A new Amtrak station is open near Orlando for the more than 244,000 annual Amtrak Auto Train passengers. At about 10,000 square feet, the station in Sanford seats 600 passengers and is about four times larger than its predecessor. Thomas Carper, chairman of the Amtrak Board of Directors, joined local, state and federal officials for the celebration. The original depot, constructed in 1971 and renovated in 1995, was not large enough to accommodate growing demand for the Auto Train, which just reported a year-to-year ridership increase of nearly five percent - despite the economic recession.

A four-year project to stabilize and then improve the three-story former railroad office building and passenger station in Mattoon, Ill., used by six daily Amtrak trains was celebrated today by Amtrak and Illinois Department of Transportation representatives who congratulated the Coles County Historical Society on the completion of $3 million effort to restore the building to better serve the region and its growing ridership.

The historical society raised $400,000 locally, received $70,000 from the City of Mattoon and used $130,000 in grants from Illinois DOT and other state agencies to match $2.6 million in federal transportation funds. Among other improvements, the project replaced the clay-tile roof, installed a new passenger elevator, made lavatories accessible for the disabled and preserved the historic nature of the building opened by the former Illinois Central Railroad in 1918.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Amtrak received $10.5 million to reconstruct the Sanford station, as the original facility sustained extensive damage during the 2004 hurricane season and part of the waiting room had since been sheltered in a tent. Station platforms are receiving $161,000 in Amtrak ARRA funds for accessibility improvements of a wheelchair lift and tactile edges under the railroad's Mobility First initiative.

In addition to the larger passenger lounge, the modern structure contains a ticket counter, café, restrooms, and a gift shop. The transition between the new station and the remainder of the depot is accomplished by a pavilion whose roof slopes upward toward the trackside façade in opposition to the roofline of the adjoining waiting room. The pavilion is centered upon a deep porte-cochere that shelters passengers while they enter the station and register their vehicles for loading and storage.

A portion of the former station abutting the new structure will be reconfigured into administrative offices and will open in early 2011. The original platform canopy remains in place to protect passengers from inclement weather as they board or exit the Auto Train.

The Amtrak Auto Train holds the distinction as the longest passenger train in the world, with two locomotives and 40-plus passenger rail cars.

The City of Mattoon obtained the building from the successor of the Illinois Central in 2001 and turned over to the historical society the management of the building and its renovation. The newly remodeled station is better able to accommodate all passengers and features a new side entrance foyer with a modern passenger elevator, a restored waiting room, new restrooms and renovated spaces on the mezzanine level and street level to accommodate an historical museum display area and future commercial tenants.

Particularly challenging was the size of the building, which included railroad offices at street level and the location of the train tracks at a lower level. Railroad employees had operated a freight elevator to help passengers with disabilities or with baggage reach track level, but regular staffing was reduced in 1994 and then eliminated.

The Mattoon station, which also serves nearby Charleston and Eastern Illinois University, has seen significant ridership growth since an additional state-supported round-trip train was added in 2006. For the 12 months ending June 30, 2010 (State Fiscal Year 2010), an all-time high of 30,851 passengers began or ended their trips in Mattoon. This is more than triple the number of passengers from 1996, when Amtrak staffing ended as a budget reduction.

The station is served by the Illini and the Saluki Amtrak trains with two daily round-trips between Chicago and Carbondale, Ill., via Champaign and Mattoon, and the Amtrak City of New Orleans, operating daily between Chicago and New Orleans, via Memphis.