Taylor, TX (TAY)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$221,362

Station Ridership

FY 2011

4,752

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

There is no shelter on the platform at the Union Pacific (UP) Taylor depot, a buff brick structure which houses active UP yard offices. However, the city plans to lease land from UP to construct a state-of-the-art multimodal facility. Taylor’s intermodal station would connect Amtrak service with the regional CARTS bus service.

Taylor’s history is firmly rooted in the railroad. The city was named for Edward Moses Taylor, an official with International & Great Northern Railway (I&GN, later Missouri Pacific) official. On June 26, 1876, the IG&N reached Taylor Station, a small community in the vast cattle ranges of Central Texas. The name was then changed to Taylorsville and finally to Taylor in 1884. In anticipation of the railroad, the Texas Land Company laid out public parks, streets, and a square. The company then sold lots for prices ranging between $20 and $350. The railroad brought farmers and businessmen to Taylor, and the town began to produce large amounts of cotton. In 1882, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (“Katy”) Railroad was extended to Taylorsville and joined with the Missouri Pacific (MP, now UP) to link east and west. In the 1980s, the majestic I&GN and MP station was demolished.

Taylor has an economy based in agriculture and manufacturing and is the most rural community in the Austin metropolitan area. The community takes pride in its ethnic diversity, which includes Czech, Polish, German, Scots-Irish, English, African-American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern. The city boasts a wide array of restaurants, including famous barbecue. The community celebrates its diversity during the “Taylor History Days.”

The city’s many stately mansions reflect a time of affluence in Taylor’s history. The youngest governor of Texas, Dan Moody, was born in Taylor. His home, built in 1887, now serves as the Governor Dan Moody Birthplace Museum, which received Texas Historic Landmark status in 1968. Moody became governor in 1926 at the age of 33. He was also the first attorney in the United States to win a legal battle against the Ku Klux Klan.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing nor baggage services at this facility.

Taylor is served by two daily trains.