Union Station by the author.

Over the past few years the challenges of revamping Union Station into a multi-modal transit hub had been all over the regional news. But with a devout train rider as president, and federal push for more efficient transportation and infrastructure, could Union Station finally be getting the national attention it needs to move the project to the finish line?

The heavy lift of progress

The obstacles Union Station faces are many, and the stakes are high. Pre-pandemic, the station saw about 37 million riders each year, and linked Amtrak with MARC, VRE commuter rail, intercity bus, and metrorail all under the same roof. And the region was only expected to grow (Ridership patterns changed during the pandemic, but it’s too soon to tell which changes will be permanent). The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is overseeing the project, had projected a huge uptick in ridership growth for rail, and intercity bus travel by 2040. Right now, however, the station is not equipped to handle more passengers. The station has had long lines at departing stations, and needs critical design updates to meet the expected demand.

The estimated $10 billion project would make desperately needed updates to the station and pave the way for it to become a multimodal transit hub, namely to:

  • Enable more efficient train operations;
  • Provide easier boarding and ADA accessibility;
  • Create more space for passenger circulation and improved experience and emergency egress; and
  • Enhance multi-modal access and capacity

Another challenge is simply the number of agencies and stakeholders who are involved in such a large project.

There’s Amtrak, which wants to revamp the tracks in anticipation of more passengers. There’s the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), the nonprofit that leases and manages much of the station, and helps to maintain the station’s history and keep the retail in place. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), one of nine agencies that make up the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), owns the complex, and is leading the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and is focused on how the project impacts the area.

Then there’s Akridge, a development firm that is building Burnham Place, a sibling project above the Amtrak rail yard. And of course, the District Department of Transportation, which needs to revamp H Street to make way for the station’s renovation. Many residents have also weighed in about the project including several ANC commissioners from Ward 6, and many other entities all have an interest in the project. All with visions on how the project could best serve the region, the people moving through the station, and those living in surrounding neighborhood.

All these visions of what Union Station could and should look like clashed when the FRA released its preferred alternatives of the draft environmental impact statement. Many complained that the proposed amount of parking at the station (1,575 at the time) was oversized and needed to be drastically reduced. Other residents and ANC commissioners worried that renovation plans would increase traffic in Capitol Hill, and create a “a snarl of cars and buses,” that would block access for residents.

Others also wanted to make sure the station served as a destination point in and of itself, with virbants shops, public spaces, and views, rather than just a throughway for trains.

After much discussion, letters, and advocacy by Ward 6 residents, The National Capital Planning Commission, the federal government’s planning agency over the region that provides oversight for FRA, urged the agency to reduce the amount of parking, or the commission would suggest alternatives themselves.

In February, months after the last public comment period and public outcry about issues around parking, the number of bus slips, and the overall aesthetic of the station, FRA posted on its website that it would “revisit project planning for the Preferred Alternative” and “review and refine project elements in cooperation with other key stakeholders.”

And they all lived happily ever after, right? Nope. Even with FRA possibly moving towards significant changes in the EIS, much work needs to be done to get the Union Station renovation project from vision board to all aboard. The project still needs to be funded.

Union Station may once again need a federal intervention.

Federal fervor

Earlier this month during a House press conference on infrastructure Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton helped to elevate the conversation around Union Station saying, “There are big bold projects like the only federally owned Union Station, which we hope to make a model for the nation.”

Norton, long a proponent of the project, pushed for legislation to help fund Union Station in March. The move was supported by DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser, who just last week earmarked $215M in her FY2022 budget “for the full replacement of the H Street Bridge to improve safety and support Union Station redevelopment and expansion of high-speed rail in and out of DC.”

Norton also wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging him to direct the FRA to work with the DC government, the community, and other stakeholders to revise the current proposal.

She has been vocal about the station’s impact on the region and what she says needs to happen.

“The Union Station in our city is the only federally owned station in the United States,” Norton said in a phone interview. “The expansion project for the station is a transportation, it’s an economic development, it’s a community development project all in one.”

“It will expand rail capacity in the Northeast corridor. It will improve customer experience at the same time. It’s going to create thousands of union jobs and it’s going to unlock billions of dollars of private investment and integrate multi-modal transportation into our thriving mixed neighborhood.”

Meanwhile, in the American’s Jobs Plan, Biden’s administration states that:

“Our current transit infrastructure is inadequate – the Department of Transportation estimates a repair backlog of over $105 billion, representing more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement.”

Biden’s plan would also call on Congress to invest $85 billion to update and expand existing transit plans, and $80 billion for things like “modernizing the high traffic Northeast Corridor.” While Union Station is not explicitly mentioned Biden’s plan as of yet, as part of the Northeast Corridor, DC’s Union Station could soon get some attention.

A long history, and a history of challenges

By the early 1940s, about 42,000 passengers moved through the Union Station terminal each day. But since that time the station gone back and forth and Congress would go back and forth on ways to maintain the station’s glory and relevance to passengers.

Cars and airplane travel siphoned off passengers and revenue from the station, and either a lack of or cheap repairs also didn’t do the station any favors. The federal government took ownership of the station in mid-60s, and by the late 60s the station was rebranded as a visitor’s center, which didn’t go well. Over the next few decades Congress tried a few times to transform the station into a viable transit hub culminating in a national plan to allow for other modes of transit in, out and around the station.

A 2010 National Progress Report by the FRA , anticipated the expected population boom and wanted a station ready to accommodate the growth. In 2012, Amtrak presented its Washington Union Station 2012 Master Plan Vision.

The plans to update the station would include new tracks and train sheds, platforms to accommodate more passengers, and measures to ensure the station is compliant with American Disabilities Act, and were expected to be completed within 10-13 years.

People moving through Union Station.  Image by the author.

What comes next?

The question now is whether the FRA will respond to the concerns of residents, politicians and other stakeholders. Maura Brophy* worked for the Federal City Council and is now president and CEO of the NoMa Business Improvement District, the epicenter for the revitalization project. She is also a board member of USRC. During a recent interview Brophy said though nothing is certain yet, she is confident that the FRA will address the necessary changes in the environmental impact statement.

GGWash reached out to FRA for comment about the report and its progress. In response, a spokesperson said: “We heard the concerns and are studying an underground multi-purpose vehicle facility that will enhance the space above for people and buildings.”

FRA says it would be “premature” to say when exactly the public can expect the new environmental impact statement. “We want to be responsive to the concerns we hear and not assign arbitrary deadlines to rush the refinement process or the EIS for the region’s premier multimodal transportation center,” the spokesperson said.

As advocates, stakeholders and residents wait for the EIS to come back, people like Norton continue to spread the gospel of union station revitalization.

“This is a once in a century project,” Norton said, “and I believe that the Biden administration understands the significance of this project for the district, for the region and for the country.”

*Editor’s Note: The NoMa BID, in which Ms. Brophy is President and CEO, is a member of DC Sustainable Transportation, which is a nonprofit organization managed by Greater Greater Washington.