 Pittsfield, MA | Lake Shore Limited | (Palmer, MA)  |
 Windsor Locks, CT | Vermonter | Northampton, MA  |
| Northeast Regional: New Haven — Springfield Shuttle |
Train service to Springfield is relatively frequent with 7 trains stopping or terminating at the station Monday through Thursday in each direction (there is an additional trip on Fridays and weekends) 6 of these trips to and from New York and Washington, DC. The station is the northern terminus of the New Haven to Springfield Shuttle that see two car push-pull trains making four weekday trips to New Haven (more on weekends) where they connect with Northeast Regional Trains to and from Washington and New York that continue via the Shoreline Route to Boston. Until the electrification of the Shoreline route north of New Haven in 2000 (that allowed through electric service) these trains operated as a through car on the Boston-bound trains that were attached and detached from the New York to Boston trains in New Haven. There is still one daily (an additional trip over the weekend) Northeast Regional Train that runs directly from Springfield to Washington (and one of the southbound trips weekends all the way to Lynchburg Virginia). From 1971 to 2004 Amtrak ran a direct train between New York and Boston via the inland route through Springfield. Today the only train between Boston and Springfield is the #448 Boston section of the east-west Lake Shore Limited. This and the north-south Vermonter make the station the only point where two Amtrak routes directly cross, although they run concurrently east to Palmer Massachusetts where the Vermonter preforms a reversing move to switch railroads and continue to north Vermont. The current schedules mean that no connections can be made from Vermont destinations to the Lake Shore Limited and the national Amtrak system. Only from Boston to Vermont can a connection be made. The station will hopefully receive more service in the near future as it is the northern terminus (although Massachusetts is exploring extending the service north through the Knowledge Corridor to Northampton) of the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail project that will vastly increase service (using commuter rail equipment) along the route of the Shuttle.
The current Springfield Station is located on a viaduct at the original platforms along the remains of the historic 1926 Springfield Union Station. This historic station, constructed of decorative brick and stone in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, sits on the north side of the railroad viaduct along Frank B. Murray Street. Signs are affixed at street level to the facade saying "Private Property, No trespassing by Order of the Tax Collector." The city of Springfield bought the historic station in 1989 but the burning down of the adjacent Charles Hotel (now a vacant lot) have hampered restoration efforts. The old station was once used by both passenger and freight express services and includes what looks like a huge loading dock that has a chain link fence. The original boarded up entrance has a grand awning.
With Union Station abandoned the present station house opened in November 1994 replacing a previous temporary station at this same location. On the south side of the viaduct with stone walls is a small blue awning with the modern Amtrak logo on it along Lyman Street. Doors through this awning lead to a tunnel beneath the viaduct. This tunnel used to connect the station's four platforms with stairs and elevators up to each, the glass windowed remains sit abandoned along each of the platforms and the main station building at the opposite end of the viadcut. The present open portion of the underpass have two sets of doors that lead inside, through an intermediate vestibule to a small, white walled room with a modern ceiling. Here is a locked door that clearly leads to the closed remains of the underpass that once connected all the platforms. A set of doors (that swing in both directions) leads up to a staircase that has ceiling fans along casement windows but white walls with maroon trim along the windows and handrails. This leads up to the tracks and a direct indoor connection to the modern grey cinderblock walled with a flat green roof (looks similar to Detroit's Station, opened around the same time) modern station that is nestled on the railway viaduct along Platform 4. The station has a small tower that rises above it and has Amtrak lettered on it The elevator leads directly up to Platform 4 with passengers needing the elevator required to go outside and walk down the platform to reach the station house.
Inside the station are a bunch of blue bucket benches with arms. The walls are grey and maroon cinderblocks. A trimline at the top of the walls have white lettering directing passengers to the station amenities: 'Information, Ticketing, Baggage Check-In, A Quick Track Machine, Restrooms, Baggage Claim (a small silver looking garage door), Snacks' (2 Vending Machines). All the doors are red and multiple signs labeled 'Trains' tell passengers to go outside to board their trains. The station building also includes crew quarters and a few offices. More non-passenger needs are housed in a few trailers and some portable contains along the railroad viaduct just north the station building. Directly outside the building, beneath the original canopy along Platform 4 are a few benches that passengers can sit on and wait for their trains while watching other trains go by including many freight trains on the ex Boston & Albany, now CSX line across Massachusetts.
Trains still stop on one of 4 platforms and 6 tracks.There is just one siding north of the station so the Shuttle and northeast Regional Trains that turn at the station are serviced and stored at the station platforms. I'm unsure where the wye is used by overnighting Regional Trains. The platforms each have the remains of staircases in the middle of the platforms and original steel frames holding up canopies. Passengers and crew get between the tracks (since the underpass tunnel is closed) via a pedestrian level-crossing at the southern end of the platforms. The configuration: Historic Depot-A small paved area that is a parking lot used by employees (you see them walking across the tracks on their way to the crew quarters in the modular station house)-Platform 1-Track 1-Track 2-Platform 2 (shorter canopy)-Track 2A-Track 4-Platform 3-Track 6-Track 8-Platform 4 & Station. Along the platform area are various other abandoned remains and canopies and a former tower. The tower has black lettering facing away from the platforms that says Amtrak to announce the station to nearby I-91 that crosses over the tracks north of the station.
Tracks 1 and 2 are along the CSX Line that leads through the Berkshires and cross the Connecticut River directly west of the station. Many freight trains and the Lake Shore Limited always use these tracks since there are no switches west of the station between this line and the single track used by the Amtrak-owned line that curves south (switching to the other four station tracks for the station). The other four tracks are used by all other train service with the track for Shuttle and Northeast Regional trains varying depending upon where they will be stored with the northbound Vermonter using Track 6 normally and the southbound Vermonter on Track 8.
Photos 1-24 were taken on 15 February, 2006; 25-58 on 20 March, 2013; 59-158 on 5 April, 2013; 159-178: 23 August, 2013; 179-191: 16 August, 2012; 192-200: 28 December, 2014; 201-240: 29 December, 2014
