Sanford station (Amtrak)

Sanford station is a railroad terminal in Sanford, Florida. It is the southern terminus for Amtrak's Auto Train which runs between this station and Lorton, Virginia. The original facility, which opened in 1971, was an older and smaller facility than the terminal at Lorton. Currently, the Auto Train loads its passengers on two tracks in Sanford, as no one track is long enough to accommodate all of the passenger railcars. Sanford's operation is also unique in that a railroad crossing runs through the middle of the rail yard.

This article is about the Amtrak Auto Train station. For the SunRail station, see Sanford station (SunRail).
Sanford, FL
Sign for Sanford's Auto Train station
Location600 South Persimmon Avenue
Sanford, FL 32771
Coordinates28.80709°N 81.28885°W / 28.80709; -81.28885
Construction
ParkingYes
Other information
Station codeSFA
History
Opened1971
Closed1981 (reopened in 1983)
Rebuilt2009–2010
Passengers
2012264,096[1]  1.6%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Terminus Auto Train Lorton
Terminus
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
DeLand
toward Los Angeles
 Sunset Limited
1993–2005
 Winter Park
toward Orlando or Miami
Winter Park
toward St. Petersburg
 Floridian
 DeLand
toward Chicago
Winter Park
toward Miami
 Silver Meteor
Until 2005
 DeLand
toward New York
Silver Star
Until 2005
Preceding station Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Following station
Lake Mary
toward Tampa
 Main Line Benson Junction
toward Richmond

In 2010, Amtrak and the State of Florida replaced the older station with a new facility that can accommodate larger numbers of passengers more comfortably.[2][3] Designed by d+A design + Architecture, LLC of Yardley, Pennsylvania, the current station has a waiting room for 600 travelers, ticket counter, café, restrooms, and a gift shop. The building also incorporates energy-saving features such as glass coatings that minimize solar gain and energy efficient HVAC and lighting systems. A portion of the old station abutting the new structure was reconfigured into administrative offices.[4]

History

The station once served trains run by the now defunct Auto-Train Corporation. It owned and operated the station from 1971 to 1981 when the Auto-Train Corporation fell into bankruptcy forcing service to end. The station was reopened in 1983 when Amtrak revived the Auto Train service.[5]

The original station building was replaced by a new structure that opened on October 18, 2010. Construction of the new $10.5 million station building began on May 18, 2009 after the decision was made by Amtrak to replace the former building, which was damaged by hurricanes in 2004.[6]

Sanford's non-Auto Train station

A second Amtrak station was located three-tenths of a mile south of the Auto Train terminal, which served the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and Sunset Limited. The station was originally built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1913 and rebuilt in 1953. Like most passenger stations, it was acquired by Amtrak upon its inception in 1971. Though Amtrak gave the address as 800 Persimmon Avenue, Suite 100, the station was actually located at the end of West 8th Street, just west of Persimmon Avenue.[7] Amtrak closed the station on August 1, 2005 and eventually demolished it in 2009. SunRail, the Central Florida commuter rail system, revived local passenger rail service to Sanford when it began operations in 2014. But rather than utilizing the site of the former Amtrak station, a new station on State Road 46 was constructed.[8]

References
  1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2012, State of Florida" (PDF). Amtrak. December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  2. Donald Weinstein, David Warner and Harry Sutton (2008). "Amtrak Auto Train Travel Tips - Stations and Vehicles". On Track On Line. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  3. "Sanford - Auto Train, FL". Amtrak. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  4. Great American Stations. Accessed March 18, 2013.
  5. Amtrak History and Archives. Accessed March 18, 2013.
  6. "Sanford Amtrak to open new terminal". Central Florida News 13. 17 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  7. Sanford Amtrak Passenger Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
  8. Sanford/State Road 46 Station (SunRail) Archived 2011-09-07 at the Wayback Machine

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