I’ve mentioned a few times in this blog that as part of the High Speed Rail (HSR) project, Gryehound has moved from their old location to the Amtrak station. For a couple of years, the old station will be used by HSR personnel, and then it will be demolished when it is time to build the new rail station in that very spot. Presumably, Greyhound will then move back.
Let’s start by taking a look at the old station.
Here we see the station with the baseball stadium in the background.
The iconic bus signs.
The portion on the right used to be a cafeteria I have no idea how many years that side of the complex has been abandoned.
A close up look at the old cafeteria…
And a peak inside the station. Unfortunately, I never took pictures when the station was active. Woops.
And here’s a look at the back of the station, which featured a very large parking lot for the buses. I guess the company will still be using that area for now.
Back out front, we see the station from the stadium
Ok, so that’s the old station. Now let’s explore the new (much smaller) station. And by new, well, it’s over 100 years old, but it looks nice.
Here we approach the Amtrak station. The new 7-11 is across the street from it.
The new sign.
The front of the building has not been modified at all, although this door leads to the Greyhound waiting area, which is separate from the Amtrak waiting area.
Looks pretty nice!
Much, much smaller than the old station, but I doubt crowds get much larger than this. Also, there are now bathrooms here and also in the Amtrak area, which is good if one of them ever breaks down.
One of the doors leads to the Amtrak side, with the outdoor Amtrak waiting area in the distance.
The other side pops us out here, with the 7-11 in the back.
Turning left we see some bicycle parkin.
And then some more waiting space, outside, but well sheltered.
A bus…
Their boarding system.
Looking back.
This loop is now bus only. It fits 3 buses, barely.
Here’s another bus coming in!
The station has parking…but now it’s only for Amtrak customers. If you are riding on Amtrak, you show the ticket agent your ticket and they give you a permit for your car. I believe the permit allows unlimited free parking.
Amtrak and Greyhound customers still have access to a car roundabout for pickups and dropoffs.
Unfortunately fitting three buses requires the first bus to encroach into the crosswalk. You can see the bus stopped in a permanent wheel grab thing, which I assume was installed so the three buses fit perfectly. The drivers need to be careful of pedestrians when leaving.
This bus has quite the trip ahead of it.
Across the street, another bus area was carved out for YARTS. The Amtrak station has finally become a multi-modal terminal!
And here we see a bus leaving to CA-99, in front of the new First Five building.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!
Thanks for the update James, I enjoyed the pics. Funny thing..I took the Amtrak to Richmond Bart on Friday morning and I seen the posting or "Amtrak permit parking only". I haven't taken the Amtrak in over a yr but I didn't remember seeing that sign. However I didn't know how the process worked. there was nobody at the entrance asking for my Amtrak ticket or anything so I just parked there as usual and hopped on my 7:09 train. Well, wouldn't ya know it..when I got back to my car yesterday morning..my back small window was broken out on my Honda Accord..WTF. There were signs in the parking lot saying "Under surveillance with cameras" yea right. Oh and BTW…is it just me? Or am I noticing the Freeways are getting brand new Signage for the major off ramps?? Looks nice to me. And finally they seem to be putting on the Freeway lights with LED's.
Yes next time ask the agent inside the station for a permit to put on your rear view mirror or dashboard so they dont tow you. That wont prevent a break-in though :/ Sorry about that
Is your accord a late 80s or some year in the 90s, maybe even early 00s?
Those Hondas are always so prone to getting broken into. That is why I ask, whether its here in Fresno or anywhere else. I always hear/read about break in or theft of those cars. As great of a car they are for reliability and mileage, I would just be too paranoid to leave them parked for that long out in public. Be glad it wasn't stolen.
Yes I agree with you Anonymous, it could have been much worse…they could have broken the LARGE window on the passenger side instead of the small triangle window that they DID break, I could have gotten my car towed which would have been expensive to retrieve, and worst of all my car could have gotten stolen like you said. I'm glad neither of the last 2 occurred because I had to hop in my car and jam to LA for I had 2 tickets to the Lakers/Knicks game lolol.
btw my car is a 2001 with 220,000k miles lol. Probably the most common car messed with…however this is/was my first occurrence after having this car since 2001. Sad that it was messed with…It makes me wonder whats to gain from them doin that?? SMH..
Did you talk to the Amtrak people about it or file a police report? Theres actually a police substation next to the Amtrak office!
I wanted to but I didn't have any time to do it at the time because my train was delayed and got to the Fresno station at 3 pm and my tickets to the Lakers game was at 630 pm, so I just hopped in my car and jammed to LA. SMH,,
That was downright hilarious! The new station is very nice, in a myriad of ways, it looks like a downright pleasant place to be …. and the old station is like some bizarre caricature of a bus station in a horror video game…
I'm sure it was nicer with seats!
The ceiling lights of the of the new building, and the ceiling, don't match the style of the building (i.e. Spanish-style building with lighting from a 1980s office building)
Ohhhh yeaaa, I seen that Anonymous……great catch!!