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Why are there so many Union Stations in America?

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📓 The short answer

Many train stations in the United States are named Union Station because it was common for private railroad companies to collaborate on building a single shared terminal within a city in an effort to save money and make train travel more convenient for passengers.

📚 The long answer

If you've ever traveled by train in the United States, you've probably come through one of our many Union Stations.

There's a good reason for this common name (and it's not that Americans are simply uninspired when it comes to train station naming).

The name "Union Station" originated from the fact that these train stations were joint ventures of multiple private railroad companies that operated in the same city. Rather than have each railroad company build and run through its own terminals in different spots in a city, these companies decided to come together to build a central station to save money and make train travel more convenient for passengers.

Indianapolis boasts the world's first Union Station, which opened in 1853. Four companies – the Peru and Indianapolis Railroad Company, Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad Company, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company, and Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad Company – worked together to build the innovative station and connect the tracks.

The popularity of these Union Stations grew throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In total, there have been 106 railway stations in the United States that have ever used the name "Union Station." Our friend to the north, Canada, also seemingly jumped on the trend and has had five Union Stations of its own.

However, many of these Union Stations are either no longer in existence or no longer serve as train stations, as automobile and airline travel became more popular and siphoned off much of the demand for trains.

Are Union Stations only found in the United States?

No, other countries do have similar stations, but they're far more common in the United States. In European and Asian countries, these types of stations are more often called joint stations, joint-use stations, or common stations.

While many non-American countries have a history of nationalized rail (i.e. the government owns and operates the trains and railroads), there have been periods of time when multiple private railroads have existed and thus created the need for a joint station.

For example, in Brno, Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), a "společné nádraží" (common station) was built before the government nationalized the rail system.

There are also "joint stations" in places near borders where two state-owned railroad companies meet. But it's the United States, with its long history of a private railroad industry, that overwhelmingly has had the most Union Stations.

🧠 Bonus brain points

Why isn't the United States rail system nationalized?

This question came to my mind as I was doing research for this week's newsletter. So I ended up jotting down a lot of notes trying to explain the lack of nationalized rail in America, but it became very long and a little all over the place. So, I'll leave it to you, dear reader...

--- Thanks for reading this week's newsletter! If you have any thoughts, questions, or favorite GIFs, my inbox is always open. Just hit reply to send me a note! :) ​ All my best, Caitlin ​Click here to read five facts about Caitlin​

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​Sources for this week's newsletter​

📖 Book of the week

​The Art of Mindful Living: How to Bring Love, Compassion, and Inner Peace Into Your Daily Life​ by Thich Nhat Hanh​

Thich Nhat Hanh was teacher of meditation gifted in his ability to share lessons about the topic of mindfulness with simplicity, warmth, and even a touch of humor. Mindfulness has personally allowed me to bring more peace and richness to my life experience, and I genuinely enjoyed listening to this series of talks by Thich Nhat Hanh. My favorite moment in this audiobook was the instruction given on how to have the best hug of your life. We all deserve that type of hug.

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​Check out the full list of books I've recommended here.

👀 Catch up on other curious questions

• ​Why does America use a MM/DD/YY date format?​​
• ​How are magnets manufactured?​​
• ​Why do dogs stick their head out the window?​​

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