Williston station is a train station in

Williston, North Dakota Williston is a city in and the county seat of Williams County, North Dakota, United States. The 2020 census gave its population as 29,160, making Williston the sixth-largest city in North Dakota. The city's population nearly doubled between 20 ...

, 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 ''

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 Northe ...

'' line. The brick station was built in 1910 by the Great Northern RailwayWilliston, North Dakota; Great American Stations (Amtrak)
/ref> and is located at the southern end of Williston's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. An interior and exterior restoration, begun in 2010 and costing almost $2 million, has returned the station to its original look. With the opening of the Bakken oil fields in the 21st century, many oil production workers now also board and detrain in Williston, adding additional passengers to the route. Many workers from as far as the Pacific Northwest opt to travel to their jobs via the station rather than fly or take the bus. Amtrak conductors frequently let passengers use Williston as an unofficial smoke break or fresh air stop, partly due to delays caused by the sheer volume of passengers boarding and alighting at the station. Ridership at the station had a particular spike in Amtrak's 2012 fiscal year, when ridership grew by almost 82 percent to 54,324 from 29,920 the year before (though 2011 ridership had been partly degraded due to flooding along the route). This patronage continued even in the wake of terrible delays that plagued the ''Empire Builder'' for much of 2013 and 2014 due to increased freight traffic related to the Bakken boom. As of fiscal year 2018, Williston is North Dakota's second busiest Amtrak station, behind

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

Station layout

Bibliography

References

External links

Williston Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
Amtrak stations in North Dakota Railway stations in the United States opened in 1893 Buildings and structures in Williams County, North Dakota Former Great Northern Railway (U.S.) stations Williston, North Dakota 1893 establishments in North Dakota {{NorthDakota-railstation-stub