The Spokane Intermodal Center is an

intermodal transport Intermodal transport (or intermodal transportation) involves the use of more than one mode of transport for a journey. It may refer to: * Intermodal passenger transport * Intermodal freight transport See also * Intermodal transportation center ...

facility located in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, Washington,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It serves as a service stop for the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily 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 Norther ...

'', as well as the

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgen ...

, Trailways, and Jefferson Lines station for Spokane. The ''Empire Builder'' provides service daily between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and Spokane before continuing on to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. The station was built in 1891 for the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, w ...

. It was remodeled in 1994 to allow buses to share the station, creating an intermodal facility. Since 1981, when the westbound ''Empire Builder'' arrives in the middle of the night, the first six Superliner cars (five passenger cars, a diner and a baggage car) go to King Street Station in Seattle, while a single locomotive from Spokane takes the last four cars (the Sightseer Lounge, two coaches and a sleeper) to Portland Union Station. The eastbound trains join in Spokane in the middle of the night and run combined to

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...

. (The next eastbound stop is in

Sandpoint, Idaho Sandpoint (Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

and the next westbound stops are in Ephrata, Washington for the Seattle section and

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 59,781 at the 2010 census, and 75,432 as of the July 1, 2019 Census Bureau estimate. Pasco is one of three cities (the others ...

for the Portland section.) In pre-Amtrak days, the ''Empire Builder'' split into Seattle and Portland sections at Spokane for most of the 1940s and 1950s.June 10, 1956 Great Northern timetable http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track7/empbuilder195607.html The station located just north of

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, a ...

and is about southwest of the Spokane Center of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and southwest of the campus of

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, th ...

. The station, parking lot, and passenger platform are owned by the City of Spokane. The tracks are owned by BNSF Railway.

Boardings and alightings

Notes

References

External links

Spokane Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
{{Transportation in the Spokane, WA–Coeur d'Alene, ID region Amtrak stations in Washington (state) Bus stations in Washington (state) Transportation in Spokane, Washington Buildings and structures in Spokane, Washington Railway stations in the United States opened in 1994 Transportation buildings and structures in Spokane County, Washington