Ephrata station

Ephrata, WA
Ephrata station with Grant Transit Authority bus
General information
Location	24 Alder Street Ephrata, Washington United States
Coordinates	47°19′15″N119°32′58″W / 47.32089°N 119.54935°W / 47.32089; -119.54935
Owned by	City of Ephrata
Line(s)	BNSF Columbia River Subdivision
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Amtrak Thruway Grant Transit Authority Northwestern Trailways
Construction
Parking	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: EPH
History
Rebuilt	1994
Passengers
FY 2022	2,441 [1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Wenatchee toward Seattle Empire Builder Spokane toward Chicago
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Wenatchee toward Seattle North Coast Hiawatha Spokane toward Chicago Expo '74 Spokane Terminus
Location
Ephrata, WA Location in Washington Show map of Washington (state) Ephrata, WA Location in the United States Show map of the United States

Ephrata is a train station on Amtrak's Empire Builder line in Ephrata, Washington. The station and parking are owned by the city government, while the track and platforms are owned by BNSF Railway. ^{[2] [3]} Northwestern Trailways provides inter-city bus transportation next to the station while local transit is provided by the Grant Transit Authority. ^[4]

History

Passenger rail service to Ephrata began in 1893 with the arrival of the Great Northern Railway, particularly services like the Empire Builder and Western Star . Ephrata was the smallest town to be served by Great Northern's streamlined passenger trains through the mid-20th century. ^[5] After Amtrak took over the national passenger rail network in 1971, the Western Star was eliminated and the Empire Builder stopped serving Ephrata. ^[6] The loss of passenger rail service also affected postal deliveries to Ephrata, which were switched from trains to trucks. ^[7] Amtrak service to Ephrata began on June 11, 1973, with a routing change for the North Coast Hiawatha . ^[8] The trains stopped at an existing depot that served freight until December 1973. ^[9]

The Ephrata stop served few passengers and was slated for closure as part of cuts in 1977, ^[10] but was kept as an unstaffed station. ^[11] The North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued in 1979, ending passenger service to Ephrata and Wenatchee. ^[12] The Empire Builder returned to its original route in 1981, restoring passenger service to Ephrata. ^{[13] [14]} The existing Amtrak station was renovated and expanded to include a new multimodal transportation center and office space for the local chamber of commerce, re-opening on November 7, 1994. ^{[15] [16]}

Boardings and alightings

Year	2011 [17]	2012 [18]	2013 [19]	2014 [20]	2015 [21]	2016 [22]	2017 [23]	2018 [24]
Total	3,063	3,874	3,750	3,576	3,443	3,509	3,742	3,503
YOY Difference	-	811	-124	-174	-133	66	233	-239
YOY Difference %	-	26.48%	-3.20%	-4.64%	-3.72%	1.92%	6.64%	-6.39%

Notes and references

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
2. "Amtrak - Great American Stations". Amtrak . Retrieved April 23, 2009.
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2008, State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. October 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2007.
4. "Daily Trailways Service Schedule". Northwestern Trailways. September 1, 2006. Archived from the original on January 23, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
5. Starmont, Leon (February 22, 1948). "Ephrata: Desert Oasis Now a Thriving Capital". The Spokesman-Review . p. 8. Retrieved January 5, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Goodbye To Some Old Friends". Grant County Journal . May 6, 1971. p. 1.
7. "Amtrak Causes Changes in Ephrata's Mail Service". Spokane Chronicle . May 6, 1971. p. 3. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Amtrak Plans Ephrata Stop This Summer". Spokane Chronicle. May 3, 1973. p. 5. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Depot Shut". Spokane Chronicle. December 7, 1973. p. 5. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
10. Allen, Rob (March 4, 1977). "Passenger trains to skip Ephrata". The Spokesman-Review. p. 1. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Ephrata ticket sales to be halted". The Spokesman-Review. October 26, 1977. p. 6. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
12. Gilmore, Susan (September 30, 1979). "Few would mourn last Amtrak train through Wenatchee". The Seattle Times . p. A22.
13. "Seattle-Spokane Amtrak route returns". The Seattle Times. October 26, 1981. p. C2.
14. Moody, Dick (May 5, 1983). "'Train nut' got Amtrak to stop". The Spokesman-Review. p. 8. Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Basin transit center dedicated". The Wenatchee World . November 4, 1994. p. 10.
16. "Hundreds greet arrival of special train in Ephrata". The Wenatchee World. November 8, 1994. p. 10.
17. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2011: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2011. p. 1. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
18. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2012: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2012. p. 1. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
19. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2013: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2013. p. 1. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
20. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2014: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
21. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2015: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2015. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
22. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 20165, State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
23. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2017, State of Washington" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
24. "Fact sheet: Amtrak in Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2019.

External links

• Ephrata, WA – Amtrak
• Ephrata, WA – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Current and former Ephrata Amtrak Stations (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)