Union Station (Pittsburgh)

Union Station (or Pennsylvania Station, commonly called Penn Station) is a historic train station at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue, south of the Allegheny River, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was one of several passenger rail stations that served Pittsburgh during the 20th century (other stations included the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station, the Baltimore and Ohio Station, and Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal), and it is the only surviving station in active use.

Union Station Pittsburgh, PA
Amtrak inter-city rail station
Location	1100 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States
Coordinates	40°26′41.1″N 79°59′31.7″W
Owned by	Amtrak
Line(s)	Keystone Corridor (Pittsburgh Line) Fort Wayne Line
Platforms	3 + 1 disused
Tracks	2 + 3 disused
Connections	East Busway at Penn Station Greyhound Lines at Grant Street Transportation Center Fullington Trailways at Grant Street Transportation Center
Construction
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Architect	D.H. Burnham & Company
Architectural style	Beaux Arts
Other information
Station code	PGH
History
Opened	1903
Rebuilt	1954, 1988
Electrified	No
Passengers
FY 2017	145,362[1]  0.4%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Alliance toward Chicago Capitol Limited Connellsville toward Washington, D.C. Terminus Pennsylvanian Greensburg toward New York
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Alliance toward Chicago Pennsylvanian 1998–2003 Greensburg toward Philadelphia Youngstown 1996–2005 toward Chicago Three Rivers 1995–2005 Greensburg toward New York Youngstown 1990–1995 toward Chicago Broadway Limited Greensburg toward Philadelphia Canton 1971–1990 toward Chicago Columbus toward Kansas City National Limited Wilkinsburg toward New York or Washington, D.C. Terminus Fort Pitt Pitcairn toward Altoona Preceding station Conrail Following station Terminus Parkway Limited Wilkinsburg toward Greensburg Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station Alliance toward Chicago Main Line East Liberty toward New York or Exchange Place Federal Street toward Chicago Terminus North Trafford Line Shadyside toward North Trafford Carnegie toward Columbus Columbus – Pittsburgh Terminus Terminus Pittsburgh – Oil City East Liberty toward Oil City Kittanning Local East Liberty toward Kittanning Federal Street toward Toledo Toledo – Pittsburgh Terminus Federal Street toward Erie Erie – Pittsburgh Federal Street toward Enon Enon – Pittsburgh Federal Street toward Cleveland Cleveland – Pittsburgh Fourth Avenue toward Washington Chartiers Branch Fourth Avenue toward Wheeling Wheeling – Pittsburgh Fourth Avenue toward Brownsville Monongahela Division
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Official name	Rotunda of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station
Designated	April 11, 1973
Reference no.	73001587[2]
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Official name	Pennsylvania Railroad Station
Designated	April 22, 1976
Reference no.	76001597[2]
Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF
Official name	Pennsylvania Railroad Station Rotunda
Designated	1991[3]
Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF
Official name	The Pennsylvanian (Union Station)
Designated	2003[3]

History

Union Station in 1875

The current station replaced the original Union Station destroyed in 1877.[4]

PRR train at Pittsburgh Union Station, 31 March 1968

Unlike many union stations built in the U.S. to serve the needs of more than one railroad, this facility connected the Pennsylvania Railroad with several subsidiary lines; for that reason it was renamed in 1912 to match other Pennsylvania Stations. Thus, Union Station is a misnomer, as other major passenger rail carriers served travelers at other stations. For instance, the New York Central used Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station, the Wabash Railroad used Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad used both the Baltimore and Ohio Station and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station.

The station building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built 1898–1904. The materials were a grayish-brown terra cotta that looked like brownstone, and brick. Though Burnham is regarded more as a planner and organizer rather than a designer of details, which were left to draftsmen like Peter Joseph Weber, the most extraordinary feature of the monumental train station is his: the rotunda with corner pavilions. At street level the rotunda sheltered turning spaces for carriages beneath wide low vaulted spaces that owed little to any historicist style. Above, the rotunda sheltered passengers in a spectacular waiting room. Burnham's firm completed more than a dozen projects in Pittsburgh, some on quite prominent sites. The rotunda is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2] Service began at the station on October 12, 1901.[5]

On January 3, 1954 the Pennsylvania Railroad announced a $34.4 million (2021 dollars) in expansion and renovation for the complex. To the beginning of the 1970s the station remained a major stop for several of the PRR's leading east-west trains: Broadway Limited (Chicago-New York), Manhattan Limited (Chicago-New York); Penn Texas (St. Louis-New York) and Spirit of St. Louis (St. Louis-New York).

Penn Central's Spirit of St Louis (St. Louis-Cincinnati-Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-Washington express) consisting of a mere 4 cars, a shadow of its former prestigious self. July 1970

By the late 1970s the Penn Central Corporation was accepting bids for the complex and was purchased by the US General Services Administration. There were proposals in 1978 to make the structure into a federal office building, a new city hall and a senior citizens apartment building. Amtrak proposed that the whole structure remain a train station and rail offices.[6] In 1974 County Council proposed having the station be the site of the then planned David L. Lawrence Convention Center.[7] The Buncher Development Company had an option to buy the property as late as 1984.[8]

A $20 million restoration of Union Station began in 1986 to convert the office tower into apartments.[9] It is now called The Pennsylvanian and opened to residents on May 23, 1988. The concourse, which is no longer open to the public, was transformed into a lobby for commercial spaces on the ground floor and the paint cleaned off the great central skylight. The rotunda which once offered shelter for carriages to turn around is now closed to vehicular traffic; modern cars and trucks are too heavy for the brick road surface and risk caving in the roof to the parking garage below it.

Architecture

In September 1978, The New Yorker art critic Brendan Gill proclaimed that Pittsburgh's Penn Station is "one of the great pieces of Beaux-Arts architecture in America...[one of the] symbols of the nation."[10]

Current passenger service

Union Station continues to serve as an active railway station, but through an annex on the Liberty Avenue side of the building. It is the western terminus of Amtrak's Pennsylvanian route and is along the Capitol Limited route. Until 2005, Pittsburgh was served by a third daily train, the Three Rivers (a replacement service for the legendary Broadway Limited), an extended version of the Pennsylvanian that terminated in Chicago. Its cancellation marked the first time in Pittsburgh's railway history that the city was served by just two daily passenger trains (the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited).

Union Station's Amtrak station code is PGH.

In March 2020, the Pennsylvanian was suspended indefinitely as part of a round of service reduction in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.[11]

On May 22, 2020, the Pennsylvanian service was reported to resume, along with the Keystone Service, with limited capacity beginning June 1, 2020.[12]

Bus rapid transit

Penn Station
East Busway buses in front of Union Station
Coordinates	40.4438°N 79.9918°W
Owned by	Port Authority
Line(s)	East Busway
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	at-grade
History
Opened	May 12, 1988
Closed	September 2, 2007
Passengers
2018	634[13] (weekday boardings)
Services
Preceding station Port Authority of Allegheny County Following station Terminus East Busway Herron toward Swissvale Shuttle Special events Steel Plaza Terminus
Former services Preceding station Port Authority of Allegheny County Following station Terminus 42 South Hills Village via Beechview Steel Plaza toward South Hills Village

The Port Authority operates a bus rapid transit station served by the East Busway line. Originally, the station had regular light rail service to Steel Plaza when PAAC opened a spur to Penn Park station in 1988. The line linked the 1985 downtown subway to the East Busway.[14] However, the line was difficult to integrate into other services, since it used a portion of an old single-tracked former Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel. This tunnel travels beneath the US Steel Tower, and the building's structural supports are on each side of the tunnel, prohibiting the installation of a second track. The station is still listed as part of the Red Line subway service, but it has had no regular service since 1993.[15]

Penn Station in 1994 showing chartered light rail train to Steel Plaza from the light rail platforms (as of 2020, platforms are still there), about a year after regular service ceased.

As late as 2001, the line served no more than two afternoon rush-hour trains. An official reason for the 2007 discontinuation of service has not been given; however, it may be attributed to the aforementioned infrastructure limitations as well as limited ridership. The station continues to be used in extremely limited circumstances, including as part of the Port Authority's detoured transportation routes following Super Bowl XLV on 6 February 2011 and as part of the "Railvolution" transit convention in October 2018.[16][17]

Port Authority bus connections

• 1 - Freeport Road
• 11 - Fineview
• 39 - Brookline
• 40 - Mount Washington
• 44 - Knoxville
• P1 - East Busway All Stops
• P2 - East Busway Short
• P7 - McKeesport Flyer
• P10 - Allegheny Valley Flyer
• P12 - Holiday Park Flyer
• P13 - Mount Royal Flyer
• P16 - Penn Hills Flyer
• P17 - Lincoln Park Flyer
• P67 - Monroeville Flyer
• P68 - Braddock Hills Flyer
• P69 - Trafford Flyer
• P71 - Swissvale Flyer
• P78 - Oakmont Flyer

Suburban transit connections

• Beaver County Transit Authority Route 1
• Butler Transit Authority
• Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation Commuter
• New Castle Area Transit Authority Route 71
• Washington City Transit Washington-Pittsburgh
• Westmoreland County Transit Authority All Pittsburgh Routes except Route 4

Intercity bus connections

Grant Street Transportation Center

Across the street is the Grant Street Transportation Center.[18] It serves as an intercity bus station for:

• Greyhound[19]
• Fullington Trailways
• Mountain Line Transit Authority
• Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority Commuter A

Gallery

• 
  The rotunda
• 
  Center of the rotunda
• 
  Union Station, ca. 1910
• 
  East Busway station near the railroad building.
• 
  T station, with no regular service since 1993

See also

• Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station
• Baltimore and Ohio Station (Pittsburgh)
• Grant Street Station
• Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal

References

1. "Amtrak State Fact Sheet, FY2017, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
3. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968–2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
4. "MultiStories: The Violent Beginning of Union Station". www.pittsburghmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
5. Lorant, Stefan. "Historic Pittsburgh Chronology". Historic Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh Digital Research Library. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
6. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
7. "The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
8. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
9. "The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
10. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
11. "Service Adjustments Due to Coronavirus" (Press release). Amtrak. 2020-03-24. Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
12. "Amtrak and PennDOT to Restore Pennsylvanian and Keystone Service" (Press release). Amtrak. 2020-05-21. Archived from the original on 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
13. "System Map Winter 2018". Port Authority.
14. "The Antique Motor Coach Association of Pennsylvania – The 80's at PAT – 1980 – 1989". 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
15. "Port AUthority Information – Penn Station". Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
16. "TransitBlog – Port Authority of Allegheny County: Super Bowl Night Service Detours". TransitBlog. Port Authority of Allegheny County. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
17. Blazina, Ed (21 October 2018). "Pittsburgh hosts 'Railvolution' conference pushing development around transit facilities". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
18. "Grant Street Transportation Center". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
19. "Bus Station Locator – Greyhound". Retrieved 25 March 2016.

External links

• Pittsburgh, PA – Amtrak
• Images of Union Station, Pittsburgh
• Burnham's papers at the Carnegie Mellon Library
• Port Authority of Allegheny County Station Info
• Pittsburgh Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Great American Stations
• The Pennsylvanian
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1175, "Pennsylvania Railroad Station Rotunda, Liberty, Grant & Eleventh Streets, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 7 photos, 6 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• HABS No. PA-1175-A, "Pennsylvania Railroad Station, South Baggage Passage & Canopy, 1101 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 4 photos, 9 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• HABS No. PA-1175-B, "Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Open Concourse & Concourse Roof Extension, 1101 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 4 photos, 7 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• Magazine article from Railway Age (1901) with floor plan