Texarkana Union Station

Texarkana Union Station
Texarkana station platform in February 2017 for Amtrak. The union station is on the right.
Location	100 East Front Street Texarkana, AR 71854
Owned by	Jeff Sandefur
Line(s)	Texas Eagle
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Texarkana Urban Transit District
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	TXA
History
Opened	1930
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	6,894  12.2%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Marshall toward San Antonio or Los Angeles Texas Eagle Hope toward Chicago
Texarkana Union Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Texas Show map of the US
Location	State Line and Front St., Texarkana, Texas, USA
Coordinates	33°25′12″N 94°2′33″W / 33.42000°N 94.04250°W / 33.42000; -94.04250Coordinates: 33°25′12″N 94°2′33″W / 33.42000°N 94.04250°W / 33.42000; -94.04250
Architect	E. M. Tucker; Butterworth, A.B.
Architectural style	Renaissance
MPS	Historic Railroad Depots of Arkansas MPS
NRHP Reference #	78000611
Added to NRHP	November 19, 1978

Texarkana Union Station is a historic train station in the Texarkana metropolitan area serving Amtrak, the United States' national passenger rail system. The Arkansas-Texas border bisects the structure; the eastern part, including the waiting room and ticket office, are in Texarkana, Arkansas, but the western part is in Texarkana, Texas, meaning stopped trains span both states. The station was built in 1928 and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Texarkana Union Station was constructed and operated by Union Station Trust, a subsidiary organization created as a joint effort between the Missouri-Pacific, Texas & Pacific, Cotton Belt and Kansas City Southern railroads. E. M. Tucker, chief architect for Missouri Pacific, designed the building with a track layout and overhead concourse reminiscent of the style he had used when rebuilding Little Rock Union Depot after a 1921 fire.

The present structure replaced an earlier Texarkana station on the same site, and was opened for business on April 17, 1930, with a large celebration and dedication held on May 12, 1930, according to Missouri Pacific Lines Magazine, June 1930. The station and the federal courthouse anchor the south and north ends of State Line Avenue, the dividing line between Arkansas and Texas. In 1876, Congress mandated that the Texarkana railroad station would straddle the state line, and the building has entrances and exits into both states. Missouri Pacific and Texas and Pacific, the two carriers with the most passenger trains serving Texarkana Union Station, were able to operate through the facility without a backup move. Kansas City Southern and Cotton Belt passenger trains both made back-up moves to access the station.

Provisions were made in the original station design for a restaurant, but as a result of the Great Depression, the only food service was provided by a snack bar and news stand.