Quincy station (Amtrak)

The Quincy and Chicago Railroad opened a line from Quincy to Galesburg, Illinois, on January 31, 1856. It was soon operated as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), forming a line between Quincy and Chicago, and was consolidated with the CB&Q in 1865.^{[2]: 6–7 [3]: 292} The CB&Q, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad opened a bridge across the Mississippi River between Quincy and West Quincy, Missouri, on November 9, 1868.^[2]: 9 In 1897–1898, the CB&Q reconstructed the Mississippi River bridge. A second "lower" bridge, south of the main bridge, was added over Quincy Bay on the east side of the river; this formed a loop which allowed through passenger trains to serve Quincy without reversing direction.^{[4][5][3]: 506} The next year, the CB&Q opened a new station at Second Street and Oak Street.^[6]

In September 1945, the CB&Q proposed to close Quincy station; a new "station" with no rails would be built in downtown Quincy, with a bus connection to a waiting room and platform in West Quincy.^[7][8] The move was expected to reduce running times – as well as to reduce the company's taxes by being outside Quincy city limits.^[9] Objections from city officials initially led the CB&Q to drop the plan, but it was brought back in early 1946.^[10]

In November 1952, the CB&Q announced plans to eliminate the time-consuming detour through downtown Quincy, as had been proposed in 1945. Passenger trains would use the main bridge rather than the "lower" bridge; a new station at West Quincy would replace the existing Quincy station. ^[11][12] The change was expected to save 20–30 minutes over the old Quincy routing. On February 1, 1953, West Quincy station replaced Quincy as the city's train station.^[13] The former station was demolished in 1962. CB&Q service to West Quincy lasted until May 1971; Amtrak service began that November with the Illinois Zephyr.^[6]

On April 24, 1983, Amtrak opened a station at 24th Street in Quincy because the low-lying West Quincy location was prone to flooding from the Mississippi River.^{[6][14]: 252 [15]: 138  [16]} The station was later relocated to 30th Street; a permanent station building opened there on December 12, 1985.^[14]: 252 It was modeled after early-20th-century streetcar stations.^[6] West Quincy station closed on July 10, 1993, during the Great Flood of 1993; it was heavily damaged by the floods and never reopened.^[17][18]

The city received $6 million in 2010 to build a new intermodal terminal closer to downtown. In addition to serving as an Amtrak station, it would become the city's Burlington Trailways station and a transfer hub for Quincy Transit Lines.^[19] Initial plans favored a site near 2nd Street and Oak Street – the site of the city's 1899–1953 train station.^[20]