View source for Orlando Health/Amtrak station

{{Short description|Passenger train station in Orlando, Florida}}
{{redirect|Orlando station|the Brightline Orlando station|Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal|the old Orlando depot|Church Street Station}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox station
| style              = Amtrak
| name               = Orlando, FL
| image              = OrlandoFL (Amtrak Station).jpg
| image_caption      = Front entrance to the 1926-built Orlando station. Originally used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, now by Amtrak.
| address            = 1400 Sligh Boulevard
| borough            = [[Orlando, Florida]]
| country            = United States
| coordinates        = {{coord|28.52590|-81.38130|type:railwaystation_region:US-FL|display=inline,title}}
| connections        = {{bus icon}} [[Amtrak Thruway]]<br />[[File:LYNX transportation logo.svg|50px|Lynx]] [[Lynx (Orlando)|Lynx]]: 40<ref name="SunRail Connections">{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2022 |title=SunRail Connections |url=https://www.golynx.com/core/fileparse.php/97362/urlt/F_LNX_Lft_SunRail_WEB_Apr-22_.pdf |access-date=May 19, 2022 |website=[[Lynx (Orlando)|Lynx]]}}</ref>
| platform           = 1 [[side platform]], 1 [[island platform]]
| tracks             = 3
| parking            = Yes<!--;Cobblestone or brick parking lot and side-street-->
| bicycle            = Yes
| opened             = 1926 (ACL)
| rebuilt            = May 1, 2014 (SunRail)
| electrified        = 
| accessible         = Yes
| code               = {{Amtrak code|ORL}}
| owned              = City of Orlando
| zone               = [[Orange County, Florida|Orange]] (SunRail)
| mpassengers        = {{rail pass box|system=Amtrak|passengers={{Amtrak ridership|Orlando}} annually{{Amtrak ridership|citationFL}}|pass_year={{Amtrak ridership|date}}}}
{{rail pass box|system=SunRail|passengers=32,166 annually<ref>{{cite web |title=SUNRAILANNUAL RIDERSHIP BY STATIONFY 2018 |url=https://sunrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SunRail-Annual-Ridership-By-Station-FY-2018.pdf |website=SunRail |access-date=April 21, 2019}}</ref>|pass_year=FY2018|pass_percent=-2.8}}
| services           = {{Adjacent stations
  |system1=Amtrak
    |line1=Floridian|left1=Kissimmee|right1=Winter Park
    |line2=Silver Meteor|left2=Kissimmee|right2=Winter Park
  |system3=SunRail
    |line3=SunRail|left3=Sand Lake Road|right3=Church Street
  }}
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services_collapsible = yes
| other_services     = {{Adjacent stations
  |system1=Amtrak
    |line1=Sunset Limited|type1=East|left1=Winter Park|right1=Kissimmee|to-right1=Miami|note-mid1=1993–2005|note-right1=1993-1996
    |line2=Floridian (1971–1979)|left2=Kissimmee|right2=Winter Park|type2=St. Petersburg
    |line3=Silver Star|left3=Kissimmee|right3=Winter Park
  |system4=Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
    |line4=Main Line|left4=Pine Castle|right4=Winter Park
  }}
| mapframe           = yes
| mapframe-custom    = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#000 |zoom=14 }}

|nrhp = 
{{infobox nrhp
| embed = yes
| name = Atlantic Coast Line Station
| architect  = [[A.M. Griffin]]<br>W. T. Hadlow
| architecture = Mission/Spanish Revival
| added = July 28, 2022
| refnum = 100007973
}}
}}

'''Orlando Health/Amtrak station''', also known as '''Orlando station''', is a train station in [[Orlando, Florida]]. It is served by [[Amtrak]], the national railroad passenger system of the United States, and [[SunRail]], the commuter rail service of [[Greater Orlando]], as well as local and intercity buses. It serves Amtrak's ''[[Silver Meteor]]'' and [[Floridian (train)|''Floridian'']] lines. Built in 1926, the historic station is located in [[Downtown Orlando]] approximately one mile south of the central business district, near the campus of [[Orlando Health]]. Serving 160,442 passengers at last measure in 2013, The station is Amtrak's fifth busiest in the [[Southeastern United States]]; it is the second busiest Amtrak station in Florida, behind the [[Sanford station (Amtrak)|Sanford station]] of the [[Auto Train]].

==History==
[[File:Orlando FL SCL Amtrak inside03.jpg|thumb|left|Part of the restored interior.]]
The station was built in 1926 by [[A.M. Griffin]] and W. T. Hadlow for the [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad]] (ACL). The building was designed in the [[Spanish Mission style]]. It became part of the [[Seaboard Coast Line Railroad]] after the Coast line merged with the [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]] in 1967.<ref name=GAS>[http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/ORL/Station_view "Orlando, FL (ORL)"] (2014). www.greatamericanstations.com. Accessed April 14, 2015.</ref>

===Service in peak years===
Prior to the decline in operations in the 1950s and 1960s several long distance trains operated by the ACL ran through the station. 
*''[[Champion (train)|Champion]]'' (West Coast) New York &ndash; Sarasota
*''Havana Special'' New York and the train's Sarasota section

Shuttle sections that fed off these trains in Jacksonville, to points south. In Jacksonville connections could be made with trains that originated in either Chicago or Cincinnati:<ref>Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Timetables, June 12, 1955, Tables B through L</ref>
*''[[City of Miami (train)|City of Miami]],'' ''[[Dixie Flagler]],'' ''[[Dixie Flyer (train)|Dixie Flyer]],'' ''Dixie Limited,'' ''[[Flamingo (train)|Flamingo]],'' ''[[Seminole (train)|Seminole]],'' ''[[South Wind (train)|South Wind]],'' ''[[Southland (train)|Southland]]''

For a period after a strike on the Florida East Coast Railway interrupted service on its coastal route, from 1964 to 1968, the ACL and its successor, the SCL, ran trains making local stops down the Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville to Miami, notably including a stop in Orlando. This provided the first direct rail service from Orlando to Miami.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' December 1964, Atlantic Coast Line section, Table 17</ref><ref>Seaboard Coast Line timetable, December 15, 1967, Tables 14, 15</ref><ref>Seaboard Coast Line timetable, December 13, 1968, Jacksonville-Miami service rerouted through Ocala.</ref>

===Amtrak===
Amtrak continued the ''Champion,'' and also added a [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]] section to the ''Silver Star'' that also called at Orlando. Until 1979, the St. Petersburg section of the Chicago-originating ''[[Floridian (train, 1971–1979)|Floridian]]'' stopped in Orlando as well. The ''Champion'' was folded into the ''Silver Meteor'' in 1979, and both it and the ''Silver Star'' continued to serve Orlando via Tampa Bay sections (which terminated in St. Petersburg before 1984 and in [[Tampa]] after 1984).

In 1993, the ''[[Sunset Limited]]'' was extended to [[South Florida]], thus providing the first one-seat ride between Orlando and Miami since 1968.<ref>Amtrak timetable, October 31, 1993, p. 30</ref> Starting in the fall of 1996, the ''Silver Meteor'' and ''Silver Star'' were routed through Orlando after both trains dropped their Tampa Bay sections. The ''Sunset Limited'' was shortened to Sanford.<ref>Amtrak timetable, November 10, 1996, p. 29.</ref> Later in the decade, the ''Sunset Limited'' was extended to Orlando again,<ref>Amtrak timetable, October 31, 1999, p. 33</ref> where it stopped from 1996 until August 29, 2005. As a result of [[Hurricane Katrina]], the ''Sunset Limited'' was suspended east of New Orleans in 2005. <ref>{{cite news |title=Sunset Limited, August 29, 2005 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tallahassee-democrat-sunset-limited-aug/63736829/ |work=[[Tallahassee Democrat]] |date=August 29, 2005 |pages=2}}</ref> On November 10, 2024, the ''Silver Star'' was merged with the {{lnl|Amtrak|Capitol Limited}} as the ''Floridian''.<ref>{{Cite press release |date=September 23, 2024 |title=Amtrak Launching the Floridian, with Daily Service Between Chicago and Miami |url=https://media.amtrak.com/2024/09/amtrak-launching-the-floridian-with-daily-service-between-chicago-and-miami/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923190514/https://media.amtrak.com/2024/09/amtrak-launching-the-floridian-with-daily-service-between-chicago-and-miami/ |archive-date=September 23, 2024 |access-date=September 23, 2024 |publisher=Amtrak}}</ref>

===SunRail===
[[File:Sunrail_2008.jpg|thumb|Sunrail 2008 leaving Orlando|left|246x246px]]
In 2014, the City of Orlando started a project to build a second platform for use by the new [[SunRail]] commuter rail service. Unlike most SunRail stations, which feature shelters consisting of white aluminum poles supporting sloped green roofs, the station's canopies feature arches that resemble the mission-style architecture of the adjacent historic station's canopy.  It also includes ticket vending machines, ticket validators, emergency call boxes, drinking fountains, and separate platforms designed for passengers in wheelchairs.  The station was officially named Orlando Health/Amtrak Station due to its proximity to the main [[Orlando Health]] hospital campus, [[Orlando Regional Medical Center]], the [[Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children]] and the [[Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies]].<ref>[http://www.sunrail.com/default.aspx?home/stations/OrlandoHealthAmtrack.htm "Orlando Health/Amtrak"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111715/http://www.sunrail.com/default.aspx?home/stations/OrlandoHealthAmtrack.htm |date=September 24, 2015 }} (2015). www.sunrail.com. Retrieved April 14, 2015.</ref> The revamped station opened on May 1, 2014.<ref>Carchidi, Jim (April 9, 2014) [http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2014/04/pre-dawn-party-sunrail-opens-the-orlando-health.html "Pre-dawn party: SunRail opens the Orlando Health station"]. ''Orlando Business Journal''. Retrieved April 14, 2014.</ref>

In August 2014, the City of Orlando announced a $2.1 million station restoration project for the historic building. The project, which was the first major renovation to the facility since 1990, included fixing cracks and leaks in the stucco walls and tile roof, pavement repairs, restroom upgrades, repainting of the building exterior, restoration of the original 1926 wood doors and windows, replacement and relocation of the air conditioning system to the roof of the building (which allowed the original entrance on the side of the building to be reopened), and the installation of a wheelchair ramp from the parking lot to the new station entrance.<ref>Tracy, Dan (August 22, 2014). [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/traffic/os-amtrak-station-rehab-20140822-story.html "Downtown Orlando Amtrak station to get $2.1 million face-lift"] ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]''. Retrieved April 14, 2015.</ref> Work officially commenced on September 24, 2014, and was completed on June 29, 2015.<ref>[http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/amtrak-station-restoration-begins/ "Amtrak Station Restoration Begins"] (September 24, 2014). www.cityoforlando.net. Retrieved April 14, 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-orlando-historic-amtrak-renovation-20150629-story.html "Renovation of Orlando's historic Amtrak station complete"] (June 29, 2015). www.orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.</ref>  The building was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2022.<ref>{{NRHPweekly}}</ref>

The station also serves [[Amtrak Thruway]] buses and [[Lynx (Orlando)|Lynx]] bus route 40. It is also the proposed terminus on the planned [[Orange Blossom Express]] commuter rail project out of [[Lake County, Florida|Lake County]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Amtrak web|ORL|Orlando, FL}}
*[https://sunrail.com/station/orlando-health-amtrak/ Orlando Health/Amtrak – SunRail]

{{Amtrak Florida stations}}
{{Orlando Roads}}
{{SunRail|state=collapsed}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida}}

[[Category:Amtrak stations in Florida]]
[[Category:Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Florida]]
[[Category:Former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad stations]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Orlando, Florida]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1926]]
[[Category:SunRail stations]]
[[Category:Transportation in Orlando, Florida]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Orange County, Florida]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Florida]]