No visit to LA is complete without a visit to the stunning and historic Los Angeles Union Station.

It was opened in 1939 and was the first time one major station had been opened to serve the major rail routes and companies heading into Los Angeles. At the time, these were the Union Pacific, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific railroads. The new station took was built to replace La Grande Station and Central Station, and (sadly) it was the last grand railroad station to be built in America.

The station was designed by John and Donald B. Parkinson in a mix of Art Deco and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The station retains a large number of its original fixtures, and the hall with the original ticket selling counters is absolutely stunning. The station has courtyards and gardens in which to wait in. The tile patterns are suitable vintage, and the marble inlay floor has dips and valleys where years of use has worn away at the stone. Vintage seats still wait for travellers to rest in (these are actually the only seats available!)

The train station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The main hall:

The old ticket hall, which is currently roped off from public use:

The speakers for the travel announcements!

Seats for waiting for trains – for ticketed passengers only.

Looking up to the platforms:

The plaque for the station being on the historic register:

Shots from the exterior: