La Crosse station

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La Crosse, WI
La Crosse station - August 2016.jpg
The station at La Crosse in August 2016. The former Milwaukee Road depot is on the left while the bridge for U.S. Route 53 northbound is in the distance.
Location601 St. Andrew Street
La Crosse, Wisconsin, 54601
Coordinates43°50′00″N 91°14′50″W / 43.8334°N 91.2472°W / 43.8334; -91.2472Coordinates: 43°50′00″N 91°14′50″W / 43.8334°N 91.2472°W / 43.8334; -91.2472
Owned byCity of La Crosse
Line(s)Canadian Pacific Railroad Tomah Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
Construction
ParkingYes; free
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeLSE
History
Opened1926
Rebuilt1997
Passengers
201925,587[1] Decrease 0.14%
Services
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Winona
toward Seattle or Portland
 Empire Builder Tomah
toward Chicago
Former services
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Winona
toward Seattle
 North Coast Hiawatha
1971-1979
 Tomah
toward Chicago
Winona
toward Duluth
 North Star
1978-1981
 Tomah
toward Chicago or Saint Paul–Midway
Preceding station Milwaukee Road Following station
towards Seattle or Tacoma
 Main Line
towards Chicago
towards
Wessington Springs – La Crosse Terminus
towards
Savanna – La Crosse
Future services
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Winona
toward Seattle
 North Coast Hiawatha
Proposed
 Tomah
toward Chicago
Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway Passenger Depot
LAXdepot.JPG
The former Milwaukee Road depot in October 2009.
LocationLa Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Coordinates43°50′00″N 91°14′50″W / 43.8334°N 91.2472°W / 43.8334; -91.2472
Built1926
NRHP reference No.97001512[2]
Added to NRHPDecember 1, 1997

La Crosse is an Amtrak intercity train station in La Crosse, Wisconsin, served by Amtrak's daily Empire Builder line. The train station was originally built in 1926 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad (AKA "Milwaukee Road").[3] The station was renovated in 1997 and today is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin as the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Depot, as well as the Milwaukee Road Passenger Depot. The La Crosse Rail Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River, is located just under two miles west of the La Crosse station.

Current Services[]

The station is one of only two staffed Amtrak stations in Wisconsin, the other being Milwaukee. In 2019, the La Crosse station was the fourth most frequented station in Wisconsin, with 25,587 passengers.[4]

As of 2021, the Empire Builder departs La Crosse westbound for Seattle and Portland at 7:11pm and eastbound to Chicago at 10:47am.

The La Crosse MTU bus service does not directly serve the Amtrak station, but does stop a few blocks away on Rose Street.[5]

Ridership[]

Ridership by Year
Ridership Change over previous year
2012[6] 28,072 -
2013[7] 27,202 Decrease03.2%
2014[7] 23,414 Decrease016.18%
2015[7] 23,891 Increase02.0%
2016[7] 26,014 Increase08.16%
2017[7] 26,673 Increase02.47%
2018[7] 25,622 Decrease04.1%
2019[7] 25,587 Decrease00.14%

Previous Services[]

In 1910, there were 20 departures a day from the Cameron House station, with trains leaving west to Tacoma and Seattle, to Wessington Springs, SD, south to Savanna, IL, and southeast to Chicago.[8]

By 1955, the Milwaukee Road timetable shows that there were 12 departures per day, with 5 trains continuing to Minneapolis or beyond, 6 trains to Chicago and 1 departure to Austin, MN. The travel time to St. Paul Union Depot was as short as 2:10, while the shortest time to Chicago Union Station was 4:12.[9] Today, those same journeys take 2:52 and 5:08 respectively.

Over the years, service gradually decreased as federal, state and local subsidies for automobile and air travel cut into the profitability of passenger rail. Service to Austin, MN was eliminated in 1960, post office mail contracts were cut in 1967 and by October 1970, there were only 3 daily departures from the Milwaukee Road station.[10]

When Amtrak took over passenger rail on May 1, 1971, they immediately reduced the number of trains down to two daily departures, which has remained relatively unchanged for 50 years.

Future[]

As of 2021, funding is in place to add a second daily train from Chicago to St. Paul, via the La Crosse station. Service is expected to begin in 2024.[11]

In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate the restoration of discontinued long-distance routes including the North Coast Hiawatha.[12] The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support.[13][14], and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed into law in November 2021.[15] The report must be delivered to Congress within two years.[16] The law also provides $2.4 billion in new funds to Amtrak's long-distance route network.[17]

Due to passenger rail having an inherently lower environmental footprint than driving or flying, rail links are likely to improve as a result of action to mitigate the climate catastrophe.[18]

Other Stations in La Crosse[]

The previous Milwaukee Road station, named the "Cameron House", was a combined depot and hotel located near downtown La Crosse, next to the Freight House. The station was built in 1880 and gutted by fire on December 24, 1916, leading to its razing shortly thereafter.[19][20] This event sparked a public debate about having a union station in La Crosse to serve each of the five railroads at the time. The Wisconsin Railroad Commission became involved in the discussion over many years. It became evident that such a station would likely be located in North La Crosse rather than the downtown area so that the Milwaukee Road would not have to back their trains into the La Crosse station. The issue was finally resolved in 1925, allowing the Milwaukee Road to put through plans for a new passenger depot of their own on La Crosse's North Side on St. Andrew Street, to replace the shack that had been hastily constructed after the fire while the debate of a union station raged on.[21]

The Chicago and Northwestern Railway had a terminal station located downtown bounded by 3rd Street, 4th Street and Pine Street. This depot was lightly used compared to the Milwaukee Road and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad stations. The Chicago and Northwestern instead routed most traffic via their station in nearby Onalaska, including the Minnesota 400 so that trains would not have to back up into the La Crosse station.

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy maintained two stations in La Crosse throughout their history. One was located in North La Crosse, and continues to exist to this day, albeit no longer used as a station. In addition, there was a station located at 2nd Street and Pearl Street in downtown La Crosse, which was replaced in 1940 with a station on the former freight bypass at the end of State Street. These stations hosted numerous famous trains including the original Empire Builder, the Western Star, the North Coast Limited, the Mainstreeter, the Twin Cities Zephyr, the Black Hawk, and more.

Gallery[]

  • The Westbound Empire Builder at La Crosse, WI

  • The original 1926 ticket counter

  • The original 1926 waiting room

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/2096/lse.pdf
  2. ^ LaCrosse County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places
  3. ^ La Crosse County, Wisconsin Railroad Structures
  4. ^ https://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/1222/wi.pdf
  5. ^ https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=834
  6. ^ National Rail Passengers Association
  7. ^ a b c d e f g (PDF) https://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/2096/lse.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ http://streamlinermemories.info/Milw/Milw10TT.pdf
  9. ^ http://streamlinermemories.info/Milw/Milw55TT.pdf
  10. ^ http://streamlinermemories.info/Milw/Milw70TT.pdf
  11. ^ "State moves forward with second daily Amtrak train to Chicago. Service could begin in 2024". 28 June 2021.
  12. ^ Kidston, Martin (23 June 2021). "Montana's passenger rail authority poised for boost from Tester transportation amendment". Missoula Current. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Key Policy Victories in Senate Rail Title". www.railpassengers.org. Rail Passengers Association. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  14. ^ Luczak, Marybeth (17 June 2021). "Senate Commerce Committee's Bipartisan $78B Surface Transportation Bill Advances". Railway Age. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  15. ^ "What's in the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA)?". www.railpassengers.org. Rail Passengers Association. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" (PDF). pp. 285–256. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  17. ^ Kidston, Martin (10 November 2021). "Infrastructure bill boosts regional effort to restore passenger rail to southern MT". KTVH. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  18. ^ "The environmental impact of today's transport types".
  19. ^ "Cameron House".
  20. ^ "The way it was: 1916 Cameron House fire".
  21. ^ "La Crosse Public Library Archives :: La Crosse Series 032".

External links[]


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