The Empire Builder originally stopped at the station from 1929 until 1971.

The concourse and the waiting room that extend over the tracks are viewed as a great architectural achievements. The railroads sought ways stem the flow of passengers and compete with these new forms of transportation. Numerous existing freight rail lines branch out from St. Paul Union Depot and could be upgraded and utilized by regional passenger trains. The Hiawatha had always been powered by a streamlined (or, in the terminology of the Milwaukee Road, "speedlined") steam locomotive. The Burlington Zephyrs were the first streamlined diesel-electric trains to serve the Twin Cities, and originally ran in an articulated configuration. Steve Glischinski, eyewitness account at depot on April 30, 1971. Burlington's diesel Zephyrs were also very fast, and they had to be—the Zephyr route was about 20 miles (32 km) longer than the competition. Outside featured numerous rail equipment, including Milwaukee Road 261 under steam with 4 passenger cars, Amtrak's Exhibit Train, Twin Cities and Western Railroad locomotive, Great Northern 325, a rare EMD SDP40 and Northern Pacific RPO #1102 from the Minnesota Transportation Museum, and Soo Line FP7a #2500. The light rail also serves this station as do long distance, regional, local, and commuter bus lines.
It’s a great space for craft fairs etc while taking in this historic building, Union Depot has a lovely European Christmas Market each December. If the hours are right, you may be able to take the enclosed above-ground skyway to other downtown destinations, though it appears an important section of this system is closed evenings and weekends. A property of Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority. [37][38], Prior to the station's reopening in December 2012, Josh Collins, a spokesperson for Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority, referred to the potential of the station to be "the living room of Saint Paul. We looked at the display cases with historical artifacts and art all around. Time dubbed the 400, "the fastest train scheduled on the American Continent, fastest in all the world on a stretch over 200 mi. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, BNSF Twin Cities Division Timetable No. [15][16][17], The first Amtrak train to service Saint Paul Union Depot was the westbound Empire Builder which stopped at the station at 11:30pm on May 7, 2014, 70 minutes late heading en route to Seattle and Portland. The waiting room stood atop nine platforms serving 18 tracks; the eight northern ones closest to the headhouse were stub-end tracks, while the other ten ran through. The event has become an annual tradition. [29] Track was laid from 2011–2012.