Sanford, FL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Auto Train passenger cars at Sanford station in October 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 600 South Persimmon Avenue Sanford, Florida United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°48′26″N81°17′20″W / 28.80709°N 81.28885°W /28.80709; -81.28885 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1island platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections |  Sanford trolleyScout | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | Amtrak:SFA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | Scout: Monroe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1981–1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 2009–2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FY 2025 | 265,950[1] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sanford station is a railroad terminal inSanford, Florida. It is the southern terminus forAmtrak'sAuto Train, which runs between this station andLorton, Virginia. It is Amtrak's busiest station in Florida, as of fiscal 2022, when it served 269,381 passengers.[2][3]
As of 2022, the Auto Train loads its passengers on two tracks in Sanford, as no single track is long enough for all of the passenger railcars. A railroad crossing runs through the middle of Sanford'srail yard, an unusual situation for a modern station and yard.
The station was opened in 1971 by theAuto-Train Corporation, a railroad that operated its rolling stock along tracks owned by other railroads. The station and the service closed when the railroad fell into bankruptcy in 1981.
The station was reopened in 1983 when Amtrak revived theAuto Train service.[4] In 2004, hurricanes damaged the station building.[5] The facility was also older and smaller than the terminal at Lorton.
On May 18, 2009, Amtrak broke ground on a new $10.5 million station designed by d+A design + Architecture of Yardley, Pennsylvania. The new building, which opened on October 18, 2010, has a waiting room for 600 travelers, a ticket counter, a café, restrooms, and a gift shop. The building incorporates energy-saving features such as energy-efficient HVAC, lighting, and glass coatings that minimizesolar gain. A portion of the old station abutting the new structure was reconfigured into administrative offices.[6][7][8]
A second Amtrak station was located three-tenths of a mile (0.48 km) south of the Auto Train terminal, which served theSilver Star,Silver Meteor, andSunset Limited. The station was built by theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1913 and rebuilt in 1953. Like most U.S. passenger stations, it was acquired by Amtrak upon its inception in 1971. Though Amtrak gave the address as 800 Persimmon Avenue, the station was actually located at the end of West 8th Street, about 760 feet (230 m) west of Persimmon Avenue.[9] Amtrak closed the station on August 1, 2005, and demolished it in 2009.
SunRail, the Central Florida commuter rail system, revived local passenger rail service to Sanford when it began operations in 2014. It built anew station onState Road 46 rather than on the site of the former Amtrak station.[10]
Media related toSanford station (Amtrak) at Wikimedia Commons
