I dunno, I personally think it looks pretty good. It kind of has a retro-deco look that reminds me of the old art deco Greyhound stations. I think a bright blue neon Greyhound sign would really look cool.
Urban Review St. Louis wrote:b777stl wrote:When is this due to open?
The Comptroller's office says in February. For now they could put this extra light on yellow flash rather than red flash.
That would mean someone from the streets department would have to pull their thumb out of their ass and actually do some work that required a little effort being put into it. You know that ain't going to happen.
I checked it out on Monday. Looks decent, but not great. The platform areas for train service is decent, but the main building is squaty looking. Signage will be key or no one will know what the heck it is. My biggest question/ concern is that the building does not include a glass covering that extends east from the building to make a clear connection between the Metro Bus area along 14th and the Civic Center Metrolink station. It is a shame the design did not incorporate structured parking. I have a bad feeling that the station will only make it more difficult to develop the surrounding area into anything other than a parking lot wasteland.
- 282
Urban Review St. Louis wrote:For now they could put this extra light on yellow flash rather than red flash.
Today the city put these lights and the one on 18th into Union Station on yellow flash.
- 10K
Urban Review St. Louis wrote:Urban Review St. Louis wrote:For now they could put this extra light on yellow flash rather than red flash.
Today the city put these lights and the one on 18th into Union Station on yellow flash.
It would have been nice had they done that before the crowds from last Thursday's Rams and Blues games emptied out into the area at almost the exact same time. Took me a while to get to 44 that night.
- 10K
MattnSTL wrote:^You Suburbanites just fleeing the big, bad city.
I still would have taken 44 had I still lived off Hampton!
- 2,005
Here's the latest from the St. Louis Downtown Partnership
The new Gateway Transportation Center (often referred to as the multi-modal
center) is expected to open in April and be fully operational by June. Among other
users, the center will include the new Amtrak Station. It’s located west of 14th Street
extending north of and under I-64.
brickandmortar wrote:Last I heard is the completion is in March. IIRC Amtrak is ready, but Greyhound won't be moving until June.
Actually I had it backward. Greyhound will be moving in late April and Amtrak isn't moving in until June. That may get moved up, but that is the status as of now.
^ The sooner the better. This will be a great improvement for our transit image.
I wonder if the area could support a few commuter rail lines coming into the new station. Maybe a Metro East or a Southwest line (Maplewood, Webster, Kirkwood, Sunset Hills, Fenton). Maybe a commuter rail line from St. Charles County if the rail connections exist. Their is certainly going to be dead time between Amtrack trains. Heck, why not have METRO try a few express coaches termininating at the station itself once the new I-64 is open. Would love to see this place used to its fullest potential.
It would seem to make logical sense to use already present rail tracks for commuter rail. Not much capital needed besides a few passenger trains I would think. Metro North in NY runs on same tracks as Amtrak and I believe Metra in Chicago does too. It would also hit fairly dense areas such as Alton and Kirkwood that dont have access to Metrolink currently. Also would connect with Metrolink at the new station so that Alton commuters could continue on to W. County and Kirkwood commuters could transfer to various stops if they needed to.
- 466
the difference is NY is that amtrak owns the tracks there. in the case here, you would have three companies competing for track time. what was the reason that amtrak no longer takes the elevated line under the arch? and am i right believing that they will use that section again? the train seems to go faster on that route so when go that way again, maybe that would be a good idea. the burning question is, who funds it? perhaps ill. could, it would run mostly on that side anyway. kansas city wants to have a commuter rail line that would be paid for by kdot.
^^I wish, it seems so obvious.
In MO and IL Amtrak leases from the freight railroads who own the track, Union Pacific in this case. I don't know why Amtrak doesn't take that route but UP takes priority and Amtrak gets what it gets. Metra in Chicago owns most, if not all, of the track.
Metro (then Bi-State) studied heavy rail lines -- DT to Union, DT to Pevely -- and they ruled them out because there wouldn't be enough ridership. (That's what studies said about MetroLink in the early 80s.)
What was frustrating is back in the early 90s a digital retoucher came to our agency showing his computer rendering skills. One of them was the double-deck commuter coaches with the then yellow, orange, red Bi-State stripes on it. Man, I wish I never saw that image!
In MO and IL Amtrak leases from the freight railroads who own the track, Union Pacific in this case. I don't know why Amtrak doesn't take that route but UP takes priority and Amtrak gets what it gets. Metra in Chicago owns most, if not all, of the track.
Metro (then Bi-State) studied heavy rail lines -- DT to Union, DT to Pevely -- and they ruled them out because there wouldn't be enough ridership. (That's what studies said about MetroLink in the early 80s.)
What was frustrating is back in the early 90s a digital retoucher came to our agency showing his computer rendering skills. One of them was the double-deck commuter coaches with the then yellow, orange, red Bi-State stripes on it. Man, I wish I never saw that image!
Actually, I think its the other way around. Metra in the Chicago operates almost entirely on Freight Railroads. I happened to live in the Chicago area for five years before moving to St. Louis. My townhouse was two blocks from Lisle's Metra station on the Aurora Line going into Union Station. It was Burlington Northern's mainline coming into the city. Three to four tracks of solid freight and Metra trains all day long for this train buff. Not sure if my neighbors liked it though.
I don't know if it is still on track, but I walked by last night going to the Blues game, and it is really looking nice from both the parking side and Metro side.
- 33
yes everything is going good my sister works for the amtrack station in pilly
they were told that it would open in late summer early fall
they were told that it would open in late summer early fall
I've spent several trips dropping people off going to and from Chicago lately.
The good news: If you avoid the Texas train, the STL-Chicago run stays remarkably close to schedule.
The bad news: In fine St. Louis fashion, because we're building a new station, we've completely, utterly ignored the logistics of the old station. The parking lot has been chopped off, and absolutely no accommodation has been made for traffic flow in and out. When the train is crowded, it's a freakin' disaster.
But hey, we've embarrassed the city for 30 years with our Amtrak station. What's a couple more months?
The good news: If you avoid the Texas train, the STL-Chicago run stays remarkably close to schedule.
The bad news: In fine St. Louis fashion, because we're building a new station, we've completely, utterly ignored the logistics of the old station. The parking lot has been chopped off, and absolutely no accommodation has been made for traffic flow in and out. When the train is crowded, it's a freakin' disaster.
But hey, we've embarrassed the city for 30 years with our Amtrak station. What's a couple more months?
If it's not too much trouble, can a moderator change the title of this thread to correct the misspelling.
- 44
The station is expected to open in April, although track work will not be completed until later this summer.
Multi-modal, eh? So buses and taxis may start operating here in April with Amtrak to follow in late summer?
Unless he stole his email, it is the Tom Shrout.
I also fixed the spelling error. I've never noticed that.
I also fixed the spelling error. I've never noticed that.
- 44
Amtrak thinks they can operate out of the new facility while work continues on the track. Greyhound will be moving in as well.