Alexandria Union Station

Alexandria Union Station Amtrak station VRE commuter rail station
Station statistics
Address	110 Callahan Drive Alexandria, VA 22301
Coordinates	38°48′23″N 77°03′44″W / 38.806346°N 77.0621°W / 38.806346; -77.0621Coordinates: 38°48′23″N 77°03′44″W / 38.806346°N 77.0621°W / 38.806346; -77.0621
Lines	Amtrak:     Cardinal      Carolinian      Crescent      Palmetto      Silver Meteor      Silver Star      Northeast Regional Virginia Railway Express:     Fredericksburg Line      Manassas Line
Connections	Blue Line (at King Street)     Yellow Line (at King Street)DASH, WMATA Metrobus
Other information
Opened	1905
Code	ALX
Owned by	City of Alexandria
Fare zone	2(VREX)
Traffic
Passengers (FY2008)	120,153 ▲ 23% (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 toward Savannah Palmetto Richmond-Staples Mill toward Miami Silver Meteor Silver Star Manassas toward Lynchburg Northeast Regional Washington, D.C. toward Boston South Station or Springfield, MA Springfield, VA toward Newport News Preceding station   Virginia Railway Express   Following station Backlick Road toward Broad Run/Airport Manassas Line Crystal City toward Washington Franconia-Springfield toward Fredericksburg Fredericksburg Line     Metro Connections at King Street station     Preceding station   Washington Metro   Following station Van Dorn Street toward Franconia–Springfield Blue Line Braddock Road toward Largo Town Center Eisenhower Avenue toward Huntington Yellow Line Braddock Road toward Fort Totten

Alexandria Union Station is an historic train station in Alexandria, Virginia south of Washington, D.C. To avoid confusion with nearby Washington Union Station it is usually referred to locally as simply Alexandria Station. Its Amtrak code is ALX.

The station is located at 110 Callahan Drive (just below King Street) in the Old Town section of the city. It is served by both Amtrak intercity and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter rail lines. It is located directly across from the King Street station of the Washington Metro; since the opening of the Metro station in 1983, the city has made the station an intermodal hub for regional mass transit, linking Amtrak, VRE, and Metro with a number of Alexandria DASH and Metrobus lines.

Amtrak 82 at Alexandria Union Station

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.

History

In the late 1840s, the city of Alexandria invested in at least five major railroad projects to link the city with other commercial centers and better compete 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.

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, Virginia 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.

Alexandria Union Station was opened on September 15, 1905,^[1] and served passenger trains of the C&O, Washington Southern Railway, and Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad until 1971, when ownership of the station was assumed by Amtrak and the rails by CSX Transportation. The City of Alexandria took ownership of the station in 2001.

Starting October 1st, Amtrak will run 2 Northeast Regionals to and from Lynchburg. The train will terminate in Lynchburg stopping at this station.

See also

• RF&P Subdivision (CSX)

References

External links

• Amtrak - Stations - Alexandria Union Station

• Ridership figures, FY 2004
• Ridership figures, FY 2005
• Ridership figures, FY 2006
• Ridership figures, FY 2007
• Ridership figures, FY 2008

• VRE - Alexandria Union Station
• Alexandria Amtrak-VRE Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
• Alexandria Union Station (ALX); Great American Stations(Amtrak)