Original station The La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1858, followed by the St. Paul and Milwaukee in 1867. Through mergers, both became part of the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) by 1874. The 1858-built station was replaced by in 1878 by the Cameron House, a combined depot and hotel located near
downtown La Crosse. By 1910, La Crosse was served by six daily round trips on the Chicago–Milwaukee–Minneapolis corridor (including Chicago–
Tacoma and Chicago–
Miles City, Montana round trips), two La Crosse–
Savanna, Illinois round trips, one La Crosse–
Wessington Springs, South Dakota round trip, and one La Crosse–
Madison, South Dakota round trip. North La Crosse station, located at the junction of the mainline and the spur to downtown La Crosse, was served by some trips.
New station The Cameron House station was gutted by fire on December 24, 1916; a temporary station was constructed nearby. A decade of public debate followed about a potential
union station to serve all five railroads in La Crosse. The powerful Milwaukee Road insisted on a station in North La Crosse, away from the downtown area, to avoid the time-consuming backup move that crossed busy city streets. In 1925, the Milwaukee Road was given permission to construct its new station in North La Crosse, slightly east of the old North La Crosse station. By 1955, the station was served by one daily Chicago–Tacoma round trip (
Olympian Hiawatha), three daily Chicago–Minneapolis round trips (
Morning Hiawatha, Afternoon Hiawatha,
Pioneer Limited,
Fast Mail), one daily La Crosse–
Austin round trip, and a Minneapolis-to-Chicago local. Over the years, service gradually decreased as subsidies for automobile and air travel cut into the profitability of passenger rail. Service to Austin was eliminated in 1960, and post office mail contracts were cut in 1967. By October 1970, only the daily
Morning Hiawatha round trip plus the Minneapolis-to-Chicago
Fast Mail served La Crosse.
Amtrak era Amtrak took over intercity passenger service on May 1, 1971. Amtrak retained the
Burlington Northern Railroad's , but rerouted it between Minneapolis and Chicago, replacing the
Morning Hiawatha on a similar schedule. On November 14, 1971, Amtrak added a second daily Chicago–Minneapolis round trip. It ran between Chicago and Seattle three days a week as the
North Coast Hiawatha, and between Chicago and Minneapolis the other four days as the
Hiawatha. The
Hiawatha was renamed
Twin Cities Hiawatha on January 16, 1972, but returned to
Hiawatha on October 29; it shared the
North Coast Hiawatha name beginning in 1974. The
Empire Builder and
North Coast Hiawatha were combined east of Minneapolis in 1977, with the
Twin Cities Hiawatha operating daily. On April 30, 1978, the and
Twin Cities Hiawatha were merged to form the Chicago–Duluth . The
North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued on October 6, 1979, though the
Empire Builder continued to run. The
North Star was cut back to a Minneapolis–Duluth service in October 1981, leaving only the daily
Empire Builder serving La Crosse. service began on May 21, 2024. As part of the agreement to start
Borealis service, a new track will be added in the station area and the platform will be reconstructed closer to the station. As of early 2024, there were two tracks by the station, one mainline track next to the platform and one lead track for the yard northeast of the station. The new configuration will have two mainline tracks plus the yard lead. Construction for the new platform and other
ADA upgrades to the station are planned to be complete in Amtrak's fiscal year 2026 (after October 1, 2025). ==References==