Provo station is a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

. It is served by

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 ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'', which runs once daily between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 as o ...

, in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Description

The station is located on the north side of the tracks and south of 600 South at 300 West. It is easily accessible from 200 West and has six paved parking spaces. There are no services provided at the station (i.e., ticketing, restrooms, lounge, etc.). The station is within walking distance of downtown Provo. The station is located within a Quiet Zone, so all trains (including

Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt ...

's ''

FrontRunner FrontRunner is a commuter rail train operated by the Utah Transit Authority that operates along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center in central Weber County through Davis County, Salt ...

'' and Union Pacific's) do not routinely sound their horns when approaching public crossings within this corridor although they do sound their bells. Even though UTA's ''FrontRunner''

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

line uses the same right-of-way through downtown Provo that is used by the ''California Zephyr'', UTA built a separate station of the same name. That station is located one block east on the south side of the tracks. However, there is easy pedestrian access between the two stations and the UTA connecting intra-county and local bus routes. The ''FrontRunner'' provides commuter rail service north to Salt Lake City and Ogden, and stops in between.

History

The station is on the site of a previous station constructed by the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

in 1910. This building remained in use until 1986 when, increasingly dilapidated, it was demolished. The station was little more than a plexiglas bus shelter along the tracks until 2002, when it was replaced by three decorative shelters, one of which is mostly enclosed and heated. The new station opened 14 May 2002 and cost $120,000 with funds coming from Provo City, Amtrak, and a

federal grant In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purp ...

. In-kind contributions were also provided by Provo City. Beginning in 1983, both the ''

Desert Wind The ''Desert Wind'' was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran from 1979 to 1997. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles as a section of the ''California Zephyr'', serving Los Angeles via Salt Lake City; Ogden, Utah; and Las Vegas. ...

'' (with service from Chicago to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) and the ''

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

'' (with service from Chicago to ''

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

'') previously stopped at the Provo Station. Service by the ''Pioneer'' was dropped when that train was rerouted through

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

in 1991 (the train was later discontinued altogether in 1997). Service by the ''Desert Wind'' ended when Amtrak discontinued that train in 1997 (at the same time as the ''Pioneer'' was discontinued). Although the ultimate western end of the line for the ''Desert Wind'' was in Los Angeles (southwest of the Provo Station), the train route ran north to Salt Lake City before heading south to its next stop in

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, Utah (

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

from 1983 to 1988).

Notes

References

External links

Provo Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Provo (Amtrak Station) Amtrak stations in Utah Buildings and structures in Provo, Utah Railway stations in the United States opened in 2002 Former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad stations 2002 establishments in Utah Railway stations in Utah County, Utah