Fargo station

1974 Amtrak train in Fargo

Fargo station was originally built by the Great Northern Railway in 1906. It was designed by Samuel L. Bartlett in a Romanesque Revival style. He also designed other stations for the Great Northern, including stations in Minot and Rugby, North Dakota.[2] The Great Northern also built a nearby freight warehouse in Fargo, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

At the time of the station's construction, Fargo was served by both the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific.[4] The station was served by Great Northern trains, while Northern Pacific operated its own station along Fargo's Main Avenue.

In 1970, the two railway companies merged to form the Burlington Northern. Freight trains used the Northern Pacific tracks, while passenger trains used the Great Northern tracks. All passenger service in Fargo began using the Great Northern depot. From 1971, passenger service was operated by Amtrak.[5] Amtrak currently uses the former BNSF freight house as the station building, as the main building became unused in 1986. The former main station building is now used for retail. Various businesses have operated in the building, since 1995.[5]

Fargo station is listed as a contributing property on National Register of Historic Places Downtown Fargo District as the Great Northern Depot.[2]

Empire Builder 7 at Fargo Station

Fargo station is served by Amtrak's Empire Builder service. Westbound trains are headed for Spokane, Washington (splitting to serve Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon) while eastbound trains are headed for Chicago. There are several intermittent stops between. About one-eighth of Empire Builder passengers board or alight at this station.

The station previously served the North Coast Hiawatha until that was consolidated into the Empire Builder in 1979.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has proposed regional rail services to connect Fargo-Moorhead with the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The route is listed as a Phase 1 project for Minnesota's regional rail projects, to be completed by 2030. Due to existing infrastructure, Fargo Amtrak station would be used.[6]

Fargo station is served by MATBUS within one block of the station. Route 11 stops at the corner of 4th Avenue North and 5th Street North on its way from the downtown transfer hub to the Northport neighborhood in northern Fargo.[7]

While the largest city in North Dakota, Fargo has only the third-most rail passenger traffic in the state, behind Minot and Williston. This is chiefly because Amtrak's daily Empire Builder, which makes stops in six other North Dakota cities, stops in Fargo during the middle of night—between 2 am and 4 am—on both its eastbound and westbound journeys. In Amtrak's 2010 fiscal year, an average of about 60 passengers boarded or detrained at the station each day.[8]

Media related to Fargo (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Fargo, ND – Amtrak
• Fargo, ND – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Fargo Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Great Northern Bicycle Co