Orlando (Amtrak Station)

Orlando (Amtrak Station)

The Orlando Amtrak station lies south of Downtown Orlando, about a mile south of the old stations at Church Street and Central Boulevard. It was built in 1926 by M. A. Griffith and W. T. Hadlow for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in the Spanish Mission style, and used by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad after the 1967 merger with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Before the new station was built, the ACL station was at Church Street; this is now the Church Street Station tourist attraction. The SAL had a separate station at Central Boulevard (see Orlando).

Thruway Motorcoach service, as of February 2006, is no longer provided by Coach USA to area hotels and attractions. Martz First Class Coach Tampa Bay provides this service for Amtrak to Lakeland, Tampa, Pinellas Park-St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Sarasota, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers. Local hotel transfer shuttle service is also still available, but again, no longer through Coach USA.

Orlando station serves the Silver Meteor and Silver Star lines. It was also the eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited between Orlando and Los Angeles. However, due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Orlando has been suspended indefinitely since August 2005.

Orlando station is a planned stop on the SunRail commuter rail system, planned to be operational in 2013. Additionally it is proposed terminus on the proposed Orange Blossom Expressway. Plans to upgrade the station for SunRail service include a matching canopy for the second platform, and a name change to "Orlando Health/Amtrak Station" due to its proximity to the main Orlando Health hospital campus, including Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Of the eighteen Florida stations served by Amtrak, Orlando was the second-busiest in FY2011, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 491 passengers daily.