Alexandria Union Station

Alexandria Union Station is a historic railroad station in Alexandria, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. To avoid confusion with nearby Washington Union Station, the station is often referred to as simply Alexandria.[3] Its Amtrak code is ALX.[4]

For other uses of "Alexandria Station", see Alexandria Station (disambiguation).
Alexandria, VA
Alexandria Union Station, 2021
General information
Location110 Callahan Drive
Alexandria, Virginia
United States
Coordinates38°48′23″N 77°03′44″W
Owned byCity of Alexandria
Operated byAmtrak
Line(s)CSX RF&P Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks3
Connections
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: ALX
Fare zone2 (VREX)
History
Opened1905
Rebuilt1982
Passengers
FY 2022211,971[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Manassas
toward Chicago
 Cardinal Washington, D.C.
toward New York
Quantico
toward Charlotte
 Carolinian
Manassas
toward New Orleans
 Crescent
Richmond Staples Mill Road
toward Savannah
 Palmetto
Fredericksburg
toward Miami
 Silver Meteor
Richmond Staples Mill Road
toward Miami
 Silver Star
Burke Centre
toward Roanoke
 Northeast Regional Washington, D.C.
toward Boston South or Springfield
Woodbridge
toward Norfolk or Newport News
Preceding station Virginia Railway Express Following station
Backlick Road
toward Broad Run
 Manassas Line Crystal City
toward Washington, D.C.
Franconia–Springfield
toward Spotsylvania
 Fredericksburg Line
Former services
Preceding station Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Following station
Manassas
toward Cincinnati
 Main Line Washington, D.C.
Terminus
Preceding station Southern Railway Following station
Seminary
toward Birmingham
 Main Line Washington, D.C.
Terminus
Preceding station Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Following station
Franconia
toward Richmond: Broad Street or Main Street
 Main Line Seventh Street
toward Washington, D.C.
DesignatedFebruary 27, 2013
Reference no.13000044[2]
DesignatedDecember 13, 2012
Reference no.100-0124

The station is located on Callahan Drive in the Old Town section of the city. It is served by both Amtrak intercity and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter rail lines. The station serves as an alternative stop for Amtrak riders traveling through the Washington area, analogous to the role Newark Penn Station plays in the New York area.

It is located directly across the tracks from the King Street–Old Town station of the Washington Metro. Since the opening of the Metro station in 1983, the city has touted the station as an intermodal hub for regional mass transit, linking Amtrak, VRE, and Metro with a number of Alexandria DASH and Metrobus lines.[5] The Virginia Department of Transportation and Northern Virginia Transportation Authority have plans to build a pedestrian tunnel between Union Station and King Street-Old Town; presently, those transferring from Amtrak to Metro must walk about 600 feet (180 m) along King Street.[6]

The original passenger terminal, a one-story brick building completed in 1905, is still in use. Unlike most stations from the era, it was built in the Federal Revival style. The station was extensively renovated in 1982, with further improvements in the mid-1990s. The stone and concrete Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial was constructed at the station in 1940.[7]

History
Amtrak train at the station

In the late 1840s, the city of Alexandria invested in at least five major railroad projects to link the city with other commercial centers in what proved to be the forlorn hope of competing with Baltimore as a regional industrial and trade center. The numerous competing lines resulted in a mishmash of rails and yards running through the city amidst various railroad mergers and failures.[7]

In 1901, the railroads serving the region, led by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, formed the Richmond-Washington Company to manage traffic between Richmond and Washington and build a consolidated railyard, Potomac Yard. The company's plans included construction of a new passenger terminal west of the city, in what was then part of Arlington County—Alexandria did not annex the land until 1915.[7]

Alexandria Union Station was opened on September 15, 1905, and served passenger trains of the C&O, Washington Southern Railway, Southern Railway and Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad until 1971, when ownership of the station building was assumed by Amtrak, while C&O (now CSX Transportation bought the tracks.[7] The City of Alexandria took ownership of the station in 2001.[8]

Since the 1970s, Union Station has been the focus of Amtrak's regional services into Virginia. In 1976, Amtrak began running the Colonial from Washington through Alexandria to Newport News. It continues today as a Northeast Regional run.

On October 1, 2009, Amtrak began running two Northeast Regionals to and from Lynchburg, making stops in the state that include Union Station.[9] This was followed by an additional extension to Richmond in 2009, Norfolk in 2012 and Roanoke in 2017.

Station layout
G Ground level Entrance/exit and station building
Side platform, doors will open on the left, right
Track 3 ←      Manassas Line toward Broad Run (Backlick Road)
←      Fredericksburg Line toward Spotsylvania (Franconia–Springfield)
→      Manassas Line and      Fredericksburg Line toward Union Station (Crystal City) →
Track 2 ← Amtrak toward points south (Woodbridge) or (Manassas)
←      Manassas Line (select trains) toward Broad Run (Backlick Road)
→ Amtrak toward points north (Washington) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right
Track 1 ← CSX freight toward points north or south →

References
  1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: Commonwealth of Virginia" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  2. "Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 2/25/13 through 3/01/13". National Park Service. March 8, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  3. Alexandria Station, Virginia Railway Express, archived from the original on January 12, 2016, retrieved January 7, 2016
  4. Alexandria, Amtrak, archived from the original on January 2, 2018, retrieved January 1, 2018
  5. "Bus Service from King St-Old Town" (PDF). WMATA. WMATA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  6. "Alexandria Pedestrian Tunnel". VRE. VRE. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  7. Al Cox (1996). "The Alexandria Union Station" (PDF). Historic Alexandria Quarterly. Vol. 1, no. 1. Office of Historic Alexandria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  8. Hamilton, Ellen (10 June 2015). "Alexandria, Column: Steam Engines and Parking Lots". Alexandria Gazette Packet. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  9. Page, Kevin (December 16, 2009). "Amtrak Virginia Update" (PDF). Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.

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