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Union
Station
Union Station is ranked as one of the 11 most beautiful train stations in the nation by a national publication. Its Beaux Arts façade was completed in 1914, after a fire in 1894 destroyed the original building. The Denver Union Depot, predecessor of Union Station, opened in 1881 on what had been a duck pond on the outskirts of the city. It was the largest train depot west of the Mississippi and also was the largest, most massive building in the west. “Union” meant the unification of railways, and, at its peak, up to 100 trains ran through the station. After a $1 billion investment, a re-made Union Station opened in 2014, part of a national-model regional transit center, unifying buses and light rail to all points in the metropolis. The station has eight Amtrak and three light rail tracks. Underground there is a 22-gate bus concourse lit by skylights. The station’s most striking features are its distinctive train shed canopy, its exposed Great Hall (with 11 steel arches), a boutique hotel, restaurants, shops, bars, and over