Amtrak's Least Used Stations
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Amtrak serves quite the variety of flag stops, stations, and terminals across the United States and Canada. Passenger numbers can vary from millions of people to year to only a few hundred per year. But the question is, why are some stations more serviced than others and why do some stations have so few riders per year? Well in this video I take a look at the 5 least used Amtrak stations on the railroad's system and give some insight as to why some station stops have so few passengers at them.
Special Thanks To:
Virginia Area Railfan Videos
/ @ratatoskrproduction
Mountain Ridge Films
/ @mountainridgefilms8504
Music Used:
The 126ers - Empty Hearted Man
Sonic CD OST - Palmtree Panic Zone Past
Sonic Colors OST - Aquarium Park Act 1
Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum - St. Anne's Reel
Railroad Tycoon 3 OST - Switch Yard Blues
Chris Haugen - Green Green Garden
Chris Haugen - Juneberry Junction
Sonic Unleashed OST - Apotos (Day)
Sonic Robo Blast 2 OST - Arid Canyon Zone 2
Sonic Robo Blast 2 OST - Arid Canyon Zone 1
Wes Hutchinson - One Down Dog
Links:
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I've taken a lot of cross-country Amtrak trips, and always marveled at the tiny towns that get service, for whom the rail station is clearly a source of pride and joy for the community.
Pathetic actually
@@qjtvaddict you know what's more pathetic? Wasting your time in traffic when you could easily take a train to where you need to go if available
@@jaquaviontaviousbonquequex9066 big big "if"
Yet there are some big city still lacking a station
I live in a small town near London, ON that's on the VIA Rail Corridor line between Toronto and Windsor, yet we have no station at all. The town was founded because of the Grand Trunk Railway!
When Amtrak will serve a tiny town in the middle of nowhere but they won’t serve cities 100x larger
The British railway network won't serve Newcastle-under-Lyme or Gosport? Or Dudley really (though there is a "Dudley Port" station). All are over 70 thousand in population.
@@seprishere The city of 200,000 by me doesn't have ANY form of rail service at all. Infact, only the most known cities in America seem to have any rail transport available.
@@rrai1999 there’s lots of tiny towns that have service, especially along the western long distance lines. But some major cities have none
@@williamkesler2373 The east coast has pretty much nothing to speak of outside of the northeast corridor.
@@rrai1999 which is where I'm at, albany area. Theres a reason tho. Railroading started here with Henry Hudson.
Being a frequent passenger on the Sunset Limited, it’s nice to see some love for a stop on the route. Such an underrated journey.
How about Tallahassee, FL? It's still actively signed as an Amtrak station, and maps still occasionally show as a "suspended" destination on the Sunset Limited since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Its official yearly passenger count is 0, but it's technically not yet considered a defunct station.
@@ronjoe6292 '05.
@@JimBones1990 You're right. In my defense, 2004 was a nightmare year for Florida.
*In Sanderson’s defense* it does only get tri weekly trains. So some days literally don’t see a train at all.
That is true of most of the stations on the Sunset Limited route, except for junction stations that have trains going north.
Well the Sunset Limited has the fewest passengers of all the long distance trains.
That is true of Thurmond and Montgomery WVa. also. The Cardinal serves them tri weekly
@@JawTooth I love old lines, and historic stations, like you, but if Amtrak wants to really being back large ridership, they need to stop just going through the motions of 1965 with old routes and stations where riders don't live.
The population centers have moved since 1960. Taxi life is different too. Most people have a car for every driver, uncommon in 1955. The historic stations are often in depressed or even dangerous areas, no stores, restaurants or car rental places within walking distance. Above all, parking is a royal pain. Expensive if garaged, and if unattended lots, your car may be vandalized over a week or two. City center stations in traffic snarl cities like Atlanta, New Orleans or Houston mean the rider must slog two hours through traffic, pay to park, then ride back at 40mph over much of the same territory they just drove.
Stations need to be new, low maintenance modern and placed on freeway offramps in areas where the most riders exist and providing simple parking. The old stations would then be served by the county or city to get the rider out to the higher speed modern station where they meet the rural suburban rider.
All this accomplished by bypass sidings owned by Amtrak, but interchanging with the old freight lines, until ridership comes back.
However I don't think Amtrak really wants massive ridership. It mostly exists to run the NE Corridor service that DC politicians and lobbyists rely upon. That is why it was really created when Penn Central, Chessie, etc all cancelled passenger service in the 1960s.
Trains will likely continue as they are for several more decades. I'm happy we have the biggest and fastest rail freight infrastructure in the world, but I do miss riding trains to go 100 or 200 miles. However Amtrak service isn't worth those short runs except in the NEC.
And it's even worse when you factor in certain major cities and popular destinations on the route like Houston, El Paso, Tucson, and even Palm Springs all only get served three times a week as well. No way any of those places should be reduced to anything less than daily service.
The Albion decline came with a schedule change. The old early aft. WB and late aft. EB replaced by early am WB and late night EB. Many of us local passengers now drive 25 miles to Jackson or Battle Creek for more convenient departures.
And to be fair, Michigan subsidizes the Wolverine route and wants more stops. It's not like some of the stops out west where the states don't provide any funding.
How nice of UP though, to allow for the saving of Sanderson Station, multiple times, albeit unfortunately without complete success.
And then there is Boise Idaho's station, restored and patiently waiting for Amtrak to return.
Really ? That's a big town too.
@@feminazislayer Big by Idaho standards or other places in the middle of nowhere.
Glad someone finally said it
Sorry but I have serious doubts it will ever happen. There isn't enough density along the route and getting to Portland's station to and from the east and west now requires a backup maneuver.
It's unfortunate how the only active railway station in the entirety of Idaho is in Sandpoint, IH. It's in the far north of the state and located 518 km (322 mi) away from Boise. The station's on the Empire Builder service which goes from Chicago to Seattle/Portland.
Awesome video! Thurmond is the coolest one by far. Every railfan should visit there.
I really like the Point of Rocks station in MD near Brunswick but it is mostly used as a stand. The Harper's Ferry station is now beautifully restored and opened on the I side. When I lived there, only the outside benches were available and the run down station was filled with storage junk.
They give tours of the Thurmond abandoned buildings. Very interesting. Thurmond has a lot of history.
Ye
I'm pretty sure it is, Mr. Jaw tooth, and I beleive Thurmond depot was shown in a Lionel catalog.
I've wanted to stop there but is there any taxi/uber service there. with only 4 residents i dont want to be stranded.
So you’re becoming the Geoff Marshall of America?
Now he just has to visit them in person.
Isaac Anderson Ya
@@amtraktrains5627 it would be awesome if someone did geoff marshall style videos for American metro systems
Jse A ya
@@jsea1967 Imagine an American 'All the Stations'. It would take a decade!!
Greenfield Village wasn't the only Amtrak station that's restricted for groups of 20 of more. There's also Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park on the San Joaquins between Oakland or Sacramento and Bakersfield. It opened around 2001 and unlike Greenfield Village, it's still open today despite not being on Amtrak's list of active stations because of the arrangements that must be made to stop there
Well yeah, but I think that the main point behind his mention was that the area ended up being better serviced by Amtrak after the merger of the two stations nearby, though I do find Colonel Allensworth to be quite the intriguing station, and think it could have also been given a mention.
that's pretty cool actually, the fact that it is in a weird purgatory of existing. i almost wanna check it out but idk how id get 20 people just to chack out a station
Absolutely fantastic, good for Amtrak for continuing to serve the stations of these areas.
Before the Sunset Limited stopped running east of New Orleans, I'd bet some of the Alabama and Florida stations on its route would have been on this list
I’m mad that CSX still won’t lift a finger to restore those tracks to passenger standard.
No comments about the presence of a " Dot matrix" display and nothing about a bin bag wafting in the breeze? Thurmond would be good for a "Viki Explores"
Or signaling boxes :-)
I see no help point either
LOL
I think one of the reasons the Ethan Allen Express wasn't extended to Burlington until recently was because of Port Kent which has that ferry across to Burlington. I think they felt if they extended the Ethan Allen, even less people would use both Port Kent station and the ferry
very likely
Really like how you show off the least used ones
Well done, such an informative video on these least used stations in the U.S. As a railway enthusiast from the UK, I've been along fan of American railways, since reading about them in books and watching videos of various American locomotives. I honestly wouldn't mind All The Stations visiting the U.S. to cover these stations after this pandemic has passed over.
Love watching All The Stations!
This was great i love stories that include the history, especially those whose days were in the past. Thanks for making this video.
HAL ME
MY GOAT FELL OFF DA MOUNTAIN
Ah, I see your a man of culture as well
Ah yes engines of Amtrak 45
Rip goat
Oof
I pray that the unbridled passion found within your riveting narration never ceases or fades. It’s truly an inspiration.
4:27 this song is so nostalgic for railroad tycoon 3 players i love this game so much iconic sound track brings back great memories of playing the game with my dad
You should do a vid on the Siemens locomotives on engines of amtrak
Think it would be better once we get more info on the ALC-42.
He’s not going to anytime soon since neither the acs of sc 44 have much history.
He probably wont. He did say in a video that he didnt want to do modern stuff cause of how little info there is
Siemens have built quite a lot trains in the UK Such as their desiro & desiro city Family of trains Such as class 700 Operated by Thameslink That replaced 30 year old class 319 That were Built from 1987 to 1989 In BREL York to do commuter services Between Bedford and Brighten .
The class 707 Operated by southwest trains Is a commuter service train Operating Out of London waterloo Going down to Portsmouth and on the Winsor line.
The class 717 Operated by Great northern Operate on the northern city line ex London underground line Used to be part of the northern line Into 1975 The line Runs out of moorgate To Stevenage With the East Coast Main line That operate out of London king's cross.
The class 717 was made to replace class 313 peps that were Built from 1975 to 1977 their now all scrapped.
Sanderson gives me some “Bad Day at Black Rock” vibes
I lived in Thurmond and I loved seeing the trains running by
Surprised the Tacoma Dome station wasn’t on here. It’s technically an active Amtrak station but it hasn’t been used by Amtrak since 501
501 AD? Dang, that station's been abandoned a long time then
Happy to see a reference to the Alpine station! I have a lot of nostalgia for that one.
Michigan local here. I had no idea greenfield village used to have an amtrak station, and I feel like I missed out. It would be the perfect way to get into the mood for the village and museum by taking the train in
I'm surprised New Iberia, Louisiana is not on the list.
Great video! The area around that little station in NY looks **beautiful!**
Since I (usually) go to Canada in summer, I like to go to Greenfield Village to see the old locomotives. It’s a shame I can’t take a train there, though.
I live between Thurmond and Montgomery. They are both really cool little towns.
Amtrakguy365: *makes this video*
Geoff Marshall: ARE YOU CHALLENGING ME
Nice. If you could spin this into a series about other stations, that would be something.
Yes. Like seasonal stations like port kent, some at Glacier national park, or NY state fair near Syracuse NY. Another is flag stops and how they work if your boarding and the train needs to stop.
I've been a Michigander all my life, so the fact we made this list doesn't really surprise me. What _did_ surprise me was that Albion made the list at all (Albion College is the only real thing in that town, and of course Interstate 94 is 5 minutes north of town.) I grew up in Troy, so seeing that excerpt from FY2018 that Amtrak served almost 33,000 people ATOMIZED my brain! The "station" is nothing more than a covered platform across from Big Rock Restaurant, in behind an industrial plaza, along the Grand Trunk Western/Canadian National line. This whole time I thought it was a whistle stop, but I learned I was quite wrong. *~* I completely forgot Greenfield Village used to have its own stop (the original Dearborn station was east of GV, but now is practically right outside, on the west side.)
1st
Cool now I wish Amtrak's small least used train stations can be shared with smaller private companies
Nobody wants to serve those stations
Did you intentionally upload this on the day “temporary” (permanent) service cuts began?
Edit: I am very thankful this aged terribly
Hmm. I wonder if that may get Essex, MT on this list. It consists mainly of a hotel and a handful of houses. It does attract a lot of tourists, though.
Hopefully not. Though I know Montana Senators are PISSED about the Empire Builder cuts, and are trying to keep them from happening. But it’s not like the profit-seeking, long distance hating management will give a damn about it. Long distance isn’t in the “Grand Plan for Profitability” unless it’s the Auto Train.
MarioYoshi 4723 We need to instruct our Federal Government that public services are not supposed to be profit-making ventures. Amtrak and the USPS are prime examples.
@Jhon Krasnovskiy Not sure what you're saying. Passenger rail was not profitable and was being subsidized piecemeal among many railroads, just to keep minimal trains running. The network as a whole works better and costs less operating as a single unit = Amtrak.
@@jacksons1010 was a scheme commited by standard oil, firestone tires, and general motors. They wanted you to buy standard oil and gas, drive on firestone tires, and use general motors motors. Can't do any of those things if you are always riding the train. The "Red Car" was the trolley system in los angeles that existed up until the 1960's (about the same time major hiways were being constructed). This trolley system went from long beach up north to van nuys, santa monica to points east. These three corporations bought up the properties, ceased operations, and let it rot under a dummy corporation. Was even brought up on charges and paid a measly $2001 in fines to the FTC for a monopoly. .... Railroads were unregulated until legislations in...(big guess) the 1960's (they could run as fast as they wanted, and buy and build what they wanted). Amtrak was created to save what was left of passenger rail service in 1971 (many smaller railroads and shortlines of passenger and freight saw thier demise during this time as well).
I like that you said "Appalachian" correctly.
as someone who lives in east tennessee I very much was happy when he said that.
He mispronounced the last part of Adirondack though.
Correct to some people, incorrect to others. That’s not how it’s pronounced here in Maine
Can't understand why no stop in Las Vegas NV
Dinky little stations
The signage for the Greenfield Village station is still there, I believe. I had no idea that was an actual stop!
Albion College alumnus here. Amtrak trains blasting their horns through campus were a feature of my college days, and it was great to be able to hop on a train to Chicago or Detroit for the weekend.
You very much look like Jonathan Frakes
Not the first time I’ve heard that. I’ll take it as a compliment!
Very interesting, thank you. Back in the old days, "flag stops" actually had flags of sort which the passenger employed to indicate to the engineer to stop. What are today's "flags"? Perhaps the trains momentarily stop at these tiny places regardless of waiting passengers or not.
I’m not sure about other states, but in Massachusetts on the MBTA system flag stops mean that the train will not automatically stop at the station. You will need to tell the conductor you wish to exit there. If you are waiting on the platform for a train you have to make yourself visible (stand up when the train is approaching so the engineer/conductor can see you) and the train will stop for you. Hope this helps !
@@bnsfrailfans So there is a risk that the train simply won't see you and carry on through....
Very interesting - I must have passed through Sanderson, TX in 1997 on the Sunset Limited between Orlando, FL and El Paso TX
5:16 That Sign Said Matewan! 🤣 That's not Matewan That's Thurmond!🤣 Very Nice In depth video about the stations! I film Along Thurmond and Montgomery was just there today! Again Excellent Video!👍👍👍Keep'em Up!
The banjo/blue-grass rendition of Quiet Riot's "Come on Feel the Noize" (during the Thurmond section) was pretty damn awesome.
Sanderson's a great place, it really is. Train statin's usually pretty dead when I'm there, though. The Ranch House is a great restaurant. Outback Oasis is the nicest place to stay in town. Z Bar's quite literally the best stocked store I've ever been to in my life, all in Sanderson. Was super cool seeing the Big Boy overnight there last year.
The tag "Least Used Stations", reminds me of Geofftech.
I live right next Greenville village and in Dearborn I love it
Here in Japan we have a station with 0 users and every train, Shinkansen or Local skips it. The station is technically still in service and is still written on the station list, the price list, etc. (Akaiwa Station)
But what if I want to get on! I won't be on time! That's not very Japanese of you! For shameeeee
we have several stations which are essentially dead here in the UK, hence Parliamentary train services.
i wanna go to japan just so I can be that one guy that has to get off there lolololol
KishaScape if you look at the timetable it’s empty so it’s still technically on time
@@hamanakohamaneko7028 JUMP, TUCK, AND ROLL!!
Great vid, next you should do the top 5 most used stations by Amtrak
There's no passengers at the Greenfield Village station because it probably didn't get much advertising. I've lived 5 minutes from there for 22 years and I've never heard of it until now. Thanks
I was supposed to ride the Cardinal this past June with 2 friends for our annual railfan trip to PA. but plans were cancelled of course. I hope to do it next year and see Thurmond, had no idea of the history of the town. We did stop at New River Gorge in 2015 on our way to ride with steamer #611 in VA, and we were looking forward to being on a train way down in the Gorge.
At least they have stations. Arriving in Hutchinson KS at 4am from central Missouri, there was no station, just tracks going east and west.
Beaumont Texas. I once called a taxi to pick me up at the Amtrak station. The person answering the phone thought I kidding.
Update on sanderson: The station has now gained a offical platform, a small dropoff area, a new sign, and a small overhead canape
Wow
The issue of Cardinal and Sunset Limited low numbers of passengers in their stations is mainly the thrice weekly service.
The stations are so beautiful, unlike the modern monster buildings.
so good to see you upload. love your videos. Made my day!
Amtrak serves the small towns with no airport within miles of reach. Gotta respect it
Now do most used Amtrak stations.
Sanderson, Tx is a tiny middle-of-nowhere station but it has a newer station sign, but in Toledo all of our station signs are old and bent
I always used to look at Greenfield Village being listed as a stop on Amtrak's Wolverine schedule - along with the note that a reservation of 20 or more people must be made to have the trains stop there - and think, "who's even going to do that?", but also think it would be cool to see the train stop there. Anyways, it was a great idea to merge the two Dearborn stations into the John D. Dingell Transit Center, I feel that it really made a great city like Dearborn look a lot better from the tourist's perspective. I was quite surprised that a new station - with a modernity that resembled the NEC stations - would even be built in my (former) hometown. Even today, though I live closer to Pontiac, I still prefer to board the Wolverine in Dearborn, as it does save time and money, but also because it's just an amazing station.
Dearborn is no longer a great city as you put it....its an absolute shithole now.
I saw the title, I clicked and immediately scroll down to look for a Geoff Marshall.
Great video as usual! :D
Very interesting and well produced video!
The historic LCT ferries were scrapped and the route is no longer in use sadly. They now only have the Grand Isle-Cumberland head route and Charlotte to Essex NY....When the Adirondack resumes service, I doubt anyone will use the port kent station. It still is a nice place to catch CP at least
Imagine seeing an Amtrak carrying a freight train
Also I have an idea for a video, the old Birmingham Terminal station in Birmingham, Alabama. The station was demolished in the 1960s.
I think many of the Amtrak stations have fewer passengers than the least used ones in Europe. And the station of my hometown, Bern, counts 250'000 daily riders - yes, you've read correctly, daily 😅
Uh.. Are you telling me 91 million people get on a station in an average european city every year? I believe your number is ludicrously incorrect
I have been to Thurmond before, it was interesting to see all the history
I was literally just watching your videos and then boom
That many folks from such a dinky town? That is very good!
Very interesting. Thanks for putting this together into a nice video.
Wow great video Jaref
Im I the only one who noticed the background music was playing from number 5 and 4? Number 5 music was from Palm Tree Panic (past) from sonic CD number 4 was from Sonic colors Aquarium park act 1. Great vid by the way full of interesting facts about train stations that I didnt even know (and I know quite a bit about trains)!
Port Kent: A small hamlet along the banks of Lake Champlain, and as you pointed out, is a seasonal stop only when the Ferry is in effect as a second way to provide service to people in Burlington, a city that doesn't have direct train service as the Vermonter stops in Essex, 7 miles northeast of Burlington. I wonder if Amtrak will keep this stop when the Ethan Allen is expanded to include Middlebury/Vergennes/Burlington in a couple years (well, if the pandemic hasn't destroyed that idea to expand beyond Rutland), as the only attribute for keeping this stop is its proximity to tourist attraction Ausable Chasm 5 miles to the west.
Ethan Allen extended to Burlington in 2022.
there is a station thats one platform and only sees one P42DC a day (RNK VA)
I've heard of a train station in Russia which is literally just a field in the middle of nowhere. Serviced by nationwide rail transit. No platforms, schedules, ticket booths or anything. Literally just a field.
Well there is a tiny train station in my hometown city of lake Charles Louisiana and when i went to this station when it was being used by the city as a temporary place for city buses i only saw limited number of amtrack trains mostly 1 or 2 trains
Those towns are lucky to even GET an Amtrak station. The area I live in (Shamokin Dam/Selinsgrove, PA) doesn't have any stations. If you want to catch an Amtrak train, you have to travel South to Harrisburg.
Before clicking I thought Connersville Indiana would be on it. It almost was though. It only had 448 boardings in 2019. :)
actually, in 2021 it went down to 419 apparently. :(
Port Kent is such a cute little town! Also, I want to go to Thurmond.
Very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing the information.
Thurmond is wonderful. Had a lovely time looking around the old town and depot museum while waiting for the inevitability delayed Cardinal service to DC after the World Scout Jamboree last year
I'm guessing most riders on the Montgomery West Virginia stop are due to West Virginia Tech being in the town.
Ah yes. Good old Thurmond, WV. Nice Video AmtrakGuy.
Surprised to see union station not in here
I think your video was well done.
2/5 in West Virginia on the Cardinal. Big shocker. Alderson and Ronceverte are probably in the top-10.
You're like wendover if he only focused on trains
without all the ads and a relaxed tone of voice.
I was thinking Company Man for trains haha
Wow I’m watching this on Amtrak from de to Boston
How long is that ride? 6 hours?
I'm waiting for service returning to Wolverine HAMMOND/WHITING stop. They tore up and rebuilt it starting in April 2020. Looks like it's done. They spent alot of $$$ on it. So, where's our train? The Wolverine starts out of Chicago's Union Station, and just blows by.
Great video. Thank you.
We have a pretty decent amount of Amtrak here. Just built a new station and just a county over to the west is the Durham Amtrak station and then in a few years, a county to the west of that will also have an Amtrak station
With the collapse of the economy and small towns becoming extinct.. these stations will go from 2 riders a day to negative 10-15 a day.
Our insistence that planes and cars are better than trains is one of the biggest mistakes we’ve made as a country. Travel by train in Europe and Japan and it’s amazing to think that they’re the countries who lost WW2! For distances of less than 300 miles high speed rail is vastly superior to driving or flying. I live in Seattle and would love to take the train to Portland for fun or Vancouver, BC for work but it’s just not a practical option given how incredibly slow Amtrak is. Also before you say “high speed rail is too expensive” take a look at how much airports cost or the healthcare costs which are incurred by car crashes! High speed rail is a bargain by comparison,
I'm surprised that in the entire us the least busy station has over 200 passengers with only 3 trains each way a week les cabrils in France got 14 with 2 trains each way a day, Redcar British steel saw as many trains as les cabrils but got 40 passengers while many stations in Canada literally get 0
Awesome video! I sure learned something new.
For those who played Red Dead Redemption 2, Annaville was modeled after the Thourmond Station.
You should stress that most of the stations you featured are on tri-weekly routes! Yes stops, like Sanderson, Texas, should be maintained to continue you to give passengers flexibility.
Daily services is needed.