Houston, TX (HOS)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$1,984,858

Station Ridership

FY 2011

19,637

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The current Amtrak station is the fourth Houston passenger depot, constructed by the Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) in 1960. Current plans call for it to be closed when the new Burnett Plaza station is ready to serve heavy rail. It replaced a Houston station was originally opened in 1905 for use by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was one of two that Amtrak once served. Another Houston station, Union Station, which Amtrak served until 1974, is now a part of the Minute Maid Park complex

Burnett Plaza, a project formerly known as the Houston Intermodal Transit Center, has been proposed as a central hub for local, commuter and intercity transportation and has a proposed opening in 2012. The plans include a modern glass and steel building constructed over the tracks, featuring a grand staircase. Amtrak and freight trains will run under the public space and light rail will run on an elevated structure; however, Amtrak passenger service would not be added until Phase 2 of the project. Construction on Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2009.

The Houston and Texas Central Railroad operated a passenger depot on Buffalo Bayou in the 1870s, and when the Southern Pacific acquired that railroad, built the three-story brick Grand Central Station in 1887 for $80,000. In 1934, a new Grand Central Station was opened. It was constructed of Texas Cordova limestone and pink granite and built at a cost of $4,347,000. This station was razed in 1961, and replaced by a U.S. Post Office, which still stands on the site.

Houston, today the fourth largest city in the U.S. and the largest in Texas, was founded on August 30, 1836 by New York real estate promoters, the brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was named for the then-president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston. At the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, the area formed a natural turning basin for shipping, and was thus an attractive location. For a time, Houston was the capital of the Republic, until it moved to Austin in 1839. The early years were turbulent times for Houston, with prevalent lawlessness, disease, and financial difficulties. However, the founding of a Chamber of Commerce brought organization and a cessation to the financial chaos. During the 1850s, Houston built rail links to their newly enlarged port, allowing them to ship cotton, lumber, and other manufacturing products, and by the 1860s, Houston was indeed a commercial and railroad center for the export of cotton.

Texas, siding with the Confederacy during the American Civil War, was governed under a military district during reconstruction afterward, but this style of government could not control the anarchy and lawlessness that broke out post-war. Nonetheless, the city continued to develop as a port, and ten years after being re-admitted to the Union, Houston became a port of entry on July 16, 1870.

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, one of the worst in the history of the U.S., all but destroyed Galveston, and with the decline of Galveston and the discovery of oil in Beaumont in 1901, Houston grew far wealthier as investors increasingly chose it as a center for operations. As the city was also a shipping center, a new port had been in the works for many years, and President Woodrow Wilson at last opened the Port of Houston in 1914, thereby further contributing to the city's growth.

Many more companies moved headquarters to Houston after the advent of air conditioning in the 1950s, as the climate is extremely hot for much of the year, and this brought an economic boom. Today, Houston has a broad economic base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation and health care, a leading center for the construction of oilfield equipment and the home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters within the city limits.

Amtrak provides both ticketing and help with baggage at the Houston station.

Houston is served by tri-weekly train service.