Date of travel: September 8, 2025 Disappointing Experience at the Albuquerque Train Station As a tourist traveling from a long distance, I expected the station to feel more welcoming. Unfortunately, it did not. The security guard appeared to be controlling access to the lobby in a way that made it feel closed off and uninviting. A train station should be a public space where travelers--especially out-of-town visitors--can wait comfortably for their bus, train, or car service. Albuquerque has the potential to be a more tourist-friendly city, but experiences like this can leave a bad impression. I hope changes are made to ensure the station is more open and welcoming in the future. read more

Yikes. Grateful I didn't have to spend much time here...?! It shares a lot with greyhound and the local metro buses in case you're transferring. read more

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A large station that is right next to the local transit, Amtrak Albuquerque is one of the main stops on the Southwest Chief train line connecting Los Angeles and Chicago. It is a maintenance stop, so we were here for 35 minutes, allowing me enough time to explore the nearby downtown area. It was fairly dead on a Tuesday in February, but there were a few vendors expecting tourists from the train. The greyhound station is here as well and the local transit main hub is right next door. As part of maintenance, workers were cleaning the outside of the windows and refreshing the water supply as well. With a grocery store close by, many of the passengers used the opportunity to get some food and souvenirs. read more

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The security at this station is a joke. The security guard on duty made a big deal about an extra personal item I had with me, which was my food and medication. I was going to be boarding a 15 hour train ride. I had to smash everything into one of my luggage's just so he would let me pass the rope. I then removed the bags from my luggage. Went and spoke with an Amtrak employee and they said I was good to get on the train. The security guards at this station aren't even employed with Amtrak. The security guard was even making comments about the Amtrak employees not doing their job. I would hate to have an employee bad mouthing other employees from a company that are supposed to be working together. read more

While station is open, shares space with greyhound unable to wait inside for over an hour as they only 'open' for Amtrak customers at 10am. As I am from out of town and was dropped off by the rental car company I have no choice but to wait outside. Traveling alone this is very frustrating. Grateful it is daylight. I one from a smaller city with an unstaffed Amtrak station which also shares space with the buses. They open the doors at 8 for everyone. read more

Postcard from 2012. Albuquerque doesn't have a train station anymore. It has a 'transportation center' that the trains and the buses share. A Greyhound/Amtrak station, which I figure is the result of the same economic logic that created KFC/Taco Bell, or Long John Silver's/Arby's. Albuquerque used to have a real train station: the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Depot built in 1902. It was a Mission Revival showplace with a red tile roof and a big bell tower. A station of some consequence that made your own train trip feel consequential, too. Good architecture can do that, while bad architecture does the reverse: it makes you and whatever it is you're doing feel inconsequential and sort of pathetic. The old Santa Fe station burned down in the early 1990's, and Amtrak decamped to a little shack that sat along the tracks. I passed through Albuquerque a few times back in those days and spent plenty of time sitting in that little shack wondering how my life had gone so wrong. The train shack must have embarrassed the local bigwigs, because they finally found the cash to build the Alvarado Transportation Center, a stripped down, soulless knockoff of the original Mission Revival station. The train shack was pretty awful, but at least Amtrak didn't have to share it with Greyhound the way it does now. Greyhound is a bad roommate. The kind that hates your friends and eats your breakfast cereal and never does the dishes. Maybe the city officials who mashed up the train station and the bus station hoped Amtrak would be a good influence on Greyhound. You know, help it clean up its act and maybe get a real job. But from the look of things, I'm not sure the plan is working. My last visit here, the Southwest Chief shows up on time so everyone is in a good mood when I climb aboard. I find a seat in the lounge car and watch New Mexico slowly fade into Colorado, like a slow dissolve in an old Western movie. The landscape flies by: scrub brush, cacti, and rusted-out car chassis. "I've never seen so many trashed cars in my life!" the lady sitting next to me says, sounding appalled. I smile sympathetically. She's obviously a rookie. A novice Amtrak rider. If you ride the train in the U.S. a few times, you'll see plenty of trashed cars. You'll see the burnt out shells of buildings and mountains of discarded tires and mile-long tent cities. That's the America that the railroad tracks travel through. The country you're not supposed to see. The backside where things get piled up and stashed and discarded. read more

Got into albuquerque on the amtrak, have a 12 hour wait for a bus and was told we cannot wait inside. Would have been nice to know ahead if time that they wouldn't allow people to wait inside. Could have planned somewhere to stay and wait ahead of time. Horrible read more

Attention has been given to both the history and the architecture of the Albuquerque Station which was once the Harvey House Complex known as "The Alvarado". The Alvarado Transportation Center is located downtown Albuquerque along the historic Route 66. read more

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The great thing about the transit area is that you have read access to Amtrak, Railrunner, Greyhound, and local bus lines all in one area. The series of building are all well done. The challenging thing is that the area also has a high number of panhandlers in the area. Not the best welcome to the city for travelers. read more

If I could give a review with zero stars Amtrak would receive it. Do yourself a favor and NEVER EVER travel with Amtrak. They have no concern for their passengers and they wonder why people don't use them. Delays are the only thing you are guaranteed to experience. Not a delay of 1 or even 2 hours. Oh no delays anywhere from 3 to 8 hours are the NORM. Completely unacceptable. What's worse is that not one employee cares. It's like oh well it is what it is. Take a plane, rent a car or drive with a group, It would be more enjoyable and especially more timely than waiting on another extremely delayed train. read more

I was scheduled to fly from my home in Pittsburgh, PA to Albuquerque, NM around the middle of September 2001. As I stood watching the television screen, along with a number of others that early September morn, I knew that I wasn't getting on a plane in a couple of days. As I watched the Twin Towers go up in flames and then collapse, I was unsure if I would ever get on a plane again. As I watched the plane crash* in the PA field not too far from where I stood, I knew that life - for all of us - would never be the same again. Even later, when the 1st planes were granted permission to fly back to their home base, I knew that hopping a plane for a weekend jaunt to visit friends & family - if ever I had courage to do so again - would become a major security nightmare. Even as I learned that one of my cousins, a commercial pilot at the time, was the 1st pilot allowed out of La Guardia, I knew that my world had totally changed. It had been many years since I'd been on a train, but I had loved traveling by train in the past. So I called Amtrak. Booked a two-day train trip to Albuquerque. . . and back. Bought two new books. Packed a bag of snacks. I'd heard that they no longer had a dining car. It was a two-day & night trip to ABQ by train. I was prepared. Wow! I loved the trip! It was slow I grant you that. Not the couple hours that the plane would have taken. Stop and start. Stop and start. Stop and start. But I got up from my seat, walked the train, had a drink in the bar, watched the moonlight from the observation car, ate breakfast at sunrise in the dining car, slept to the murmur of the train tracks, talked to some really nice folks, read both my books, watched a movie, bought snacks, took naps, watched the incredible North American landscape pass by, and shared "where we were" stories with other passengers. It was a great time. Yes, I lost a couple of days of visiting (on both ends), but I arrived relaxed and rested. I had read two books and watched the sunrise and sunset - twice. Riding the Amtrak train put life back in perspective for me. I knew that we would never be the same. It was a wake-up call that none of us could ignore. But I also knew that I had learned that I needed to slow down, enjoy the scenery of life and living each day. Take the rush out of my life. Yes, I am back to flying again, but I still take the train every now and then to remind me to slow my life down. * I love the big sleeper seats, rather than squeezing into tiny plane seats. * I love walking as the train rumbles down a mountain pass. * I love eating a full meal with china, silver and a glass of wine. * I love watching the sun rise . . . . and set from a moving train. Take a deep breath, relax . . . ride the train. See America from a train window! * live, on local tv UPDATE: Celebrate National Train Day on May 10th! read more

Having spent a very short amount of time here, I can only write about my initial impression. On a recent Amtrak trip through New Mexico, we were able to get off the train at this station for about an hour. For most of the stop we stayed outside along the train tracks. There were a few tables set up with Native American crafts to buy. Before leaving we walked through the station and out the front entrance. Inside the station was busy. The bathrooms were ok-clean. The lobby was nice. There were some vending machines and seating. But once outside the entrance, the grounds were a unkept and dirty. There were several loiterers hanging around that made us feel uncomfortable. Next time through this station we will stay close to the train and avoid going into the station. read more

well we stop here to stretch our legs from hours in the train from chicago to Arizona they just have one place little vendor fast food read more

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Prices in snack cart extremely outrageous.. 2.25 for a water bottle SMH. I felt robbed. I'll definitely remember to always bring my own snacks & water & I recommend everyone else does as well read more

Worst way to travel anywhere. If you have time to spare and don't have a life, go for it. They don't even give you a stupid coffee or water for the inconvenience. I know that they don't control the situation but they do charge you the same anyway. read more

Well, I can't believe this AmTrak stop has such a bad rep. I mean, yeah... I'm also giving it 2 stars, but you'd think someone had a pretty decent time here considering all the stops overs made here. Anywho, I do like the fact that there are vendors alongside the tracks so tourists, like myself, can peruse all the little New Mexico goodies. They also have restrooms, plenty of seating, and a little concession area if needed even though it may not be considered the best of the best. This Albuquerque station wouldn't be half bad if there was ample security, standards/protocol of some sort, cleaner grounds, and potentially a source of entertainment by means of arcade, TV, elevator music, or something along that line. If any of those are currently present, then I must have missed it as I hurried out the front to check out the surrounding area during each visit. read more

Three hour delay! Sounds bad...but it was because of a tornado at an earlier section of the route (so..really unavoidable). I had over 16 hours of travel ahead of me, including two transfers. Had this been a plane, I would have been stranded somewhere, because it was the train they rescheduled everything and all went smoothly. As far the Albuquerque stop...yeah it's not glamorous, but it also isn't as crazy and maze-like in the way the L.A. Union stop is! read more

We have been traveling via the Southwest Chief between Fullerton, CA and ABQ for the past 7 years. The ABQ Amtrak station is great. It is now being remodeled, but we expect it to be even better because of the upgrades. I read negative comments about the remodeling, my opinion is that the changes will make it even better. The station is staffed with friendly and courteous employees who make every trip positive. Thank you to each of them! read more

En route on many Southwest Amtrak routes, an extended stop will be made here in Albuquerque. There is a man who sells burritos from his converted bus, they are delicious-- especially after you have been eating Amtrak's snack bar food for nearly a day! There are other vendors around selling tribal jewelry, etc... read more

A fantastic staff and station. And a lot of history. And all transportation needs are accommodated. In one place.

The staff here were very helpful and called me to make sure I Transfered ( free of charge ) . Keep up the good work . Thank you for being good hardworking people . Much appretiated . read more

We took the train from Anaheim, CA to Albuquerque, NM for the Balloon Festival this year. The ride from Anaheim went very smoothly. The train was a little cold and food was Microwaved. The ride back was completely different. We had to drop off or Rented car early, so we got to the train station at 1:00. We got our tickets and tried to check baggage. My wife's bag was 48.5 pounds and the top handle was broken. The Anaheim Station had accepted the bag, but the "luggage Nazi" lady in Albuquerque wouldn't accept the bag. I offered to load the bag myself, but she said no. So we had to lug the bag around the Train Station for 5 1/2 hours. On top of that, the train was 3 hours late. When the train finally arrived, we were promised seats near each other (there was 4 of us), but 2 of the seats were occupied, so we were stuck in different cars. I had always wanted to take a train, now I have and won't do it again. read more

Ladies, don't count on peeing there. You may have to wait in a long line since there is remodeling and the ladies room if offline. They do have a one seater if you can stand the wait. Meanwhile, the men are breezing in and out of their restroom. How hard would it be to allow the ladies to use the men's and give the men the one seater? Brains, anyone? Plus the sign to the ladies room is pointing in the exact opposite direction of the actual one seater, so again, brains anyone? read more

This train station is very unique with the Native American jewelry and blankets, ect.... the list can go on..... Beautiful art work through out this Train Station!!!! read more

Someone tried to give me poisoned candy in the men's restroom. Other than that, the breakfast was good, but a very quiet and uncomfortable place. I wouldn't recommend staying here for a long time. read more