Fargo station

Fargo
Location 420 4th Street North
Fargo, ND 58102
Coordinates 46°52′52″N 96°47′10″W / 46.8810°N 96.7861°W / 46.8810; -96.7861Coordinates: 46°52′52″N 96°47′10″W / 46.8810°N 96.7861°W / 46.8810; -96.7861
Owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
Line(s)
  Empire Builder
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Construction
Parking Yes; free
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code FAR
History
Opened 1920
Rebuilt 1995
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 23,314[1] Increase 3.6%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Empire Builder
toward Chicago
  Former services  
Amtrak
Valley City
toward Seattle
North Coast Hiawatha
toward Chicago

Fargo (previously, the Great Northern Depot and the Burlington Northern Depot) is a train station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Empire Builder and North Coast Hiawatha trains. It is the only railway station in use in the Fargo-Moorhead area and is the third busiest in North Dakota. The platform, tracks, and station are currently all owned by BNSF Railway. The station is currently located in the former BNSF freight house. The former main station building is now home to Great Northern Bicycle Co.

History

As a Great Northern Railway Depot, Summer 1939.

Fargo Station was originally built by the Great Northern Railway in 1920.

At the time of the station's construction, Fargo was served by both the Great Northern Railroad and the Northern Pacific.[2] The station was served by Great Northern trains, while Northern Pacific operated its own station along Fargo's Main Avenue.

In 1970, the two railway companies merged to form the Burlington Northern. Freight trains used the Northern Pacific tracks, while passenger trains used the Great Northern tracks. All passenger service in Fargo began using the Great Northern depot. From 1971, passenger service was operated by Amtrak.[3]

1974 Amtrak train in Fargo

Amtrak currently uses the former BNSF freight house as the station building, as the main building became unused in 1986. The former main station building is now used for retail. Various businesses have operated in the building, since 1995.[3]

Fargo station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

Operation

Fargo station is served by Amtrak's Empire Builder service. Westbound trains are headed for Spokane, Washington (splitting to serve Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon) while eastbound trains are headed for Chicago. There are several intermittent stops between. About one-eighth of Empire Builder passengers board or alight at this station.

The station previously served the North Coast Hiawatha until that was consolidated into the Empire Builder in 1979.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has proposed regional rail services to connect Fargo-Moorhead with the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The route is listed as a Phase 1 project for Minnesota's regional rail projects, to be completed by 2030. Due to existing infrastructure, Fargo Amtrak station would be used.[4]

Ridership

While the largest city in North Dakota, Fargo has only the third-most rail passenger traffic in the state, behind Minot and Williston. This is chiefly because Amtrak's daily Empire Builder, which makes stops in six other North Dakota cities, stops in Fargo during the middle of night - between 2 and 4 AM - on both its eastbound and westbound journeys. In Amtrak's 2010 fiscal year, an average of about 60 passengers boarded or detrained at the station each day[5]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of North Dakota" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Multiple Property Documentation Form: Railroads in North Dakota, 1872-1956" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Fargo, N.D.: Great Northern Railway Depot". History Exhibition. Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Minnesota Comprehensive Statewide Freight and Passenger Rail Plan" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2010, State of North Dakota" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-06. External link in |publisher= (help)

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