When it opened on March 1, 1978, Midway station replaced
Minneapolis Great Northern Depot as the sole intercity station in the Twin Cities. Amtrak had opted to consolidate all of its Twin Cities services in Minneapolis when it began operation in 1971, shuttering the
Saint Paul Union Depot. The Great Northern Depot was later demolished. '' at Midway station, May 2011 The primary rail service at this station for most of its existence was the
Empire Builder, named to honor Saint Paul-based mogul
James J. Hill who constructed the
Great Northern Railway, and whose nickname was "The Empire Builder". Westbound trains head for
Spokane, Washington (and then split before continuing on to either
Seattle, Washington or
Portland, Oregon) while eastbound trains head for Chicago. There were several intermittent stops between. The next westbound stop for the
Empire Builder was in
St. Cloud and the next eastbound stop was in
Red Wing, both in Minnesota. About one-eighth of
Empire Builder passengers boarded or arrived at this station. After opening in 1978, the station briefly served the
North Coast Hiawatha until that service ended in 1979. The
North Coast Hiawatha ran three times per week from Chicago to Seattle with the next westbound stop having also been in St. Cloud and the next eastbound stop having also been in Red Wing. The station was also served by the
North Star with services to Chicago and
Duluth, with the stop having been in
Cambridge, Minnesota and the next southbound stop having been in Red Wing until serviced was truncated from Chicago to this station in 1981. After the
North Star was discontinued in 1985, Amtrak continued service to Duluth with its
Amtrak Thruway service until 2022. On May 7, 2014, Amtrak moved its Twin Cities-area stop to the renovated and reopened Saint Paul Union Depot. After a short time of Midway station being closed to the public, but still serving as a service stop for the
Empire Builder, the building was abandoned, ending up on St. Paul's vacant property listings.
Future As part of the
TCMC project (the
Borealis service) the station was noted as being a potential improvement if deemed necessary by Amtrak. Under the proposal the station would be converted to a
layover facility, serving as a crew base, light equipment servicing, cleaning, and kitchen. The
Borealis started service on May 21, 2024 without using the station. ==Gallery==