Beaumont, TX (BMT)

2555 West Cedar Street
Beaumont, TX 77704

Station Hours

Annual Ticket Revenue (FY 2023): $181,770
Annual Station Ridership (FY 2023): 2,351

• Ownerships
• Routes Served
• Contact
• Local Community Links

• Facility Ownership: City of Beaumont
• Parking Lot Ownership: City of Beaumont
• Platform Ownership: Union Pacific Railroad
• Track Ownership: Union Pacific Railroad

• Sunset Limited

Todd Stennis
Regional Contact
governmentaffairsnol@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

• City of Beaumont
• Art Museum of Southeast Texas
• Beaumont Botanical Gardens

In early 2012, a new shelter station opened at Beaumont to replace the remaining concrete slab of the former Missouri Pacific depot. Until 2005, passengers had used the modular metal structure, but it was torn down after sustaining damage during Hurricane Rita. Although city officials wanted to construct the new station in a location closer to downtown, this move was not feasible. The presence of an interlocking, wye and other railroad infrastructure precluded the desired relocation into the downtown area.

Developed by d+A design+Architecture, LLC of Yardley, Pa., the new shelter station design was inspired by historic late 19th and early 20th century depots found in small towns across the nation. Composed primarily of rich red brick, the structure has an enclosed, one-story waiting room with large windows that not only keep out the wind, but also allow ample sunlight to flood and brighten the space. On the principal facades facing the street and the tracks, the waiting room is marked by stylized projecting bays with deep eaves. Recessed canopies, supported by squared posts sporting curved brackets, flank the waiting room and visually expand the shelter’s presence along the tracks.

A 550-foot long concrete platform with tactile edging was also installed, as were improved signage and light standards. The $1.25 million project was funded through Amtrak’s Mobility First initiative under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Travelers with an eye for detail and knowledge of the Amtrak system might notice that the structure is a close cousin to those that were built during the same period along the route of the Floridian in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, as well as along the route of the California Zephyr in Winnemucca, Nev.

Prior to the construction of the new station, an agreement was reached between the city, Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak for the city to acquire the property where the station is located for further development. Beaumont purchased the 4.6 acre site from the Union Pacific Railroad for $281,915 with the idea of improving the immediate area and constructing a new police substation that will also contain public restrooms for passengers. In January 2012, the Beaumont City Council approved $289,000 for this project. The proposed structure will mirror the nearby shelter station through the use of similar materials, such as red brick. The city also plans to repave the Cedar Street approach to the station and explore additional options for accessing the property.

Beaumont was laid out in 1835 when Henry Millard of New Orleans arrived and purchased 50 acres of land on the Tevis Bluff along the Neches River. By 1861, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO) had completed its line between Houston and Beaumont, but it was severely damaged during the Civil War and did not fully reopen until 1876. The war hindered local development, but the revival and expansion of the railroads in the 1870s and 1880s helped foster the lumber industry which quickly came to dominate Beaumont. The T&NO was soon absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad. Before the close of the century, the Kansas City Southern Railway had also made its way through Beaumont to connect Kansas City with the newly established Port Arthur on the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the lumber industry paled in comparison to the discovery of oil. On January 10, 1901, the first gusher erupted on Spindletop Hill. By April 1901, there were six wells, and Spindletop’s production was far greater than anywhere in the world—Beaumont had become an oil boomtown. At the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, visitors may explore a recreated early 20th century oil town with numerous structures including a saloon, post office and—of course—oil derricks.

Today, Beaumont is a major marine center with a sizable ship and barge building industry and continues to host a large concentration of oil refineries. Cultural attractions include the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and the Beaumont Botanical Gardens. One of the greatest swing trumpeters of all time, Harry James, spent his childhood years in Beaumont, and country crooner George Jones was also born in the area.

Platform with Shelter