If you get a chance to visit Union Station’s Dallas location, you’ll see the site of one of the earliest railroad hubs in Texas. Originally built in 1916, Union Station was the center of railway transportation and the best way for businesses to get goods to and from Texas.
It has a long and venerable place in railroad history. After a period when the building fell into disrepair, a $23 million dollar renovation completely restored Union Station to its original and stunning condition.
A walk through the building exposes you to classic Beaux-Arts style and the architectural splendor of 48 foot vaulted ceilings, arched windows and the original chandeliers. Your visit will be greatly enhanced if you understand a bit about the history of Union Station.
Imagine when Texas had only a series of railways which were spread relatively far apart from each other. Once built, Union Station allowed rail traffic to go to one central location. At its peak, it could handle 50,000 passengers a day and as many as 80 trains. Even now, freight trains still use the station’s tracks.
If you’re planning a visit to Union Station, it won’t take long to view the interior and exterior of this impressive building so don’t plan to spend most of the day there.
But you may want to start there when using the DART light rail system as well as Amtrak’s station. Both are located at Union Station.
There is also an underground climate-controlled tunnel at Union Station which goes directly to Reunion Tower and Hyatt Regency Dallas. For these reasons alone, you’ll find Union Station to be a prime destination while you are in Dallas.
In fact, you might want to stay at the Hyatt Regency, with its plentiful 1,222 rooms. While at the Hyatt, you can also take advantage of the affiliated Reunion Tower. From the Hyatt, use that underground tunnel to get to Union Station and you can enjoy the benefits of both Amtrak and the DART rail system.
The Hyatt Regency is a grand luxury hotel with state of the art business facilities. It is close to the historic district and minutes from the Convention Center. The Reunion Tower is host to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant and the Hyatt has a AAA Four Diamond rating.
Union Station isn’t only located near a top hotel but is also minutes from the Arts & Entertainment district. Also nearby are the Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas World Aquarium, and the Dallas Museum of Art. Neiman Marcus has its flagship store only a short distance from the station.
You’ll definitely want to consider using both the DART Rail and Amtrak’s Texas Eagle. The DART can transport you to a Dallas Maverick basketball game or a Dallas Stars ice event. You can also use DART to get to the American Airlines Center.
Why go through the bother of parking, dealing with other drivers or even traffic jams? Use DART to ride downtown while you simply sit back and enjoy the view.
If you are planning to use Union Station as your main center for DART, the light rail Red and Blue lines as well as DART buses and Trinity Railway Express all use Union Station as starting points. The DART Rail system afford quick transportation for business, shopping and entertainment locations.
If you find that you enjoy riding the rails, you might want to follow the lead of some tourists and spend a day just riding the trains. You can get off when and where you like, explore specific areas, get in a little shopping, and then get back on the train and ride around some more.
Free parking is available at the rail stations All DART trains are scheduled to allow you to transfer from trains to DART buses if you prefer.
And what about Amtrak? You can use it to commute to Fort Worth, Chicago, and Los Angeles. When planning a trip to Dallas, you might want to use Amtrak to get there – and to return home. Restrooms, pay phones and an enclosed waiting room provide comfort while waiting for the train.
Just as it was in its glory days, Union Station is still a transportation hub in Dallas. Today, it also has the added benefit of being the center of DART and Amtrak stations, providing enhanced transportation options.
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