Amtrak takes control of Union Station, DC's major transit hub long overdue for major improvements

Amtrak, the nationwide passenger-rail service that serves roughly 29 million customers annually, has won a two-year-long court battle and taken control of Washington, D.C.'s Union Station – sparking optimism about major improvement to the city's beleaguered major transit hub at the foot of Capitol Hill. 

The quasi-public corporation – which receives state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization, took control of the building Monday – after a federal court ruled in favor of Amtrak in its April 2022 eminent domain case against previous Union Station owner Investco, operated by Rexmark.

The company planned to expand retail and restaurant operations through filling vacant spaces in the terminal.

Amtrak instead plans to focus on improving rail service and passenger experience, which will include customer service stations, faster queues and better seating areas – notoriously small, overcrowded and outdated.

Chayon Williams, an employee of Big Bus Tours, who has worked in and traveled through Union Station for years, expressed optimism Monday that the upgrades will include more signs to help customers find their way through the building's multiple levels, garages and boarding areas that service train, bus and car-rental customers.

“I definitely think finding a way for people to be able to navigate and get to their buses and trains would be more important than the variety of restaurants,” she told Just the News. 

However, the court decision has also left retailers uncertain about their future in the 115-year-old building that was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic – particularly by related property-crime and homelessness issues – and still has many vacant stores. 

“It's a beautiful building. So the retail businesses are a big part of that experience,” Winta Teferi, an owner of vintage collection and handmade shop Abro Collective, said Monday, the first day Amtrak effectively took over. “We’re wondering: 'What’s the new direction?'”

The building, inspired by several architectural styles, including Classical ones in the station's interior great vaulted spaces, has fallen into disrepair several times throughout the decades including in the late 1960s and the 1980s. 

One recent, positive sign was Starbucks announcing in recent days it will reopen its coffee shop in the station in September, after closing it two years ago, following enhanced security and foot traffic reportedly up 92% since 2022.

Teferi also express the desire for Amtrak to try to stay close to the plan to revitalize the station's shopping and dining.

“I don't see a scenario in which continuing to attract local businesses and having this retail component of the station takes away from anything,” she said. “It can only add to it. ... We have a certain relationship with the existing property manager and relationships are not an overnight thing."

Lessie Mtewa, who has run her jewelry and accessories shop Bejewelled out of Union Station for eight years, says she has experienced multiple ownership changes during her time but isn't worried about the transition to Amtrak.

“There seems to be a cooperation between the two, regardless of who is managing the big decisions about retail," she said amid the competing interests of retail and passenger-service upgrades.

The decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia grants Amtrak the right to take control of the management and operations of the station. 

"The focus will be on enhancing the customer experience, comfort and security, and implementing investments to better serve the many travelers and visitors that use this iconic station," Amtrak said after the court decision.

Investco declined Wednesday to comment on the matter.

Amtrak also said in a statement that it will work to improves the station's day-to-day operations in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration, which represents the Transportation Department, the building owner, and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, which leases the building from USDOT.

Said Mtwa: “I’m still here. I just hope that there’s a continued proliferation, sharing of information, and talking to each other about what is best for the station."