A newly refurbished Amtrak station was unveiled in Topeka last Friday. Although an editorial in the Topeka newspaper conceded that the situation at the station was improved, it also contended that the station “leaves something to be desired as a gateway into the city.”

The condition of their Amtrak stations apparently is something Topeka and Lawrence have in common – except that the Lawrence station hasn’t received even the cursory facelift that was being celebrated in Topeka last week.

The Lawrence station, located at 413 E. Seventh St., poses an uninviting – if not downright scary – entry into the city. It doesn’t help that most people leave and arrive at the station in the dead of night, but even in the daylight, the station isn’t much of a welcome.

Signs are faded, metal posts are corroded, and sidewalks around the building are crumbling. The doors are locked during the day and no one mans the station at night. The only “service” listed for the Lawrence station on Amtrak’s Web site is an “enclosed waiting area,” which consists of about a dozen shabby chairs.

The only passenger train that stops in Lawrence is the Southwest Chief, which goes back and forth from Chicago to Los Angeles. The westbound train stops in Lawrence at 12:32 a.m., an hour at which the depot can be an attractive hangout for some of Lawrence’s less savory characters. The eastbound train stops in Lawrence at 5:40 a.m., an hour that is a little less daunting, but the deserted station still wouldn’t give anyone a particularly secure feeling. There’s a parking lot outside the station, but it wouldn’t seem advisable to leave a vehicle there during an Amtrak journey.

According to Amtrak, more than 3,300 riders boarded or exited a passenger train at the Lawrence station last year, and overall ridership of the Southwest Chief has increased slightly. Higher gasoline prices might cause more people to consider the train, but it’s hard to imagine Amtrak making significant gains in this part of the country until its service and facilities are upgraded.

About five years ago, there was discussion about turning Lawrence’s Amtrak station into a local public transit hub that also would serve as the Greyhound bus station and connect with Lawrence’s T, but those plans fell by the wayside. Such upgrades are unlikely to occur until gasoline prices are much higher or other circumstances convince Americans to make more use of public transportation options, by which time all the public transportation systems will have to be virtually rebuilt because they have been allowed to deteriorate so severely.

Lawrence’s Amtrak station probably isn’t the worst stop on the Southwest Chief route, but its condition certainly is less than Lawrence should accept. Lawrence officials need to work with Amtrak officials to see that our depot gets at least the sort of cosmetic upgrades performed in Topeka.