Sanford station is a railroad terminal in Sanford, Florida. It is the southern terminus for Amtrak's Auto Train which runs between this station and Lorton, Virginia. The original facility, which opened in 1971, was an older and smaller facility than the terminal at Lorton. Currently, the Auto Train loads its passengers on two tracks in Sanford, as no one track is long enough to accommodate all of the passenger railcars. Sanford's operation is also unique in that a railroad crossing runs through the middle of the rail yard. In 2010, Amtrak and the State of Florida replaced the older station with a new facility that can accommodate larger numbers of passengers more comfortably. Designed by d+A design + Architecture, LLC of Yardley, Pennsylvania, the current station has a waiting room for 600 travelers, ticket counter, café, restrooms, and a gift shop. The building also incorporates energy-saving features such as glass coatings that minimize solar gain and energy efficient HVAC and lighting systems. A portion of the old station abutting the new structure was reconfigured into administrative offices.
History
The station once served trains run by the now defunct Auto-Train Corporation. It owned and operatedthe station from 1971 to 1981 when the Auto-Train Corporation fell into bankruptcy forcing service to end. The station was reopened in 1983 when Amtrak revived the Auto Train service. The original station building was replaced by a new structure that opened on October 18, 2010. Construction of the new $10.5 million station building began on May 18, 2009 after the decision was made by Amtrak to replace the former building, which was damaged by hurricanes in 2004.
Sanford's non-Auto Train station
A second Amtrak station was located three-tenths of a mile south of the Auto Train terminal, which served the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and Sunset Limited. The station was originally built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1913 and rebuilt in 1953. Like most passenger stations, it was acquired by Amtrak upon its inception in 1971. Though Amtrak gave the address as 800 Persimmon Avenue, Suite 100, the station was actually located at the end of West 8th Street, just west of Persimmon Avenue. Amtrak closed the station on August 1, 2005 and eventually demolished it in 2009. SunRail, the Central Florida commuter rail system, revived local passenger rail service to Sanford when it began operations in 2014. But rather than utilizing the site of the former Amtrak station, a new station on State Road 46 was constructed.
