Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza (formerlyCentral Union Terminal andCentral Union Plaza) is the main passenger rail and intercity bus station ofToledo, Ohio.
Toledo is served by twoAmtrak routes: theFloridian, which operates daily betweenChicago andMiami; and theLake Shore Limited, which operates daily between Chicago and (via two sections east ofAlbany)Boston andNew York City. The station is also served byGreyhound Lines andBarons Bus Lines.
Named forMartin Luther King Jr., the building was designed inStreamline Moderne style by Robert Crosbie. It is owned by theToledo–Lucas County Port Authority.
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Aunion terminal, built in 1886 in the Gothic style, served several of the major rail lines passing through Toledo. Tenant railroads included theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O); theNew York Central Railroad and its subsidiaries, the CCC & St.L. (Big Four Railroad) and theMichigan Central Railroad; thePere Marquette Railroad; and theWabash Railroad. The station caught fire in 1930 but remained standing. The damage was later repaired and service resumed.[2]
A new station was being designed for Toledo, but the Great Depression delayed the construction of it. In the 1940s, the Toledo planning commission included rebuilding Union Terminal in a new vision for the city, but the plans were delayed even further by the outbreak of World War II.[3][4]
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Considered one of the last of theNew York Central Railroad's (NYC) great stations, the Central Union Terminal opened the week of September 17, 1950.[5] It was the $5 million crown jewel of the railroad's post-war investment in Toledo, a project that also built eight other buildings and, with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, replaced a coal-loading facility in East Toledo with a larger $18.5 million one inMaumee Bay.
Over the next two decades, the Central Union Terminal was used by four major railroads: the NYC, B&O,Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O), the successor to the Pere Marquette, and theWabash Railroad.
The first floor housed baggage services, while the second floor housed aYMCA for train crews. The passenger terminal and concourse were on the third floor, while the NYC Toledo division and dispatching offices were on the fourth.[6]
Major named trains served at the station to late 1950s and early 1960s:[7][8][9]
Major named trains served at the station to late 1960s and 1971:[10][11][12]
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In the early 1990s, local leaders decided against moving Amtrak into smaller, less costly quarters as had been done in many other cities during the 1970s and 80s.[13] TheToledo–Lucas County Port Authority purchased the Central Union Terminal fromConrail for $20,000 in 1995. In 1996, the Port Authority completed an $8.5 million renovation of the building which included a spatial reorganization of the building along with a façade restoration, a new heating and air-conditioning system, a new roof and work on surrounding roadways and landscaping. The reorganization moved passenger areas from the third floor to the ground floor for better access to the street and platforms.[14] No longer arailroad terminal, the building was renamed Central Union Plaza. The former passenger waiting room on the third floor was restored but is now used for meetings and events.
Through the late 1990s, Toledo was served by as many as six daily trains, including theLake Cities from 1980 to 1995 and thePennsylvanian from 1998 to 2003.
The building took its current nameMartin Luther King Jr. Plaza in 2001. Before Amtrak stopped carrying mail in 2005, it stored material handling cars (MHCs) at the plaza on several unused platform tracks.
For the arrival ofGreyhound Lines bus service in 2016, the station was remodeled again to add a ticket counter, office, freight room, aSubway restaurant and bus bays.[15] Greyhound moved into the structure on June 23, 2016.[16]Barons Bus Lines also began service to the station.[17] The facility now serves as a modern intermodal train and bus terminal and office complex.
On November 10, 2024, theCapitol Limited was merged with theSilver Star as theFloridian.[18]
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Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza is served by Amtrak'sLake Shore Limited, which operates between New York City/Boston and Chicago, and theFloridian, which operates between Miami and Chicago. Amtrak primarily uses the track nearest the station (Track 1), however, has the option to use Track 3. Track 2 has been disconnected. Freight trains roll on bypass tracks at the south edge of the rail yard. Both westbound trains pass through Toledo early in the morning, while eastbound trains pass through in the middle of the night.
Toledo has the distinction of hosting the firstNational Train Day every year, a week before the event is held in other cities nationwide.
The plaza is also served by Greyhound routes connecting to Chicago; Cleveland; Charleston, West Virginia; Detroit; New York City; and Washington, D.C. AlthoughGreyhound Bus Lines serves this facility, as of May, 1st, 2022 they no longer staff employees or sell tickets from this facility.[19]
The plaza has several arrivals and departures fromBarons Bus Lines, with routes to destinations around Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan. The bus berths face the Emerald Avenue façade of the building.
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