Houston Amtrak Station

If you hate airports/​airplanes like me and want to try something new, try the Sunset Limited line via Amtrak from Houston to LA! It’s a 36 hour trip (yup you read that correctly — 2 nights with 1 full day in between) with multiple stops in San Antonio, Alpine, Deming, and other cities across the SW US – lots of small towns, rock, desert, hilly/​mountain-​like things and a beautiful sunset await you! The train leaves from Houston twice a week. I left on a Saturday night around 7pm and woke up in LA at 5am on Monday morning.
If you’re like me and have never done a cross-​country train trip like this before, here’s what to expect:
– you can pay for a rail fare which buys you a an assigned coach seat on the train OR you can opt to pay an additional fee to purchase a sleeper car. A sleeper car sleeps 2 but whether or not you’re traveling with another person, it’s a set fee for the whole car, which includes linen/​towel service as well as 4 full service meals in the dining car. The base rail fee was around $ 125-​ish and the sleeper car was around $ 500 extra on top of the rail fee.
– the sleeper car converts to beds at night but during the day is 2 really comfy big seats facing each other. A steward on the train is assigned to help you convert it the first time so you don’t feel like such a dummy.
– This is Amtrak. It is not a Harry Potter train, much to my sadness, so it’s not exactly nice or new. The amenities are similar to an airplane, with a tiny bathroom containing a tiny toilet with a deafening flush feature and a shower. The shower is actually not bad, hot water and pretty spacious. There are fresh linens, pillows, and towels everywhere on the train so grab them whenever you need em. The food was actually quite good, esp the breakfast… mmm! Everything you order at your meal is paid for with your ticket, so get everything you want. Except alcoholic beverages and tips — that comes out of pocket so bring some $ 1s/​$ 5s for tipping. 2 outlets inside each sleeper car. Cell phone service only in the big towns so don’t rely on it too much.
– Each person can bring a luggage with them and a personal item. Really I bet you could bring a lot more cause there’s no security check or anyone measuring your stuff before you get on the train. You literally go from having your ticket checked to stepping onto the train (it’s kind of odd actually, I was reflexively expecting a TSA officer to jump out and start snooping through my stuff). Most people kept all their luggage with them inside their sleeper car stuffed to the side of their chairs. There are also luggage racks outside the cars for larger things.
– Bring snacks and drinks with you! There’s a snack bar in the viewing car but it’s meh.
– The viewing car is packed. This is theoretically the best place to see the beautiful scenery from all sides of the train at once, but unless you want to squish in between two strangers, it’s probably not preferred. We spent our time hopping from our sleeping car to the empty one across from us to see all the scenery.
Would I take it again? Probably not. It was great for a bucket list sort of experience but the scenery wasn’t THAT breath-​taking (I’m more of a tree/​mountains kinda person) and the really beautiful parts (southern California) are passed through at night so you can’t even see it =(I think I’d do another long train ride again, but this time from Seattle down to LA… I heard the Pacific coastline is gorgeous and well worth it!

Went to Chicago IL from Houston Tx the only problem in the entire trip was the bus service Amtrak has assigned to Lone star coaches it is terrible ruin the whole trip literally, you got to take the bus which is really in poor condition with no leg space and unprofessional drivers who you gotta deal with for almost 4 hours that takes you to Longview tx and by then your legs and back sitting in cramped up seats gives up and you dont enjoy as much on the rest of the trip.
Now the train itself isnt that bad if you are travelling as a couple its best option to take bedroom as thats quite nice with your own private bathroom for shower, dinner and breakfast or lunch options are really great good food but its a hit or miss with the servers in dining as whn i was going i had really good time with Mr Ramon but on the was back the servers (dont rem the name) were horribly rude with everyone. I must say Amtrak for the amount of price they charge for tickets from passengers they must do really something towards both the bus service plus dining attendants (minus Mr Ramon)

It’s a sad little station for such a large metropolitan area. But maybe people don’t take the train much down here.
The station is clean, restroom as well. There’s a cool display on the back walls about train service in Texas through the years.
I can’t say I’d recommend this place, but you can’t avoid it either since it is the only option for arrivals and departures.
The connecting bus to Galveston was on time, clean, and had the most friendly driver (Pam) I’ve ever encountered.

About 4 years ago from Houston to Orlando station. My designation was originally was from Houston to Tampa the Amtrak conductor decided he wanted to be late on arrivals to each station in route to Tampa here where I live. The train was five hours late arriving to Houston Amtrack station plus he didn’t wait for the food that was suppose to be waiting for them in New Orleans the food was expensive especially breakfast, lunch and dinner don’t forget the snack area. The restrooms are small like you see on the airplanes I like the second story seats they were more comfortable than the seats below. If you do decide to go pick the second story seats and bring plenty of cash for food. When we finally arrived to the Orlando train station it was 5 days later than scheduled and we had to bus in to a different terminal. The choice is yours.
Over all cleainess of the train inside where the passengers sat was very clean and neat nothing to worry about. The passengers were nice and friendly some just wanted quietness to their designation.

One of the things I enjoy about traveling by train is stopping at quant little train stations along the way. Houston amtrak station is the exception. It looks like a 1975 Greyhound bus station. Bathroom was just yukky!
I was expecting much better for such a historic and wonderful city as Houston.

For the fourth largest city in America, our station is a pretty sad reflection of our status. But, I don’t blame Amtrak for it: in the heyday of rail travel, we used the gorgeous Beaux Arts-​style Union Station downtown. Now that it has been appended to the modern Minute Maid Park baseball stadium, there’s no chance that it will be returned to use as our rail platform.
Anyway, today’s station is little more than a parking lot with a small building next to the Houston Permit Center and close to the municipal courts and jail. It is served by the thrice-​weekly Sunset Limited, which runs from Los Angeles to New Orleans. Since Chicago is the major east-​west hub, you can take a daily bus to Longview and catch the «Texas Eagle» headed north to Chicago or switch in NOLA to the «City of New Orleans» train northbound or «Crescent» to Washington and New York.
Since I hadn’t been to NOLA since prior to Hurricane Katrina, I opted to join my friend (Soap Opera Dude) along the way. Since he lives/​works in Hollywood (hence the nickname), he was taking the Sunset Limited east — and I boarded at our local station. The inside of the station is very utilitarian: the check-​in counter, a few wooden pews, scuffed linoleum, and one small TV. I dared not go into the restroom so I don’t have a report on that for you — I do have limits, you know.
If you end up taking the train, be sure to bring valid and active ID: I witnessed one member of a party of 4 being denied check-​in by the local station agent since he only had expired ID to present at the ticket window. The agent was adamant in refusing his pleas, which was easily overheard since he had to beg through the small hole in the Plexi-​glass barrier. Don’t be that guy. (I ended up not seeing him on the train so he may have had to take the bus. But, he was wearing an ugly hipster hat so this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Meow.)
Since SOD had a roomette, he added me to the passenger manifest at no cost to me. My one-​way coach-​class return from NOLA cost me $ 39.75 under a special «Smart Fare» plan available on their website. The coach seats are very comfortable: by way of explanation, imagine a wide first-​class seat on an airplane, add footrests and cloth upholstery, a tray table twice the size, and add a curtain on the large window and you’ve got your coach-​class seat. There are only four seats per row and the conductor will assign you a full pair of seats if space allows. Some other tips:
1. You can bring up to 2 bags for free plus an added bag in the roomy overhead rack above your seat.
2. Cell phone calls should only be made in the lounge car to minimize noise in the coach car where people may want to nap — conductors are good about directing callers to take it to the lounge car.
3. The lounge car has the observation seats on the upper level while snacks can be bought on the first level — many patrons bring a stuffed backpack on board in order to avoid buying the overpriced items on board. There are no microwaves or refrigerators available to patrons so room temperature snacks are the key. If you buy a cold item in the lounge car, they will nuke it for you in the microwave as part of your purchase.
4. Bathrooms and handicapped seats are on the lower level of all cars, while regular seats and sleeping accommodations are on the upper level.
5. Another benefit of train travel is that one can roam from car-​to-​car to stretch one’s legs.
6. Smoking is allowed at announced major stops. Even the non-​smokers get off and wander the platform to get some fresh air, too.
An odd thing about train travel is that the train can arrive early at a station but cannot leave earlier than the posted time; of course, a train can arrive late at a stop but often makes up the time en route. Luckily, on Amtrak’s website, you can use the «Track a Train» feature to get real-​time updates of where your train is at any given moment to minimize waiting too long at the station.

Review of the station ONLY
Love the service but the station is really lacking. Hard places to sit, no food except for vending machines and the bathroom was horrendous. The train was amazing but the station would make we want to stay away.

I recently took my first train ride on Amtrak, The Sunset Limited, from downtown Houston to New Orleans and it was the best domestic traveling experience I have ever had.
Inexpensive; a one way ticket is $ 48 and the New Orleans station is less than a mile from the French Quarter.
Comfortable; No TSA groping sessions, coach seats are massive with tons of leg room. I did, however, spend most of my time in the observation car, but could have relaxed or taken a nap with no problem in my assigned coach seat.
Very entertaining; With the observation car, dinning car, bar, snack bar area and other interesting travelers, I was never bored and there was plenty to see and do on the 9 ½ hour journey.
Luggage; The amount you can bring is more than you need. You can bring bikes and some trains will let you bring you golf clubs as carry on. Depending on the route you take there may be a small charge (like 5 or 10 bucks) for your bike — check first.
Amtrak is an awesome way to travel and I am already planning my next trip from Houston to Chicago.