Grand Junction, CO (GJT)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2008

$2,458,991

Station Ridership

FY 2008

28,302

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Amtrak's current facility, originally built in the 1970s as a restaurant, is constructed of cinder blocks and wood. The building owner, Geoff Leany, has recently begun renovations by replacing or improving flooring, bathrooms, applying stucco to the back wall, installing new railings, and putting granite countertops at the ticket counter.

Amtrak's operations in Grand Junction moved to this commercial building next door to the original station in 1992 as a result of the historic station's decaying condition. That historical station, a buff brick structure designed in the French Renaissance style, opened around the turn of the century under the ownership of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.

Using funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Colorado Historical Society, the station's owner managed to replace the red tile roof with materials made by the original tile manufacturer. The former station will soon include a restaurant.

Grand Junction is named for its location at the junction of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. The Colorado River, originally known as the Grand River, gives the city the other part of its name. Originally inhabited by the Ute Indians, farmers began to settle the area in the 1880s. For it initial 80 years, the town subsisted mainly on farming and cattle, though it was rumored to sit near large oil deposits. With the oil embargoes of the 1960s, the city was made a center of the oil industry and profited throughout the next two decades due to rising oil costs and the business in oil shale.

Grand Junction is the gateway to the Mesa Verde National Park, the Colorado National Monument and Grand Mesa National Forest. The Dinosaur Journey Museum also provides entertainment for the younger tourists.

This facility has a waiting room and is staffed by an Amtrak employee.

Grand Junction is served by two daily trains.