Amtrak wants to take over D.C.’s Union Station in its entirety.  The train agency says it can’t otherwise complete the necessary infrastructure improvements needed to bring the facility  back to “its full potential as a premier rail passenger station and transportation hub.”

Amtrak says it needs the entire station to repair and reinforce a train tunnel that runs through it.  Amtrak also wants to expand passenger waiting areas to alleviate congestion and provide more effective day-to-day management of the station.

Federal code states that Amtrak is allowed to acquire by eminent domain property that is “necessary for intercity rail passenger transportation.”

Dennis Newman, Amtrak’s executive vice president for strategy, planning and accessibility told The Washington Post,  that Union Station is a “key intermodal facility” that is “critical for intercity passenger rail.”.

Amtrak’s board started the process with a vote in March. Earlier this month, they put in an offer of $250 million for the property, but have yet to receive a response.

In a civil suit filed last week in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Amtrak says Union Station “is one of the most critical components of the Nation’s passenger rail service,” but yet they only have control of about 13% of the station. It serves more than 5 million people a year, and is the second busiest train station in the United States.

The federal government currently subleases the station to the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), a nonprofit that began in 1983, to preserve the station’s historic architecture, keep the multimodal transportation center going, and enhance retail and amenities within the station. Union Station Redevelopment, in turn, subleases to Union Station Investco, a subsidiary of the Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. They hold rights until 2084.

The USRC controls all 476,795 feet of the property, according to the legal filing, while Amtrak only subleases 63,700 feet of that space, mainly the train concourse and ticketing area. Amtrak, however, owns the tracks outside.

Amtrak says the station is a key cog in the Northeast Corridor, its busiest line which connects D.C. to Boston with major stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Washington Union Station also serves as a gateway to the south.

Currently, the tunnel underneath the station has structurally deficient beams, girders, and columns. “Collapse of the Subbasement would have significant impacts to not only the [Corridor], but the entire eastern rail network,” Amtrak says in the filing. Amtrak says it would need to move equipment and facilities from that area to other places that Amtrak doesn’t currently lease.

The repair project was originally projected to be complete by this year, but Amtrak says negotiations with the subleaser have not even let the project begin.

In court filings, Amtrak also cites $75 million in maintenance backlogs that management doesn’t have the funds to pay for. In addition, Amtrak cited recent Nazi swastika graffiti on the station’s outside walls “that occurred on (current management’s) watch.

“Most, if not all, customers of Amtrak and other transportation modes at the Station could view such graffiti and feel unfavorably disposed towards Amtrak, WUS, or their experience at the Station,” the lawsuit says.

Union Station lost many of its retailers and food outlets during the pandemic as travel plummeted.

Amtrak runs stations on its own in several other cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.