It's a new day for train travel in Washington, D.C. After years of legal disputes, Amtrak won control over Union Station on Friday, July 26, following a court ruling. As of Monday, the train company now runs Union Station, thanks to an eminent domain lawsuit filed in 2022.
Very good news for rail travelers on Amtrak's 220 trains which pass through the terminal daily may be ahead.
With Amtrak in charge, the transit company can plan and initiate improvements to the passenger experience, including making boarding more efficient.
“There are some very basic things that could change on Day 1,” Roger Harris, Amtrak’s president, told The Washington Post. “The queuing for [Amtrak trains] is very crunched up, and where we might have hundreds of people waiting, we now have more space in which to queue customers.”
Lines may look different, hopefully, better, by the Monday evening commute home, but Amtrak is still waiting on a final purchase price for Union Station. The company originally proposed $250 million for the 200-acre transportation hub, but Union Station Investco (USI), the current owner of the station, needs to agree on the selling price.
Once the deal is official, Amtrak will have a proposal of $8.8 billion to improve all of Union Station. The project would take over a decade, and include revamps of public spaces, like restrooms, add a new bus station, plus pick-up and drop-off area in an underground garage, new modernized tracks, platforms, and boarding areas, all while preserving the historic train hall. To finish by an estimated 2040, the Union Station Expansion Project would need to start by 2027.
With Amtrak's massive $2.7 billion bridge project just breaking ground in nearby Maryland, we'll see how much more the rail company will take on in the Northeast Corridor this decade.