The parking lot at the Amtrak station in Hudson, New York, will be closed starting Sept. 5 as part of a paving project.
All vehicles must be moved from the lot by that date or be subject to being towed at the owner’s expense.
In a service advisory Amtrak said it expects the lot to reopen by Oct. 10. Alternative parking is available across the street in a lot operated by the City of Hudson.
The fee to park there is $10 per 24 hours. Hudson is located on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor.
The Amtrak ticket office in Stockton, California, has temporarily closed.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said passengers will continue to have access to boarding platforms and the station.
The advisory did not say why the ticket office closed or when it is expected to reopen.
Passengers are being encouraged to wait in their personal vehicles or to be dropped off rather than waiting for trains outdoors.
Stockton is served by Amtrak’s San Joaquin Service trains
A station renovation project at Effingham, Illinois, was recently concluded.
The $2.5 million project began in 2019. Work included interior accessibility improvements and construction of a new 700-foot by 12-foot ADA-compliant boarding platform.
The Effingham station is a former Illinois Central express facility located next to a former union station that served the IC and Pennsylvania Railroad.
That complex opened in 1924. Effingham is served by Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, Illini and Saluki trains.
The hours of operation of the Amtrak station in Stanford, Connecticut, have been reduced.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said the station waiting room will be open from 4 a.m. to midnight daily.
Trains will continue to stop at the station, but the waiting room will not be open between midnight and 4 a.m.
Passengers traveling during the time when the waiting room is closed should go directly to the platform to board their train.
No checked baggage service will be available. Ticket sales and special service requests will be available between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Work has begun to add an elevator at New York Penn Station to make it more the station more accessible.
The elevator at the 7th Avenue and 32nd Street entrance will meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards as well as help passengers who have wheeled luggage, strollers and other heavy items.
The entrance will be widened and the project when completed will replace a stairway and two escalators with three transit-grade escalators.
Amtrak said the design of the entrance is part of a public-private partnership with Vornado Realty Trust.
Plans involve creating a new canopy above the entrance and integrating it with a renovated 7th Avenue Plaza and Penn 2 office building expansion.
Construction is expected to take 18 months to complete.
A federal grant will help fund development of stations in Baton Rouge and Gonzales, Louisiana, for a proposed new Amtrak route.
The $20 million grant is being awarded from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program.
Amtrak and state officials are working to establish new service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The grant will be used for the real-estate acquisition, design and construction of the two stations.
It represents a portion of the $36.95 million that Baton Rouge and Gonzales officials have requested for the stations, which are expected to cost $46.6 million.
The Baton Rouge to New Orleans rail project envisions twice daily trips with stops at stations in Baton Rouge’s downtown and health district, Gonzales, LaPlace, Louis Armstrong International Airport and Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans.
Although Amtrak service may still be years away, officials held a ground-breaking ceremony in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, last week to mark the “reactivation” of the city’s passenger station.
Amtrak’s Sunset Limited once stopped here, but that service ended in August 2005 in wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Amtrak has proposed establishing double daily service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, that would serve Bay St. Louis.
The start of that service is uncertain because the passenger carrier is locked in a dispute with host railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern over infrastructure improvements needed to host passenger service.
The dispute is currently before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.
In a news release, the Southern Rail Commission said renovation of the Bay St. Louis station will begin soon so that it will be ready for the launch of the Gulf Coast service.
Boarding platforms in Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula also need to be renovated.
“We are doing the platforms that are essential to properly serving our customers all the way across the Gulf Coast,” said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak media relations manager.
Amtrak is paying for the platform renovations. Magliari predicted that the Gulf Coast service would begin around the first of next year.
“We’ve been very public with our position that the Gulf Coast needs this service, the Gulf Coast deserves this service,” Magliari said. “This service is very possible; all we have to do is get some working agreements with the folks that own the tracks.”
Ribbon cutting ceremonies were recently held to mark the completion of two station improvement projects in Kansas on the route of the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief.
Amtrak said the $7 million projects were undertaken at Dodge City and Hutchinson.
The $3.8 million project in Dodge City involved replacement of the existing asphalt platforms with a new 780-foot concrete platform.
There is now a dedicated passenger loading area to accommodate eastbound and westbound boarding. Other upgrades include new station signs, a mobile lift enclosure, and LED light fixtures along the platform and pathways.
Amtrak said in a news release that sloped accessible walkways connect platform entries with the existing elevated brick plaza area adjacent to the station, which is a former Harvey House built in 1898 sand restored in 2003. A portion of the building provides an Amtrak passenger waiting area.
In Hutchinson, the 1954 station received a new 350-foot boarding platform with new station signs; a mobile lift enclosure; LED lighting; guardrails; new accessible pathways providing improved connections to city sidewalks; and new parking locations.
Interior building improvements included renovated restrooms with new fixtures, accessories and adequate clearances for accessibility; new entry doors; accessible drinking fountain; and full accessibility for all passengers within the station waiting area.
A century-old railroad station in Greensboro, North Carolina, is being acquired by the North Carolina Railroad.
The depot was built by the Southern Railway and is 123 years old. It is now owned by Norfolk Southern and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The NCRR plans to preserve and redevelop the station, officials said in a news release.
It is working with Preservation Greensboro Development Fund and Downtown Greensboro Inc. on the project. The transaction is expected to close on Aug. 12.
Over time the building has been modified to remove its original peaked roof, its third floor, and a prominent conical tower on one corner. Several windows have been reduced in size.
The North Carolina Railroad is a private company but all of its stock is held by the State of North Carolina. It manages a 317-mile rail corridor from Charlotte to Morehead City.
A agreement on a financial framework for expansion of New York’s Penn Station has been reached between the state and city.
The Penn Station expansion is also being billed as having the potential to provide an economic boost to the area around the station.
In a news release, the state said the agreement calls for a shared city-state governance entity to oversee public realm improvements and ensure coordinated planning and implementation of the project.
Funding from privately financed development will help pay for a reconstructed Penn Station, its potential expansion and improvements to the surrounding area that the city-state governance entity will oversee.
The state will sell development rights to private developers and collect payments-in-lieu-of-taxes on newly constructed, modern and environmentally friendly office and residential buildings.
The amount of PILOT payments collected in excess of existing property taxes, in addition to revenue from the sale of additional development rights, will help to fund the project.
Remaining costs will be funded through a combination of sources from the federal government, New Jersey, New York State, Amtrak and other public funding sources.
Amtrak in the Heartland 