Portland looks for Union Station buyer after Amtrak backs out

Amtrak would not give a reason for the decision. Prosper Portland, the city’s urban development agency, cited funding as the reason it fell through.

[Greatdome]

It's the oldest train station in the West and since it's a "Union" station, it was built, owned and operated by several railroads (Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Union Pacific) not just one.

[MarvinThiessen]

Amtrak can't afford renovations to Union Station because Big Oil doesn't allow the government to properly fund rail in America like Japan and most of Europe has for decades. That's the main reason why our rail system is stuck in the 19th century. Imagine a bullet train from L.A. to Vancouver, B.C., that will never happen here.

[tomwebber]

The train station in our city is just such a landmark. The condition and necessary work will put off almost every possible buyer. Having to put in a half-billion to upgrades and other necessary work just shows that the current owners have done nothing but neglect this historic landmark. How sad. It would be less expensive to tear it down and build something new.

[esspeetwentytwo]

Trimet. It could be a new commuter rail hub. That or POINT, if they want to start rail operations like NJTransit.

[CosmosNut]

An iconic station, and the near non existent passenger schedule - ridiculous! And that part of town going downhill going on 10 years... more Portland malfeasance and no responsibility. sell while you can.

[chrisw]

Where the hell are trains going to stop!?

[jayski]

Unfortunately these historic train stations are relics of a bygone era when they use to handle the kind of crowds our airports now handle. They're just not necessary for modern train passengers. It's nice to preserve the architecture but you'll never do it profitably. This reminds me of how Jackie Kennedy (the president's wife) had to use all her influence to spearhead the renovations of (and donations for) New York's Gand Central Terminal back in the 1980's. And that was an uphill battle for her.

[stenbak]

Built for less than a million but needs 250 million in renovations… our money is worthless at this point

[kasebier]

It would make a great homeless shelter.

[tw]

250 million? Yeah multiple x 3 and then you'll be close

[adampdx]

$250m is a new station. They're just trying to extort money from someone because of the value they perceive from the new post office development. Decades of neglect in that whole area and this is why: profits before people.

[johnchambers]

Portland Union Station is a very nice station that has been serving Portland for years. As is the case of many old historic buildings it never was well taken care of especially when Portland train service was minimal. However the service between Portland and other cities has been expanding and the city does deserve a good station. Amtrak can not justify paying that much to rebuild the station. However what ever happens Portland will still need a downtown station and Amtrak will be the major tenant. So if the old station can not be saved then a modern smaller station should be built there or as near as possible. Amtrak has come a long way from Amshacks they built in the past. The newer station in Albany, New York is nice as well as the new station they recently built in Virginia. It will never be as grand as this station but a good functional station can be built for Portland.

[whou]

If I were a billionaire this is the kind of thing that I would buy and restore. $100's of millions would be a rounding error in my wealth, so easy to do.

[PhillyBagel]

So, is Amtrak about to give Portland the Amshack treatment? I thought those days were over.

[seandonahue]

I like the landmark but with serious damage like the wall lean?! It wouldreally take the government or an altruistic buyer. The bad part the residents in the immediate area don’t sweeten the deal.

[MartintheTinman]

Typical Government.
Let the people's assets deteriorate to (to save money for their pockets) the point that repairs are astronomical and then try to sell to save money for their pockets once again.
Hooray for Government!

[stevenS]

The reason the United States has a terrible train system is that the tracks were laid down by private companies and are still owned by private companies. The Railroad companies purchased or acquired the land through the states and laid the tracks. The country was young and states were new and we were allowed to use a lot of force to make it happen. Unfortunately, the country has grown up and this could probably never take place in modern times. So the reason that the train system in the United States has never developed is because the owners of the track I have no need or ambition to do so because of the difficulty it would be. It would take some major government influence to write legislature that would make land available for the railroad to be improved upon. The idea of states coming together and hashing out who’s going to pay for what is the real problem.

[Dane-oq]

No one wants to be part of this dumpster fire.

[UAL]

The greedy developers were licking their chops….they’d love to tear it down and build on the site just like they were able to sink their teeth into the old post office site next door. Seems unlikely, though, due to the transportation usage.

[ezone]

Defund police seems to be working a treat.