Charlottesville (Amtrak station)
Encyclopedia
The Charlottesville Union Station, located in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

, the county seat Albemarle County, is served by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Cardinal, Crescent
Crescent (Amtrak)
The Crescent is a passenger train operated by Amtrak in the eastern part of the United States. It runs daily from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Louisiana as train 19 and returns, on the same route, as train 20. Most of the route of...

,
and daily Northeast Regional passenger trains. The station is within walking distance of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

, which is the major employer in the area.

The original Union Station was built in 1885 to jointly serve the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad, the Virginia Midland Railway, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...

. Major renovations in 1915 included the construction of a baggage handling facility.

Since 1999, the former baggage handling facility is home to the Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 ticket office and waiting area. The main facility has been privately developed into a commercial restaurant. Plans coincident with the redevelopment to create a transportation hub at Union Station were not realized. Instead in 2007 Charlottesville completed the Downtown Transit Center one mile across town.

However, the station does serve as a intermodal transportation nexus, with connecting motorcoach service on site, a 200+ space parking lot, and access to a full-service Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...

 bus station down the street. Such services allow Charlottesville travelers to reach various airports in the region. The Charlottesville Free Trolley stops just north of the station, and connects Downtown and the University of Virginia.

Out of the 19 Virginia stations, Charlottesville is the fifth busiest in the state according to the FY2010 ridership.

Routes

  • Cardinal
  • Crescent
    Crescent (Amtrak)
    The Crescent is a passenger train operated by Amtrak in the eastern part of the United States. It runs daily from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Louisiana as train 19 and returns, on the same route, as train 20. Most of the route of...

  • Northeast Regional

External links

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