Elevated railway proponents, such as the Los Angeles Examiner and the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the safety benefits of the elimination of grade crossings and the benefits to businesses of reduced traffic congestion, as well as claiming that the proposed union station site would cause heavy road congestion. The issue became extremely heated, with both sides fiercely arguing their point. Proposition 8 asked "Shall a Union Railway Passenger Terminal for all steam railroads be established in the City of Los Angeles?", while Proposition 9 asked whether the proposed station should be built in Los Angeles Plaza. The railroads' proposal immediately generated public controversy for and against the proposal, and in February 1926 the council agreed to place a non-binding question on the ballot asking voters whether they were in favor of the city council's union station proposal or the railroads' elevated railway plan. Not only would the new electrified tracks link the two terminals, but they would eliminate street running on some of the busiest streets in Los Angeles. The railroads proposed to make this arrangement permanent, reducing the number of terminals to two, while also constructing a large network of elevated tracks at their own expense, to be used by them and the Pacific Electric. The Union Pacific's Salt Lake Station had burned down in 1924, forcing it to rent space in the Southern Pacific's Central Station. Their opposition led to a series of legal cases that were still not resolved by 1925, when the railroads offered a compromise solution. As the proposed station would be built and owned by the city and open to all prospective railroads, it threatened to break these three railroads' control over rail traffic into and out of the city. The city council of Los Angeles had desired since the 1910s to construct a Union station to replace the existing three terminal stations in Los Angeles: the Santa Fe's La Grande Station, the Southern Pacific's Central Station, and the Union Pacific's Salt Lake Station. Terminal ( Pacific Electric), Central Station ( Southern Pacific), Salt Lake Station, La Grande Station ( Santa Fe) History Pre-unification passenger railway stations of Los Angeles, c. The Patsaouras Transit Plaza, on the east side of the station, serves dozens of bus lines operated by Metro and several other municipal carriers. The station is the hub of the Metrolink commuter rail system and is a major transfer point for several Metro Rail subway and light rail lines. The state-supported Amtrak Pacific Surfliner regional trains run frequently to San Diego and also to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. It is by far the busiest train station in the Western United States it is Amtrak's fifth-busiest station, and is the thirteenth-busiest train station in North America.įour of Amtrak's long-distance trains originate and terminate here: the Coast Starlight to Seattle, the Southwest Chief and Texas Eagle to Chicago, and the Sunset Limited to New Orleans. Today, the station is a major transportation hub for Southern California, serving almost 110,000 passengers a day. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The structure combines Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne style. Conceived on a grand scale, Union Station became known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande Station and Central Station.Īpproved in a controversial ballot measure in 1926 and built in the 1930s, it served to consolidate rail services from the Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific Railroads into one terminal station. Los Angeles Union Station is the main railroad station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. Moderne, Art Deco, Mission/Spanish Revival In partnership with and Train Festival invites guests of all ages to check out rail equipment on the tracks from various decades since the opening of the station, marvel at the rarest of model train exhibits and participate in tours about the history, restoration and art throughout the building.Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 101
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