Ashland Transportation Center is an intermodal transit station in Ashland, Kentucky. Jointly operated by the City of Ashland and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

, it currently serves

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 inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

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'' train as well as the Ashland Bus System and

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

buses. It is located at 99 15th Street near downtown Ashland.

History

Chesapeake & Ohio era

The station is located in a former

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

freight house originally built in the 1890s. Railway services formerly operated out of the Chesapeake and Ohio passenger station nearby (currently a

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...

branch). In the early 1960s the following named trains served the station daily: ''

Fast Flying Virginian The ''Fast Flying Virginian'' (''FFV'') was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The ''FFV'' was inaugurated on May 11, 1889, and ran until May 12, 1968; this was the longest running C&O named passenger train. The train oper ...

'' (west to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and sections east to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and Newport News), ''

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

'' (sections west to Cincinnati and Louisville, and sections east to Washington, D.C. and Newport News) and the '' Sportsman'' (northwest to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, and sections east to Washington, D.C. and Newport News). Prior to the 1971 shift of long distance passenger train services from private companies to Amtrak, the C&O's ''George Washington'' had a main section going north to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, a section running west from Ashland to Louisville, and east-bound sections going to Washington, D.C. and Newport News.

Amtrak era

In 1975, Amtrak abandoned the original station (which served the daily ''

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

'' train) in favor of nearby

Tri-State Station Catlettsburg is a former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad station located in downtown Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Opened between 1897 and 1890 to replace an older wooden station, it served trains until 1958. Amtrak trains began stopping at Tri-State Stati ...

in Catlettsburg. The city purchased the former freight house in 1997 using more than $500,000 in federal funds obtained through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act of 1991 in order to restore it as an intermodal transit station serving rail as well as buses. Amtrak moved rail services to the restored facility on March 11, 1998. The station is jointly owned by the City of Ashland and

and is operated in co-operation with the city, Amtrak,

and the Ashland Bus System. The station has an enclosed waiting area with restrooms and water fountains, but no Amtrak station services area available. There is a Greyhound ticket agent available at specified times. The station serves Amtrak's ''

'', trains 50 and 51. The tracks at the station are currently owned by CSX Transportation.

References

External links

Ashland, Kentucky Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
{{Amtrak Kentucky stations Amtrak stations in Kentucky Ashland, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Boyd County, Kentucky Transportation in Boyd County, Kentucky Stations along Chesapeake and Ohio Railway lines Railway stations in the United States opened in 1998 1998 establishments in Kentucky