Richmond, VA – Main Street | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Richmond Main Street Station in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 1500 East Main Street Richmond, Virginia United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°32′05″N77°25′45″W / 37.53472°N 77.42917°W /37.53472; -77.42917 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | City of Richmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1side platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 (8 historically, 4 on each side) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections |  GRTC:Pulse, 14, 95xMegabusRamRide: Sanger Hill Express | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architect | Wilson, Harris, & Richards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | Amtrak:RVM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IATA code | ZRD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | mainstreetstationrichmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1901 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FY 2025 | 129,928[1] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Main Street Station and Trainshed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Richmond Main Street Station in 1971 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 70000867 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VLR No. | 127-0172 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Significant dates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1970[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designated VLR | July 7, 1970[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond Main Street Station, officially theMain Street Station and Trainshed, is a historicrailroad station and office building inRichmond, Virginia. It was built in 1901, and is served byAmtrak. It is also an intermodal station with Richmond's citytransit bus services, which are performed byGreater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). The station is colloquially known by residents asThe Clock Tower. It was listed to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1970, and in 1976 was made a U.S.National Historic Landmark. Main Street Station serves as a secondary train station for Richmond providing limited Amtrak service directly to downtown Richmond. Several Amtrak trains serving the Richmond metropolitan area only stop at the area's primary rail station,Staples Mill Road which is located five miles to the north in Henrico County.
The station is served by three dailyNortheast Regional trains, two of which originate or terminate atNewport News. The other train originates/terminates at Richmond Main Street Station. Northbound trains provide direct service toUnion Station inWashington,Pennsylvania Station inNew York, andSouth Station inBoston, among other stops.[5] Since 2018, the station has also been a stop along theGRTC Pulse bus rapid transit line.
Interstate 95 passes directly next to the station.
Richmond's Main Street Station in the downtown area was built in 1901 by theSeaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and theChesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). Seaboard had introduced service to Richmond, and C&O had consolidated the formerVirginia Central Railroad and theRichmond and Allegheny Railroad, which had previously maintained separate stations.
The ornate Main Street Station was designed by thePhiladelphia firm ofWilson, Harris, and Richards in theSecond Renaissance Revival style.[6] Since its 1901 construction, the building's roof has featured Conosera tile produced byLudowici.[7] In 1959, Seaboard shifted its Richmond passenger service toBroad Street Station (now theScience Museum of Virginia), ending service to the north platform and across the James River. The C&O maintained offices in the upper floors, and its passenger service continued at Main Street Station until Amtrak took over in 1971.
Major long distancepassenger train services in the mid and late 1960s included:
In 1970, Main Street Station and its trainshed, one of the last surviving trainsheds of its type in the nation, were added to theNational Register of Historic Places. In 1976 it was designated aNational Historic Landmark.[4][6]
Amtrak took over most intercity passenger train service in the United States on May 1, 1971, including trains to Main Street Station. In 1972,Hurricane Agnes caused theJames River to flood the station. The damage was so severe that in 1975, Amtrak moved its Richmond stops toRichmond Staples Mill Road, a much smaller suburban station inHenrico County, five miles north of downtown. To make matters worse, the station was damaged by fires in 1976 and 1983.[9][10]
Main Street Station reopened to Amtrak service on December 18, 2003, following renovations.[11]
In 2018, the station became a stop on theGRTC Bus Rapid Transit's Broad and Main Street Line. There are also plans for Main Street Station to become an intermodal station with Richmond's citybus services operated byGRTC, apublic service company owned jointly by the City of Richmond and Chesterfield County.[12]
Local officials hoped to increase the number of trains stopping at Main Street Station by extending services that otherwise terminate atStaples Mill station in suburban Henrico County. The completion of a bypass around Acca Yard in March 2019 was a step in this direction, although the first additional service that it enabled—a secondNortheast Regional round trip to Norfolk—did not serve Main Street Station.[13]
On September 27, 2021, two Amtrak trains—one northbound in the morning and the other southbound in the evening—were extended from Staples Mill to Main Street Station as the first part of Virginia's multi-billion dollar rail expansion program.[14]
The 2017 Draft Environmental Impact Report of the DC2RVA project recommended routing all trains that serve Staples Mill station through Main Street Station, while maintaining full service to Staples Mill. Other considered alternatives had involved closing one of the two stations, or replacing both with a single station atBoulevard orBroad Street.[15]
Main Street Station is located on theSoutheast High Speed Rail Corridor (SEHSR), a passenger rail transportation project planned to connect with the existing high speed rail corridor fromBoston, Massachusetts toWashington, D.C., known as theNortheast Corridor (served by Amtrak'sAcela Express andNortheast Regional services and manycommuter railroads) and extend similar high speed passenger rail services south throughRichmond andPetersburg inVirginia throughRaleigh andCharlotte inNorth Carolina. Since first established in 1992, theU.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has since extended the corridor toAtlanta andMacon, Georgia;Columbia, South Carolina;Jacksonville, Florida; andBirmingham, Alabama.
Media related toMain Street Station (Richmond) at Wikimedia Commons
