Oklahoma City Union Station was built as part of a plan to move surface rail lines and passenger stations of the Rock Island and Frisco railroads out of downtown Oklahoma City. Grade-separating the tracks of the Santa Fe was also part of the plan. Bonds were issued by the city government to repurchase the rights of way of the Frisco and Rock Island and to pay for new civic buildings on the vacated land. Prior to the construction of Union Station, the Rock Island had its depot on North Broadway between West 1st and West 2nd Streets. The Frisco had its passenger facilities a few blocks to the west between West Main and West 1st Streets fronting on North Hudson Street. The previous stations were last used on November 30, 1930, with passenger traffic being moved to a temporary station at the foot of South Hudson Street the next day. The Santa Fe Depot remained in use, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad also continued using its own station. The depot closed to the public in 1967 following the discontinuance of the last passenger trains serving Oklahoma City. Frisco passenger train service ended in May 1967 and Rock Island passenger train service ended in November 1967.
Architecture and station facilities
The terminal building, with on its main floor, is a sprawling, generous California Spanish Mission Revival style. The structure included many elegant touches. Passengers accessed the original 12-track station through tunnels via a ramp from the depot's waiting room. Mail and express shipments were also routed under the station to the surface passenger platforms. Traffic on Hudson and Harvey streets met the trains "at grade," enabling passenger access and exchange of mail and express freight between trucks and trains. Traffic on Robinson and Walker streets used underpasses built as part of the station complex. Freight warehouses and material handling areas were located behind the passenger facilities.
Tenant railroads
Union Station was served by two different railroads.
The Rock Island, whose east-west route from Memphis to Tucumcari hosted several passenger trains, including the Cherokee and the Choctaw Rocket.
The Frisco railroad operated trains such as the Meteor, the Firefly, and the Will Rogers, all through Tulsa. Other trains operated between Oklahoma City and Lawton.
These lines last saw passenger service in the 1960s with many sections saved from abandonment by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and operated by short-line railroads.
Controversy
In the 1980s the facility was purchased by the city of Oklahoma City to become a multimodaltransportation center at a cost of $1.8 million, with $1.2 million being a grant from the Federal Transit Administration. As part the I-40 Crosstown Realignment, the former yard tracks were replaced by the new highway. Space for two rail tracks in the station has been preserved as has the depot itself. This realignment was unsuccessfully challenged by several organizations. This realignment will add an additional 10 lanes of road through downtown Oklahoma City while the current corridor becomes an at-grade boulevard. On 6/5/2008 the STB stated that BNSF Railway falsified an application and ruled against the realignment. BNSF filed a petition to bypass hearings and debate all together to force the realignment
