were shifted to the current facility.

Kansas City now is served by six trains daily. There is one national route,
the Southwest Chief, that has a daily eastbound train to Chicago and a
westbound train to Los Angeles. A route between Kansas City and St. Louis is
served by two westbound and two eastbound trains daily.

Kevin Lewis, the service manager for the Kansas City Amtrak operation, said
employees were looking forward to working in Union Station.

"They're excited about it," Lewis said. "To be in the heart of Union Station
will be great. I think it will add to ridership."

Ultimately, Union Station is intended to serve as a transportation hub, with
Amtrak and commuter rail passengers arriving and then departing to downtown
and the Country Club Plaza on special express buses, light rail or both.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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