Eugene station (Amtrak)

Eugene station (alternately Eugene–Springfield station) is a train station in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Coast Starlight passenger train and is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Cascades corridor. The station is also served by the Cascades POINT bus service.

Eugene
Eugene station with the Coast Starlight in 2018
General information
Location	433 Willamette Street Eugene, Oregon United States
Coordinates	44°03′19″N 123°05′32″W
Owned by	City of Eugene
Line(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Lane Transit District LinkLane Pacific Crest Bus Lines POINT
Construction
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: EUG
History
Opened	1908; 116 years ago (1908)
Rebuilt	2004; 20 years ago (2004)
Passengers
FY 2023	123,521[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Terminus Amtrak Cascades Albany toward Vancouver, British Columbia Chemult toward Los Angeles Coast Starlight Albany toward Seattle
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Terminus Willamette Valley Albany toward Portland Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Goshen Via Siskiyou Line toward Oakland Pier Shasta Route Junction City toward Portland Springfield Via Cascade Line toward Oakland Pier Veneta toward Marshfield Marshfield – Eugene Terminus
Southern Pacific Passenger Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Interior of the Eugene Depot
Location	Eugene, Oregon
Architect	Modeled after stations by H. H. Richardson[2]
Architectural style	American Craftsman, Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	07000823
Added to NRHP	August 16, 2007
Location

History

The station was built in 1908 by the Southern Pacific Railroad and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Southern Pacific Passenger Depot in 2007.^[3]

The current station is the third passenger depot built at this location.^[2] Built of masonry, it is one of five masonry depots that still exist along the original Southern Pacific West Coast line. The other depots are in Albany, Medford, Roseburg and Salem.^[4]

When Amtrak took over intercity rail operations in 1971, it cut back service to a single train through Eugene, what eventually became the Coast Starlight. A brief attempt at corridor service began in 1980 with the Willamette Valley, but ended in 1981. For the next 13 years, the only intercity service through Eugene was the Coast Starlight, which arrived northbound at lunchtime and southbound during the afternoon rush. However, in 1994, Amtrak extended the Seattle-Portland Mount Rainier to Eugene on a trial basis. This proved successful enough that the train was renamed the Cascadia in 1995. The Cascadia was merged into Amtrak Cascades along with all of Amtrak's other Pacific Northwest services in 1998, and a Portland-Eugene round trip was added in 2000.

Southern Pacific sold the building to the Jenova Land Company in 1993, and ten years later the city of Eugene bought the depot as part of a plan to develop a regional transportation center. In 2004, the city oversaw a $4.5 million restoration project. Workers restored the exterior brickwork and trim and gutted and renovated the interior. New tile floors, oak and fir trim, covered ceilings, wooden benches and expanded bathrooms were installed.^[5]

See also

• Southern Pacific Railroad Passenger Station and Freight House — another former Southern Pacific station in Springfield on the NRHP
• Oregon Electric Railway Passenger Station — adjacent former interurban railway station on the NRHP

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Oregon" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
2. Style & Vernacular: A Guide to the Architecture of Lane County, Oregon. Western Imprints, The Press of the Oregon Historical Society. 1983. ISBN 0-87595-085-X.
3. "Heritage Programs: National Register—Recent Nominations". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
4. Christie, Tim (September 7, 2007). "Railroad depot speeds into history books". The Register-Guard. Retrieved September 19, 2007. ^{[dead link]}
5. "Eugene Station". Amtrak's Great American Stations. Retrieved November 3, 2014.

External links

Media related to Eugene–Springfield station at Wikimedia Commons

• Eugene, OR – Amtrak
• Eugene, OR – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Waymarking.com gallery with old postcard images
• National Register nomination^{[permanent dead link]}
• Amtrak Stations Database