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Uptown Station Bloomington–Normal, IL
General information
Location	11 Uptown Circle Normal, Illinois United States
Coordinates	40°30′31″N 88°59′03″W / 40.50861°N 88.98417°W / 40.50861; -88.98417
Owned by	Town of Normal
Line(s)	UP Joliet Subdivision
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Amtrak Thruway Burlington Trailways Connect Transit Greyhound Lines Peoria Charter SHOW Bus
Construction
Parking	380 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Ratio Architects
Architectural style	Four-story red brick structure with limestone lintels and doorways
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: BNL
History
Opened	1990
Rebuilt	2012
Passengers
FY 2023	203,842 (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Lincolntoward St. Louis Lincoln Service Pontiactoward Chicago Lincolntoward Los Angeles or San Antonio Texas Eagle
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Lincolntoward Laredo or Houston Inter-American Pontiactoward Chicago Lincolntoward Springfield Loop Preceding station Alton Railroad Following station Bloomingtontoward St. Louis Main Line Towandatoward Chicago Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station Panolatoward Freeport Freeport – Centralia Colonialtoward Centralia
Location

Uptown Station is an intermodal transportation center in Normal, Illinois, United States. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and is the major intercity rail station in north-central Illinois. It appears on Amtrak timetables as Bloomington–Normal.

Amtrak runs two routes through the station–the Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. This was also a stop for the Ann Rutledge until April 2007. Amtrak Thruway motorcoach routes serve the station via Davenport, Galesburg, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, and Indianapolis.

In 2022, 178,018 train passengers boarded or alighted from Amtrak trains at Uptown Station, making it the second busiest Amtrak station in Illinois behind Chicago This is primarily due to the large number of passengers traveling to and from Chicago and St. Louis. In 2019 Uptown station was the 44th busiest Amtrak station in the United States with 229,894 passengers.

Former facilities

Union Depot

The original station serving Bloomington-Normal was Bloomington Union Depot. This station was located on Bloomington's west side, just south of West Washington Street and on the west side of the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks. It had been constructed in the mid-1880s, and survived well into the Amtrak era because Bloomington-Normal is located along the most direct route from Chicago to St. Louis. The station was closed on June 10, 1990 to be replaced by a much smaller facility in Normal. Seven years later, on October 31, 1997, a then-partially demolished Union Station was destroyed by fire.

1990 Amtrak facility

The original Normal station was built to the specifications of the Amtrak Standard Stations Program. Located near the campus of Illinois State University, this station lasted until the new facility opened in 2012.

New facility

On August 7, 2010, construction began on a new intermodal facility, located across the tracks from the 1990 facility. The new facility includes administrative offices and council chambers for the town in addition to serving Amtrak, city and long-distance buses. The facility opened on June 14, 2012. Construction, which cost between $43 and $47 million, was funded by a combination of federal, state and local grants.

The new 68,000-square-foot (6,300 m) transportation center was designed by Ratio Architects of Champaign; it is composed primarily of red brick with limestone trim. The building's prominent corner clock tower has become a landmark for the neighborhood. Numerous environmentally sustainable features are also included, such as a green roof partially planted in vegetation that will absorb rainwater and cool the building; the rest of the roof is covered in reflective materials to deflect sunlight.

Connections

Local Bus Service providers are:

• Connect Transit
  • Red, Red Express, Yellow, Lime, Tan, Brown, Green, and Pink each have a terminus at Uptown Station
• SHOW Bus
  • Livingston-McLean County Intercity Service (Suspended temporarily)
  • McLean County Daily Circulator (Will be Suspended in 2025)

Intercity bus service providers are:

• Burlington Trailways
  • Indianapolis, IN to Denver, CO via Burlington, IA; Des Moines, IA; and Omaha, NE
• Greyhound Lines
  • Danville, IL to Chicago, IL via Champaign, IL and Rockford, IL
• Peoria Charter Coach Company
  • Peoria, IL – Chicago O'Hare International Airport

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
2. ^ "Uptown Station". Town of Normal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Uptown Station serves as host to numerous transportation providers in addition to housing the Town of Normal municipal offices and Town Council chambers
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet - Fiscal Year 2022 State of Illinois" (PDF). www.amtrak.com.
4. "State Fact Sheets | Amtrak".
5. ^ Kemp, Bill (4 October 2015). "Union Depot, grand gateway to wider world". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
6. ^ Kemp, Bill (3 February 2016). "'Union' Depot, December 1979 Bloomington's West Side". McLean County Museum of History. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
7. Charlie, Monte Verde (2 December 2015). "Farewell to an American Classic". Cult of Americana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
8. "Bloomington-Normal, IL (BNL)". Great American Stations.
9. Ford, Mary Ann (August 7, 2010). "Officials: Transportation Hub Will Help Economy". The Pantagraph. Bloomington. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
10. "Aug 13, 2010: Hotline #667". NARP. August 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
11. ^ Great American Stations. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
12. "Connect Transit Full System Map" (PDF). Connect Transit. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
13. ^ "Livingston-McLean County Intercity Service (Suspended)". SHOW BUS Public Transportation. 2024-11-25. Archived from the original on 2024-11-25. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
14. "McLean County Service". SHOW BUS Public Transportation. 2024-11-25. Archived from the original on 2024-11-25. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
15. Fries, Benjamin (2024-11-20). "Show Bus to stop serving McLean County next year". CI Proud. Archived from the original on 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
16. "Burlington Illinois Locations". Burlington Trailways. 23 March 2017. Bloomington/Normal, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL
17. "Greyhound Lines System Timetable". Greyhound Lines System Timetable. 2023-02-01. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
18. "Peoria Charter" (PDF). peoriacharter.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-11-14.

External links

Media related to Uptown Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Bloomington-Normal, IL – Amtrak
• Bloomington-Normal, IL – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Bloomington-Normal, IL – Texas Eagle (Amtrak)
• Bloomington-Normal Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Uptown Normal Webcam of Multimodal Station Construction (Normal.org)

• Amtrak stations in Illinois
• Buildings and structures in Bloomington–Normal
• Transportation buildings and structures in McLean County, Illinois
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1990
• 1990 establishments in Illinois