Milwaukee Intermodal Station is an intercity bus and train station in downtown

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

service at Milwaukee includes the daily ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

'', the daily '' Borealis'', and the six daily ''

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...

'' round trips. It is Amtrak's 18th-busiest station nationwide, and the second-busiest in the Midwest, behind only

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an Inter-city rail, intercity and commuter rail terminal station, terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago. Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest, Uni ...

. The station is served by bus companies Coach USA - Wisconsin Coach Lines (regional and intercity services), Greyhound Lines,

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

, Indian Trails, Lamers, Badger Bus, Tornado Bus Company, and Megabus. It is also the western terminus of the M-Line service of The Hop streetcar. The

Wisconsin Department of Transportation The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the sta ...

owns the station and platforms. The DOT's Statewide Traffic Operations Center is on the 3rd floor of the station. The station has 2

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s and 1

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

, which serve the two main tracks of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City C&M Subdivision plus three platform sidings.

History

The station opened on August 3, 1965, as Milwaukee Union Station. Operated by the

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

, it replaced their previous Everett Street Depot. The depot was built on West St. Paul Avenue in a modernistic style that proved unpopular quickly after it was erected. The Chicago and North Western Railway closed their Milwaukee station ( Lake Front Depot) and moved their passenger operations to the new Milwaukee Road depot in 1966. Following the formation of Amtrak in 1971, the Chicago and North Western withdrew all of its inter-city trains and commuter service from the station. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(through its Soo Line Railroad subsidiary) acquired the trackage within the train shed when it bought the remnants of the Milwaukee Road in 1986. CP merged with the Kansas City Southern Railway on April 14, 2023 to form Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited. In November 2007, the facility was renamed the Milwaukee Intermodal Station following a $16.9 million renovation. The new facility included a larger waiting area with a glass atrium and improved space for Amtrak ticketing, as well as facilities for intercity buses (to accommodate Greyhound service after it relocated from its former location at 7th and Michigan), a restaurant, and retail space.Amtrak, Greyhound now at same location
In 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation completed a rebuild of the train shed and platform to meet federal accessible standards. The Hop streetcar service began on November 2, 2018, with a stop on Vel R. Phillips Avenue just northeast of the station.

References

External links

{{Milwaukee Amtrak stations in Wisconsin Bus stations in Wisconsin Transportation in Milwaukee Railway stations in the United States opened in 1965 Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations Transit centers in the United States Former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad stations