Mattoon station

Mattoon, IL
The Mattoon station platform in April 2016. The depot constructed by the Illinois Central Railroad is on the left.
General information
Location1718 Broadway Avenue
Mattoon, Illinois
United States
Coordinates39°28′58″N 88°22′34″W / 39.4829°N 88.3760°W / 39.4829; -88.3760
Line(s)CN Champaign Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport Coles County Zipline
Other information
StatusRegular stop (Illini/Saluki)
Flag stop (City of New Orleans)
Station codeAmtrak: MAT
History
Opened1855 (1855)[1]
Rebuilt1860
March 1917–January 21, 1918[2][3]
Key dates
December 1977Station agent eliminated[1]
Passengers
FY 202327,691[4] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Effingham City of New Orleans Champaign–Urbana
toward Chicago
Effingham
toward Carbondale
Illini and Saluki
Former services
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
Aetna Main Line Dorans
toward Chicago
Coles
toward Peoria
Peoria – Evansville Newby
toward Evansville
Illinois Central Railroad Depot
Map
Built1918
NRHP reference No.02000098
Added to NRHPMarch 1, 2002

Mattoon station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Mattoon, Illinois, United States. The station is a flag stop on the City of New Orleans route, served only when passengers have tickets to and from the station. It is a regular stop for the Illini and Saluki.

History

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The Mattoon station is housed in the former Illinois Central Railroad Depot. The depot was completed in 1918 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[5] At its height, the building housed a power plant, mail room, luggage room, and restaurant, in addition to the main hall where passengers waited to board trains. As many as ten trains a day departed the depot in the 1950s.[6]

During 2010, a $3 million restoration project, paid for from a mix of private, state, and federal funding, was undertaken, replacing paint, flooring, and other interior fixtures.[7]

The depot today

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There are no Amtrak employees at the station; the doors unlock and lock automatically before and after the arrival and departure of trains.[citation needed] The station currently serves as a stop for the Illini, Saluki, and City of New Orleans passenger trains [8] The tracks themselves, formerly part of the Illinois Central Railroad, are now owned by the Canadian National Railway (CN).[9] Freight trains run by CN pass through frequently.[citation needed]

Transit service to the depot from Mattoon and Charleston is provided by Dial-A-Ride Rural Public Transportation, which provides deviated fixed-route and demand-response service.

References

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  1. ^ a b Sanders, Craig (December 28, 1977). "Closing of Ticket Office Will End Era". The Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. p. 3. Retrieved November 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ "Work Begun on Mattoon Station". The Effingham Republican. March 8, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ "New Depot Opened". The Windsor Gazette. Windsor, Shelby County, Illinois. January 24, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  5. ^ National Register of Historic Places listings for Coles County, Illinois. www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com
  6. ^ Project Depot: History. www.projectdepot.org Archived 2005-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Renovations complete on eastern Ill. train depot". Chicago Tribune. 17 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  8. ^ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
  9. ^ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
[edit]

Media related to Mattoon station at Wikimedia Commons