Charleston station (West Virginia)


Charleston is an Amtrak station in Charleston, West Virginia, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is served by the Cardinal. The Cardinal operates as Train 50 Eastbound towards Washington D.C. and New York City departing Chicago on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The train operates as Train 51 Westbound towards Chicago departing New York on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Trains only operate to the station on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Description

The station was originally owned by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. In September 2010, the station was purchased by General Corporation, a commercial real estate company based in Charleston. The station is located on the south bank of the Kanawha River, opposite downtown Charleston which lies on the north bank. Much of the station's outdoor space is covered by the South Side Bridge which allows both vehicular and pedestrian traffic to access the downtown areas. A fine dining establishment, Laury's Restaurant, occupies much of the station's interior.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as the Chesapeake and Ohio Depot and part of the South Hills Multiple Resource Area. It is a two-story, brick and stone structure in the Neo-Classical Revival style. The facade features a shallow pavilion of paired Roman Doric columns facing the Kanawha River. It also has a low hipped, tile-covered roof with bracketed deep eaves.
Since budget cuts in 2018, the Charleston station is no longer staffed by an Amtrak station agent. Since no ticket agent is available, tickets to and from Charleston must be purchased in advance; there are also no Quik-Trak kiosks available. The station does, however, provide self-serve checked baggage service; passengers tag their own bags and take them to the conductor trainside.