Photo by Eric Greaux
True high-speed rail along the Northeast Corridor might be at least another 20 or 30 years off, but a better Union Station could be coming much sooner. The Post reports today that Amtrak is set to propose a $7 billion plan to overhaul and expand Union Station with the goal of tripling its passenger capacity and dedicating new tracks to high-speed service.
The plan, set to be unveiled this afternoon by federal and District officials, along with representatives from the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation and Akridge, would double the number of trains the station can handle and renovate parts of the station that date back to its 1907 opening.
Perhaps the biggest proposed addition to the station is a subterranean departure point with new tracks and passenger amenities like shopping and dining, “all of which would enjoy natural light from a 50-foot-wide, 100-foot-long glass-encased main concourse,” the Post reports.
And then there’s Burnham Place, Akridge’s planned development that would be constructed over Amtrak’s tracks behind Union Station. The 3 million-square-foot site calls for 1.5 million square feet of office space, 1,300 residential units, a 500-room hotel and 100,000 square feet of retail.
While Amtrak’s ambitious proposal would give Union Station the upgrades the Beaux-Arts colossus badly needs, the price tag still needs some buyers. Rail service has not been a popular topic for federal spending lately, with House Republicans preferring to spend the measly $54 billion surface transportation budget on bridge and highway repairs.
Perhaps that’s why Amtrak, the Post reports, hasn’t said much about where the $7 billion for the massive renovation project will come from.
But the construction project could begin as soon as next year, with the first spot targeted for a face-lift would be the dreaded Concourse A, Amtrak’s main platform where all day, every day, passengers queue up on long, snaking lines that clog corridors and impede foot traffic en route to other parts of the station. That phase, the Post reports, would cost between $200 and $300 million with an expected completion date of 2017.
Of course, maybe the trickiest thing facing any construction project at Union Station is navigating the many agencies and corporations with jurisdiction. In her Washington City Paper cover story last December on Union Station’s woes, Lydia DePillis brought up the difficult process of finding approval for a $7.8 million upgrade to Columbus Plaza in 2006:
Columbus Plaza is no man’s land, and everyone’s. Owned by the National Park Service, it also falls within the purview of the District Department of Transportation, as well as the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (the federally-chartered nonprofit that runs the station). All those parties hashed out an agreement back in 2004 to fix the plaza, but the details took another six years to nail down. Three different agencies—the National Capital Planning Commission, Commission on Fine Arts, and the Architect of the Capitol—had to approve the agreement first. Then, they had to figure out who would pay how much of the $7.8 million the proposed renovations would take.
Amtrak’s plan for Union Station’s future will be formally unveiled today at 2 p.m. It is expected to be a celebratory affair, but don’t expect any of the speakers, including Mayor Vince Gray, to say much about how everything will be paid for.
