Amtrak Wilmington Station gets Brunel Award

Recognized for design excellence, Amtrak’s historic Wilmington, Del., rail station on the Northeast Corridor was honored in Washington Friday at the 2011 Brunel Awards International Railway Design Competition.

Amtrak also was recognized with a Brunel Commendation for the Superliner I Coach Overhaul completed by its in-house Mechanical Department. This project involved restoring stored or wrecked train cars and returning them to service.

The Wilmington station renovation was recognized for balancing the need to modernize the station while retaining its historic features and feel. Amtrak notes the project included detailed restoration to various parts of the station including the grand staircase located in the lobby and the historic men’s and women’s waiting rooms on the second floor of the station. It also provided for a new passenger information display system and enhancements to the station’s accessibility to people with disabilities.

Built in 1907, Wilmington Station, rededicated last March as the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station, is Amtrak’s 12th busiest , and is also used by SEPTA and Delaware Transit Corp. services.

The Brunel Awards competition recognizes and promotes the best in railway architecture, engineering, landscape and environmental design, product design, locomotive and car design, graphic arts and corporate branding amongst railways from Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Association of American Railroads and International Union of Railways (UIC) hosted the awards ceremony.