Greyhound bus station in Downtown Fresno moving next to Amtrak station

Friday, June 5, 2015

Fresno's Greyhound bus station moving next to Amtrak station

Bus and train service will soon be in one place in Downtown Fresno.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Greyhound bus station at Broadway and H streets in Downtown Fresno is where the proposed new high-speed rail station will be built.

"Right here we are on the station area site, so eventually the station will be designed and planned on this area right here," said Elizabeth Jonasson with the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

So the High-Speed Rail Authority and the city of Fresno arranged moving Greyhound about half a mile east to the historic Santa Fe Depot. The city council approved negotiating a lease deal with Greyhound this week.

"With Greyhound's relocation to the Santa Fe Depot, it will be a true, multi-modal transportation facility with services provided by FAX, Greyhound and Amtrak," said Deputy Fresno City Manager Wilma Quan Schecter.

Greyhound's ticket office and waiting area will be separate from Amtrak, in the now vacant front part of the building on Tulare Street.

Built in 1899 and restored in 2005, the Santa Fe Depot is on the national register of historic places and once again a key part of Downtown Fresno.

"It's a great part of our revitalization efforts," said Schecter.

Tentative plans call for Greyhound to make the move in the fall. Demolition of the old Greyhound terminal will follow. Plans for the new high-speed rail station are still being worked out.

"We are definitely moving forward and the city is also moving forward in their planning process for what the station area is going to look like eventually and how it's going to connect all the different modes of transportation here in downtown," said Jonasson.

In addition to Greyhound, FAX and Amtrak, the Santa Fe Depot has just started serving the YARTS bus service to Yosemite National Park.

Greyhound is moving its maintenance facility out of town and will have no more than three buses parked here at any one time.

The city council approved negotiating a 10-year lease with the bus line, with one out: they can leave early in order to move closer to the high-speed rail terminal when it is built.