The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) opened its own north–south line through Petersburg in 1900, crossing the Appomattox River on a high bridge. The SAL had a passenger station at Dunlop Street for through trains, and terminating passenger and freight stations at Market Street on a spur line.[3] The SAL never used Union Station; the Dunlop Street station was replaced with a brick station near Bluefield Street in 1944.
In 1909–10, the N&W constructed Union Station at the junction with the ACL near Third Street.[2] It allowed riders to transfer between the Norfolk–Cincinnati trains - the Cavalier,Pocahontas and Powhatan Arrow - and ACL Florida–New York trains. The ACL moved to a new station in Ettrick on a western bypass route in 1955, leaving only the N&W at Union Station.
When Amtrak took over intercity passenger service on May 1, 1971, east–west service on the N&W was discontinued, while north–south service continued to use the Ettrick station. From 1975 to 1977, Amtrak operated the Norfolk-Cincinnati Mountaineer, with a stop at Union Station[4] The Hilltopper, which replaced the Mountaineer and ran until 1979, used a station located slightly to the west at Fleet Street instead.
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