The Sanford station was built along tracks originally laid down by the
Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad, which was acquired by the
Plant System, and later by the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL). Sanford's ACL Depot, however, was built along the tracks used by the
South Florida Railroad, which was also acquired by the Plant System and later acquired by ACL. The original station was built by the ACL in 1913, and a new modern station replaced the original depot in 1953. As with many ACL Depots, it became a
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad station when the ACL merged with the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1967. Like most passenger stations, it was acquired by Amtrak upon its inception in April 1971. In December of that same year, the
Auto-Train Corporation built a terminal for its operations nearby. Auto-Train took passengers and their cars and other vehicles to
Lorton, Virginia, and later
Louisville, Kentucky. Lack of success from the Louisville expansion, high crew costs and several accidents threw the company into bankruptcy, and Auto-Train Corporation was forced to end its services in late April 1981. Amtrak acquired
Auto Train in 1983, and still operates this service between Sanford and Lorton today. In its waning years, the former ACL depot served the
Silver Star,
Silver Meteor, and
Sunset Limited until Amtrak closed the station on August 1, 2005, leaving Auto Train as the only passenger service to serve Sanford. The abandoned 1953-era ACL station deteriorated through the years and was eventually demolished in 2009. In the meantime, the
Central Florida Commuter Rail agency vowed to return passenger service to Sanford, and on May 1, 2014, the Sanford SunRail station was opened to the public. There is a trolley-replica bus between the station and Downtown Sanford. ==References==