Los Angeles Union Station: The best?

Could Los Angeles have the best railway passenger station facility in North America with its Union Station?

Could this be in the most automobile centered large city on earth? In a city where comics joke that no one ever walks? In a town that until recently devoted approximately one-third of its city center to parking lots and parkades?

Surely, I must be crazy. Nevertheless, please humor me and check out the attributes of Los Angeles Union Station. It has many.

Above: Certainly no airport or rail station has appeared in more film and television productions. Once opened in 1939, Los Angeles Union Station became Hollywood’s station, featured in everything from Union Station (of course) in 1951 to Catch Me if You Can to 24 on Fox.

Union Station shows off a combination of Art Deco Streamline Moderne, Dutch Colonial Revival, Moorish, and Mission Revival styles.

Above: From the main entrance, you look out toward Los Angeles City Hall, designed by two of the architects who worked on Union Station.

Just beyond the City Hall are the Music Center with its famed Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and the combination financial and corporate district. All top downtown hotels are in this area. Parker Center, the former LAPD headquarters seen frequently in films and television shows, pops up just out of the photo to the left.

Union Station brings you to the heart of Los Angeles.

Above: Directly across the street, Los Angeles was founded in 1781. Interesting and pleasant to visit, this area is now the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District. Chinatown, which was moved to make room for Union Station, is an easy walk to the right.

In the latter 19th Century, lynchings took place on a tree near the building to the left.

After its founding, Los Angeles grew to become the only large central or southern California coastal city not located at a Spanish mission. Some say LA has been thumbing its nose at conventional mores ever since.

Convenience keynotes Union Station.

The Red Line subway line runs from the station to the heart of Hollywood, just steps from the Chinese and Kodak (Academy Awards) theatres, and on to Universal Studios. The Red Line’s Hollywood & Highland stop accesses nearly all LA-area hostels not located at the beach. This stop also puts you a short transfer away from CBS Television City, the Sunset Strip, and the upscale hotels of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

LAX FlyAway gives you a frequent and inexpensive 24-hour nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport. This uses mostly bus only lanes to provide more reliable timekeeping. In addition, Amtrak and Metrolink offer trains to Burbank Airport (Bob Hope Airport). Light rail fans out to East Los Angeles and to Pasadena and beyond.

From a large transit plaza adjacent, buses serve most of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica), Metro (aka MTA) (Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, etc.), and Orange Country Transit Authority are three major services that use the plaza. Most definitely, Los Angeles Union Station has become a coordinated transportation facility.

Above: I love the high ceilings. Tablecloth-covered tables extend out of upscale Traxx Restaurant.

Above: Doing the Art Deco and all those other styles in the main waiting room on a quiet early Saturday morning. The station preserves its historic glamour.

Unlike some large terminals such as Penn Station in New York, you can actually sit down at Union Station—in comfortable chairs. The areas shown above primarily serve Amtrak passengers. Highly visible security oversees all parts of the station.

In 1966, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway ran just three trains from Union Station to Anaheim and San Diego.

Now, Amtrak operates at least 12 trains to Anaheim (Disneyland) and San Diego each day. There are five to Santa Barbara plus other services.

More importantly in terms of number of passengers, Metrolink regional rail service operates dozens more trains serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego (Oceanside only) counties from Union Station.

Metrolink passengers may bring along bicycles as another link in this multi-faceted transportation hub.

With its trains, subway, light rail, and bus hub, Union Station hasn’t seen crowds like this since World War II.

Union Station like many other great transportation hubs extensively interconnects different transportation modes. However, Union Station lacks the free Internet access that could bring it more up to date (although in fairness, most people who use the station are commuters who quickly jump on the first available bus or train).

What really makes Union Station special are not the variety of transportation modes that use it, but instead its outstanding gardens, uplifting architecture, super convenient and interesting location, and ease of changing from one mode to another (unlike for example at Chicago Union Station). If I had to sum up the staton in one word, it would be humane.

Above: Lovely gardens greet you in front.

Above: Enjoy a garden courtyard with seats just south of the main waiting room. This area also provides an alternative entrance and exit to the station that allows you to go directly to or from the platforms.

Above: You can also relax in the north garden that has seats and tables.

Extensive landscaping around Union Station adds so much to the enjoyment of the facility. I love this aspect best of all. This facility contrasts so very vividly to the often antiseptic and even dehumanizing airport and station environments we find when we travel, especially at airports.

For this reason alone, I vote Los Angeles Union Station the best coordinated transportation facility in North America. I hope you will have the chance to enjoy it.

Other rail travel articles by Don Nadeau: 

• Railfan trips bring big rewards
• Amtrak and Via Rail travel tips: Getting the most out of your rail trip
• Amtrak and Via Rail western scenic routes
• Amtrak and Via Rail eastern scenic routes

In addition, enjoy "Pikes Peak Cog Railway: Rocky Mountain High" by Billie Frank.