Houston station (Texas)

Not to be confused with Union Station (Houston).

Houston station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Houston, Texas. It was built in 1959 by the Southern Pacific Railroad to replace the nearby Grand Central Station.

Houston, TX
General information
Location	902 Washington Avenue Houston, Texas United States
Coordinates	29.76727°N 95.36754°W / 29.76727; -95.36754
Owned by	Union Pacific Railroad
Line(s)	UP Houston Subdivision
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Amtrak Thruway Greyhound Lines METRO Bus
Construction
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: HOS
History
Opened	1959
Passengers
FY 2023	26,945[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station San Antonio toward Los Angeles Sunset Limited Beaumont toward New Orleans
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Rosenberg toward Chicago Lone Star Ended 1979 Terminus Inter-American Ended 1981 College Station toward Chicago Texas Eagle Until 1995 Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Rosenberg toward Los Angeles Sunset Route Beaumont toward New Orleans
Location

History

1913 postcard of Grand Central Station

The present Houston station, which opened on October 26, 1959, was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad to replace Grand Central Station, which was just east of the present station. That station operated from September 1, 1934 until the property was sold to the U.S. Government in 1959 to become the site of the Houston main post office. Grand Central Station had replaced the original Houston & Texas Central depot of 1886.^[2] When Amtrak was created it was one of two stations in Houston that served Amtrak trains, the other being Union Station, now part of Minute Maid Park. All Amtrak trains moved to Southern Pacific Station by the end of July 1974, and all trains were canceled or rerouted out of Houston except the Sunset Limited. The station continued to be owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad after the creation of Amtrak, and it has been owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, who bought out Southern Pacific.

A third station used by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was at the top of the Main Street viaduct, next to the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD). It was no longer an active passenger station by the end of 1958;^[3] it never served Amtrak and was

In the 2000s, the station was proposed to be replaced by the Houston Intermodal Transit Center, just north of downtown, on the Union Pacific main line. The project was cancelled in 2010.

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Texas" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
2. "National Railway Bulletin". National Railway Historical Society. 47 (1): 18. 1982.
3. "M-K-T Railroad Timetables". The Official Guide of the Railways. 91 (5). New York: National Railway Publication Co. November 1958.

External links

Media related to Houston station (Texas) at Wikimedia Commons

• Houston, TX – Amtrak
• Houston, TX – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)