Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge at Washington Union Station will close for renovation starting on Jan. 20.
Amtrak said the project will involve creating remodeled kitchenette space, redesigned conference rooms with new furniture; updated accent finishes at the entry and reception areas; refinished wall and floor treatments, new lighting, and expanded baggage storage spaces.
The service advisory did not say how much the project will cost or when it will be completed.
The Amtrak station in Rhinecliff, New York, has been temporarily closed for remodeling.
In the meantime, Amtrak has located a temporary station in a trailer in the parking lot adjacent to the station building. The trailer includes an ADA accessible waiting area, restrooms and a ticket office.
The renovations include creating ADA compliant access and ticketing, updated restrooms and new HVAC, electric and plumbing systems.
There are no changes to access the platform, the parking lot entrance from Charles Street or the drop-off area there.
In a service advisory Amtrak said scheduled for Rhinecliff, which is served by Empire Corridor trains, remain unchanged.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation recently finished the first phase of construction of its new Gateway Station in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Amtrak sent a test train to the facility on Nov. 30 to test clearances of the boarding platforms.
An NCDOT spokesperson said the first phase of the project cost $86.38 million, which included $30 million from the federal government, $47,350,000 from the state, and $9,034,986 from the city of Charlotte.
The facility once complete will link Amtrak passengers with direct access to uptown Charlotte via the CityLYNX Gold Line, bus routes, and other local transit.
The Gateway station is located near West Fourth Street and West Trade Street near the Greyhound Bus Station.
Amtrak now uses a station on North Tryon Street that is served by a single CATS bus route and has limited accessibility for pedestrians.
The $52 million second phase of the development of Gateway Station will be undertaken by the City of Charlotte.
Although no date has been given for completion of the second phase, a city spokesperson said officials want to see it completed “in the next few years.”
The second phase includes constructio0n of a multi-story, and multi-use building that will feature railroad operations in addition to space for retail, residential, commercial and dining accommodations.
The Amtrak station in Gallup, New Mexico, is closed and passengers no longer have access to the waiting room or restrooms.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said passengers can still reach the boarding platforms. The advisory did not provide a reason for the closure or say how long it would last.
The station closure began on Dec. 1. Gallup is served by Amtrak’s Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief.
Amtrak’s station in Palm Springs, California, continues to be hindered by high winds and sandstorms that cause sand drifts near the station.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said its trains may bypass Palm Springs, which is served by the tri-weekly New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Limited, when conditions there are hazardous.
Passengers bound for Palm Springs on days when Trains 1 and 2 bypass the station will instead be taken to the Ontario, California, station located 70 miles west of Palm Springs.
No alternate transportation between Ontario and Palm Springs will be provided.
Amtrak said it is working with host railroad Union Pacific to implement a long-term fix.
The Amtrak Thruway stop in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been moved. The current location is the Hampton Roads Transit Center at 1912 Arctic Avenue.
The new location will be Parks Avenue and 19th Street near the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The bus shelter is located between 19th and 20th Streets.
A ceremony held Nov. 13 in LaPlata, Missouri, marked the completion of a $6 million station rehabilitation project.
The former Santa Fe station, built in 1887, is now accessible under ADA standards. LaPlata in northern Missouri is served by the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief.
During the project the station received new windows, bricks, roof, gutters and siding.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said pre COVID-19 pandemic ridership for Trains. 3 and 4 was 11,000 annually, which he said is 10 times the population of La Plata.
Officials said the station was last modernized in 1945 and the objective of the recent rehabilitation was to maintain that 1940s appearance.
Chicago commuter rail operator Metra has awarded a contract to renovate a station in Homewood, Illinois, that also is used by Amtrak.
The $14.5 million went to IHC Construction Companies to make the station headhouse more accessible by installing an entrance ramp.
Other work will include rebuilding the boarding platforms and installing wind breaks, a warming house and gatehouse.
Workers will install new drainage, ventilation, lighting and interior features in the pedestrian tunnel and replace the elevator connecting the tunnel to the platform.
The work is expected to begin next spring and take two years to complete.
Homewood is served by Amtrak’s Chicago-Carbondale-New Orleans trains.
Platform construction at the Amtrak station in Mendota, Illinois, will result in limited parking at the station for awhile.
The work got underway this week and heavy construction equipment is using some of the parking spaces.
The station remains open for passengers boarding the Illinois Zephyr, Carl Sandburg and Southwest Chief.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said portions of the platform have been removed from service. It did not say when the work would be completed.
Passengers are urged to allow additional time to find parking and walk to the boarding area.
Amtrak is encouraging passengers at Mendota to arrange for pick-up and drop-off service, if possible.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held earlier this month to mark the completion of renovation of the Amtrak station in Longview, Texas.
The $5 million project brought the depot, used by the Chicago-San Antonio Texas Eagle, into compliance with the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The station also hosts Amtrak Thruway bus service to Galveston, Texas, via Houston and Nacogdoches
Built in 1940 by the Texas & Pacific Railway, the Longview station provides a passenger waiting and ticketing area.
Workers removed the asphalt boarding platform and replaced it with a new 810-foot concrete platform with guardrails, mobile lift enclosure, and energy efficient LED lighting.
New station signs were installed and access to the station was improved.
Amtrak said this week it has begun work on a project at Penn Station in New York City to improve accessibility to the station entrance at Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street.
Work includes adding an elevator that complies with standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and widening the entrance.
The stairs and two existing escalators will be replaced with three escalators.
The new entrance design is being funded by a public-private partnership between Amtrak and Vornado Realty Trust. Vornado is building a new skylit canopy above the entrance and integrating it with an office building expansion above it,
The project is expected to be completed in early 2024.
Work was recently completed in Macomb, Illinois, to bring the city’s Amtrak station into compliance with ADA standards.
In a related development, station projects have gotten underway in Iowa in Burlington and Ottumwa to achieve the same result.
A ceremony was held Aug. 24 in Macomb to celebrate completion of the $2.7 million station renovation.
Amtrak uses a depot in Macomb built by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in 1913.
An Amtrak news release said the work in Macomb included construction of a 300-foot-long boarding platform, with a central area comprised of brick pattern-stamped concrete surface and an embedded hydronic snowmelt tubing system, connected to existing manifolds and a new boiler in the basement level of the station building.
The platform was given a detectable warning surface, guardrails, trench drain, LED lighting, new signs and a mobile lift enclosure. Ramps were built to connect the boarding platform to the station doors facing the platform.
Macomb is served by Amtrak’s Chicago-Quincy, Illinois, Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr.
In Burlington, work will include construction of new accessible walkways connecting the platform with the sidewalk at East Calhoun Street and North Randolph Street.
Exterior improvements to the CB&Q station, which was built in 1944, include two new 700-foot-long boarding platforms with rehabilitated canopies and structure, new station signs, mobile lift enclosures, energy efficient LED lighting, and guardrails.
Accessible pathways will provide improved connections from the existing station building to the platform and the various access points on the site.
In Ottumwa the work involves renovation of a CB&Q station built in 1951. The project will include construction of two 1,200-foot-long boarding platforms with the rehabilitation of the existing canopy and structure, new station signs, a mobile lift enclosure, energy efficient LED lighting, and guardrails.
The station will be renovated to include ADA compliant restrooms and a ticket counter. The two entrances to the station will be upgraded with power operated doors and an ADA compliant path to existing parking spaces and city streets.
Ottumwa and Burlington are served by Amtrak’s California Zephyr which operates between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay.
Amtrak in the Heartland 