 Connersville, IN | Cardinal | Maysville, KY  |
The Cincinnati Amtrak Station is located in the hold historic Union Terminal, an art deco masterpiece opened in 1933, that now mostly serves has the Cincinnati Museum Center. The station was one of the last Union Stations open and is a mile north of downtown. Amtrak actually moved out of the station soon after its founding in 1972 to a new and now demolished, much smaller Riverfront Station. The terminal had its long passenger concourse removed in the 1970s shortly after to make room for Southern Railways Double-Stacks to pass through the station. From 1978-1984 the Mall of Oz, a Shopping Center existed in the Station but failed. Finally in 1990 it reopened as the Cincinnati Museum Center and houses 3 different museums, the Museum of Natural History and Science, the Cincinnati History Museum. Tower A that formerly controlled the large railroad yard is still opened to the public and can be visited. In 1991 the Cardinal returned and Amtrak has its own decent sized restored art deco waiting room but with boring maroon vinyl chairs and a ticket office (with luggage services) open every night but Monday night through Tuesday morning (when no Cardinal passes through) from 11:00pm to 6:30am. To access trains a long nondescript enclosed walkway leads across from the Amtrak portion of the depot to a landing where there are a few more chairs and a ramp (primarily for the luggage cart), staircase and elevator down to a single track level platform (with just a yellow line) right alongside the historic depot. The stop is listed as ADA compliant so there must be a wheelchair lift somewhere along the platform for boarding. Portions of the platform away from the depot just have a chain-linked fence
From July 2016 to November 2018 Cincinnati Union Terminal underwent a large historical restoration, and renovations. As part of this project, first Amtrak passengers were advised to arrive at the station early to be escorted through the construction site to the Amtrak waiting room, but soon a temporary station was built along the northern edge of the Terminal, at the foot of Kenner Street. This temporary station consisted of a cream painted modular building with a ticket office and waiting room, a temporary ramp and staircase led into the front of the trailer. To reach the platform, a second door led out of the station behind the ticket office to doors into another temporary looking trailer structure that connected with ramp access up to the existing Amtrak platform. This walkway had another staircase down to the temporary parking area in front of the station, although large signs on the side of the station said the entrance was via the main ramp into the modular station.
On June 5, 2018 the ticket office and baggage service were eliminate at the station (first in the temporary modular station and after relocation back into Union Terminal), due to low ticket sales. The station is now opened and closed by a caretaker.
Photos 1-14 taken on 6 November, 2011; 15-58: 22 July, 2018
