The station was built in 1891 for the Northern Pacific Railway. It was remodeled in 1994 to allow buses to share the station, creating an intermodal facility.
Since 1981, when the westbound Empire Builder arrives in the middle of the night, the first six Superliner cars (five passenger cars, a diner and a baggage car) go to King Street Station in Seattle, while a single locomotive from Spokane takes the last four cars (the Sightseer Lounge, two coaches and a sleeper) to Portland Union Station. The eastbound trains join in Spokane in the middle of the night and run combined to Chicago Union Station. (The next eastbound stop is in Sandpoint, Idaho and the next westbound stops are in Ephrata, Washington for the Seattle section and Pasco, Washington for the Portland section.) In pre-Amtrak days, the Empire Builder split into Seattle and Portland sections at Spokane for most of the 1940s and 1950s.[5][6]
The station, parking lot, and passenger platform are owned by the City of Spokane. The tracks are owned by BNSF Railway.[7]
Notes
^As of October 6, 2013, the westbound trains (Routes 7 & 27) are scheduled to arrive together at 1:40 am and depart to Seattle (Route 7) at 2:15 am and to Portland (Route 27) at 2:45 am. The eastbound train from Portland (Route 28) is scheduled to arrive at 12:13 and the train from Seattle (Route 8) at 12:45 am. Both trains are scheduled to depart together at 1:30 am.[4]
