Midway Saint Paul, MN
The station as viewed from the northwest in July 2014
General information
Location	730 Transfer Road[1] Saint Paul,Minnesota 55114 United States
Coordinates	44°57′47″N93°11′05″W / 44.9631°N 93.1846°W /44.9631; -93.1846
Elevation	870 feet (270 m)[2]
Owned by	Amtrak Minnesota Commercial (some track)[3]
Platforms	1side platform 1island platform
Tracks	3
Other information
Status	Closed for passenger service
Station code	MSP (former)[3][Note 1]
History
Opened	March 1, 1978[5]
Closed	May 7, 2014[6]
Passengers
FY2013	116,991[4]  2.92% (Amtrak)
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station St. Cloud towardSeattle orPortland Empire Builder 1979–2014 Red Wing towardChicago Willmar towardSeattle Empire Builder 1978–1979 Cambridge towardDuluth North Star 1978–1981 North Star 1981–1985 Terminus Arrowhead 1978–1978 Terminus Twin Cities Hiawatha 1978–1978 Red Wing towardChicago St. Cloud towardSeattle North Coast Hiawatha 1978–1979
Location

Midway (Saint Paul/Minneapolis) is a formerAmtrak intercitytrain station in theMidway neighborhood ofSaint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was last served by Amtrak's dailyEmpire Builder, with service fromChicago,Illinois toSeattle,Washington orPortland,Oregon. When the station opened March 1, 1978, it was also served briefly by the long-distanceNorth Coast Hiawatha (with service from Chicago to Seattle), and theHiawatha (Chicago to St. Paul) andArrowhead (Duluth to St. Paul), the latter combined as theNorth Star (thru service from Chicago to Duluth) later that year.

It was one of the first new stations, designated as a "Type 300A" design, built under theAmtrak Standard Stations Program in 1978. The only other station constructed to "Type 300A" design,Miami station, opened three months later and remains in operation today.

The Midway station was closed for passenger service on May 7, 2014, with passenger service being moved to the restoredSaint Paul Union Depot. For a time after its closure the station was still used to service theEmpire Builder but was later abandoned. Midway had been a station stop for every Amtrak route in Minnesota until May 2024, when theBorealis began service using Saint Paul Union Depot.

The Midway station is located at 730 Transfer Road^[1][7] and is named after theMidway area of Saint Paul.^{[Note 2]} Its Amtrakstation code wasMSP^{[1][3][Note 1]} and from 1978 to 2014 it served as the onlyintercity train station for theMinneapolis-Saint Paulmetropolitan area. The station can be easily accessed fromI‑94/US‑12/US‑52.^{[Note 3]} The station has an elevation of 870 feet (270 m).^[2]

Prior to closing for passenger service, the station offered an indoor waiting area, ticketing service and a Quik-Trak kiosk, restrooms,payphones, baggage assistance, and checked baggage. Free long and short parking was also available.^[9] Station hours were from 6:00 am to 11:45 pm daily.^[3]

The station is located next to tracks owned by theMinnesota Commercial Railway and marks a division point between running on theCanadian Pacific Railway (formerMilwaukee Road tracks between Chicago and St. Paul) and theBNSF Railway (formerGreat Northern Railway tracks between Minneapolis and Seattle.) There are two platforms at the station, though theEmpire Builder only used the side platform nearest the station building. There is a second island platform that serves two tracks, but it was rarely used. There are also two spurs behind the main platform which are used for storage and display of historic train cars.

Of the six Minnesota stations served by Amtrak, Midway was the busiest for theFiscal Year 2013 (its last full year of service), boarding or detraining an average of approximately 321 passengers daily (more than twice the ridership all other Minnesota stations combined).^[4]

When it opened on March 1, 1978, Midway station replacedMinneapolis Great Northern Depot as the sole intercity station in the Twin Cities. Amtrak had opted to consolidate all of its Twin Cities services in Minneapolis when it began operation in 1971, shuttering theSaint Paul Union Depot.^[5][10] The Great Northern Depot was later demolished.

The primary rail service at this station for most of its existence was theEmpire Builder, named to honor Saint Paul-based mogulJames J. Hill who constructed theGreat Northern Railway, and whose nickname was "The Empire Builder". Westbound trains head forSpokane, Washington (and then split before continuing on to eitherSeattle, Washington orPortland, Oregon) while eastbound trains head for Chicago. There were several intermittent stops between. The next westbound stop for theEmpire Builder was inSt. Cloud and the next eastbound stop was inRed Wing, both in Minnesota. About one-eighth ofEmpire Builder passengers boarded or arrived at this station.

After opening in 1978, the station briefly served theNorth Coast Hiawatha until that service ended in 1979.^[11] TheNorth Coast Hiawatha ran three times per week from Chicago to Seattle with the next westbound stop having also been in St. Cloud and the next eastbound stop having also been in Red Wing. The station was also served by theNorth Star with services to Chicago andDuluth,^[12] with the stop having been inCambridge, Minnesota and the next southbound stop having been in Red Wing until serviced was truncated from Chicago to this station in 1981. After theNorth Star was discontinued in 1985, Amtrak continued service to Duluth with itsAmtrak Thruway service until 2022.

On May 7, 2014, Amtrak moved its Twin Cities-area stop to the renovated and reopened Saint Paul Union Depot.^[6] After a short time of Midway station being closed to the public, but still serving as a service stop for theEmpire Builder, the building was abandoned, ending up on St. Paul's vacant property listings.^[13][9][14]

As part of theTCMC project (theBorealis service) the station was noted as being a potential improvement if deemed necessary by Amtrak. Under the proposal the station would be converted to alayover facility, serving as a crew base, light equipment servicing, cleaning, and kitchen.^[15] TheBorealis started service on May 21, 2024 without using the station.

• 
  WestboundNorth Coast Hiawatha (left) and eastboundNorth Star (right) meet at Midway station, May 1978
• 
  Switching cars en route for theEmpire Builder
• 
  Private railroad cars were conveniently stored on sidings at the station
• 
  Interior of the abandoned station

• Amtrak
• Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed
• Empire Builder
• Minneapolis Great Northern Depot
• North Coast Hiawatha
• North Star (Amtrak train)
• Saint Paul Union Depot

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMidway Station.

• Amtrak – Stations – St. Paul, MN – Minneapolis, archived page on web.archive.org (10 Feb 2014)
• St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (MSP)--Great American Stations (Amtrak), archived page on web.archive.org (2 Nov 2012)
• St. Paul-Minneapolis Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul's Midway Station on subwaynut.com
• March 2004 Photo by Greg Smith (Amtrak Photo Archives)

• Railway stations in Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Former Amtrak stations in Minnesota
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1978
• Railway stations in the United States closed in 2014

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