Union Station (Portland, Oregon)

The Portland Union Station is the main station of the city of Portland in Oregon, USA.

Geographical Location

The station is located at the north end of downtown Portland, on the west bank of the Willamette River.

History

Plans for the construction took place since 1882. Today, smaller version was presented in 1885 by the architects Van Brunt & Howe, which designed a number of buildings receiving for the Union Pacific Railroad. The construction was begun in 1890 and carried out but in the time- standard historicist style. For February 14, 1896, the station was inaugurated. The Portland Union Station so has one of the oldest continuously occupied station building a Union Station in the United States. Landmark of the station is its clock tower. Its neon lettered in 1948 added: On two opposite sides is " Go by Train" to the other two " Union Station".

The last users of the station prior to the acquisition of the entire long-distance passenger transport by Amtrak in 1971 were the Union Pacific Railroad, the Burlington Northern Railroad and Southern Pacific.

The reception building is since 1987 the city of Portland (Portland Development Commission ). This started very soon in order to renovate the facility, which was completed in 1996 on the centennial anniversary. It is now classified as a cultural monument of national importance. Finally, the station forecourt was fundamentally renewed and remodeled in 2004.

Current usage

The station has a main platform and two island platforms with a total of 5 tracks. It is served by the Amtrak long-distance trains Coast Starlight, Empire Builder and Cascades. The train station is a hub of public transport in Portland dar. Two lines of urban rail system MAX Light Rail and local buses TriMet have here stops. The stop of the second light rail system of Portland, the Portland Streetcar, is located within walking distance. In the immediate vicinity there is the bus station of Greyhound Lines.

For the traveler first class Amtrak maintains in the reception building is the only Metropolitan Lounge in a station of the West Coast. In addition, the station building is home to about 30 tenants who contribute with about 200,000 U.S. dollars a year for the maintenance of the plant. In the financial year 2011 665.677 passengers were counted here.