Uptown Station

Uptown Station is an intermodal transportation center[2] in Normal, Illinois, United States. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and is the major intercity rail station in north-central Illinois. It appears on Amtrak timetables as Bloomington-Normal.

Bloomington–Normal, IL
Location	11 Uptown Circle Normal, Illinois United States
Coordinates	40°30′31″N 88°59′03″W
Owned by	Town of Normal
Line(s)	Union Pacific Railroad Joliet Subdivision
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Train operators	Amtrak
Bus operators	Connect Transit Burlington Trailways Peoria Charter
Construction
Parking	380 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Architect	Ratio Architects
Architectural style	Four-story red brick structure with limestone lintels and doorways
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: BNL
History
Opened	1990
Rebuilt	2012
Passengers
2017	241,844 [1]  6.91%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Lincoln toward St. Louis Lincoln Service Pontiac toward Chicago Lincoln toward Los Angeles or San Antonio Texas Eagle
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Lincoln toward Laredo or Houston Inter-American Pontiac toward Chicago Preceding station Alton Railroad Following station Bloomington toward St. Louis Main Line Towanda toward Chicago Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station Panola toward Freeport Freeport – Centralia Colonial toward Centralia
Location
Bloomington–Normal, IL Location within Illinois

Amtrak runs two routes through the station–the Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. This was also a stop for the Ann Rutledge until April 2007. Thruway Motorcoach routes serve the station via Davenport, Galesburg, Peoria, Champaign/Urbana, and Indianapolis.

In 2014, 261,631 train passengers boarded or alighted from Amtrak trains at Uptown Station, making it the fourth busiest Amtrak station in the Midwest behind Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. [3] This is primarily due to the large number of passengers traveling to and from Chicago and St. Louis.

Former facilities

Union Depot

The original station serving Bloomington-Normal was Bloomington Union Depot.[4] This station was located on Bloomington's west side, just south of West Washington Street and on the west side of the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks.[4][5] It had been constructed in the mid-1880s, and survived well into the Amtrak era because Bloomington-Normal is located along the most direct route from Chicago to St. Louis.[4] The station was closed on June 10, 1990 to be replaced by a much smaller facility in Normal.[4][5] Seven years later, on October 31, 1997, a then-partially demolished Union Station was destroyed by fire.[4][5]

1990 Amtrak facility

The original Normal station was built to the specifications of the Amtrak Standard Stations Program.[4][6] Located near the campus of Illinois State University, this station lasted until the new facility opened in 2012.[4]

New facility

Amtrak Bloomington-Normal station platform

On August 7, 2010, construction began on a new intermodal facility, located across the tracks from the 1990 facility. The new facility includes administrative offices and council chambers for the town in addition to serving Amtrak, city and long-distance buses.[2][4] The facility opened on July 14, 2012.[7] Construction, which cost between $43 and $47 million, was funded by a combination of federal, state and local grants.[8][9]

The new 68,000-square-foot (6,300 m²) transportation center was designed by Ratio Architects of Champaign; it is composed primarily of red brick with limestone trim.[10] The building's prominent corner clock tower has become a landmark for the neighborhood. Numerous environmentally sustainable features are also included, such as a green roof partially planted in vegetation that will absorb rainwater and cool the building; the rest of the roof is covered in reflective materials to deflect sunlight.[10]

Connections

Bus transportation providers are: [11]

• Burlington Trailways[12] between Indianapolis, IN and Burlington, IA
• Connect Transit regular routes A, B, D, E, G, H, I, and Nite Ride and Redbird Express serving Illinois State University.
• Peoria Charter: Peoria - O'Hare/Midway[13]

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2017, State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
2. "Uptown Station". Town of Normal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved January 2016. Uptown Station serves as host to numerous transportation providers in addition to housing the Town of Normal municipal offices and Town Council chambers Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
3. http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/ILLINOIS14.pdf
4. Kemp, Bill (4 October 2015). "Union Depot, grand gateway to wider world". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
5. Kemp, Bill (3 February 2016). "'Union' Depot, December 1979 Bloomington's West Side". McLean County Museum of History. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
6. Charlie, Monte Verde (2 December 2015). "Farewell to an American Classic". Cult of Americana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
8. Ford, Mary Ann (August 7, 2010). "Officials: Transportation Hub Will Help Economy". The Pantagraph. Bloomington. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
9. "Aug 13, 2010: Hotline #667". NARP. August 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
10. Great American Stations. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
11. "Transportation Providers". Town of Normal. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved January 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
12. "Burlington Illinois Locations". Burlington Trailways. Retrieved January 2016. Bloomington/Normal, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
13. Peoria Charter

External links

Media related to Uptown Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Bloomington-Normal Amtrak station information

• Normal, IL – Amtrak
• Bloomington-Normal Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Uptown Normal Webcam of Multimodal Station Construction (Normal.org)
• Normal (BNL)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)