Amtrak wants public input on Union Station redesign

Amtrak is in the process of reimaging the concourse at Chicago’s Union Station and is seeking input from the traveling public, station users, and local residents. Open through the end of the month, those who are interested can fill out the survey at this link.

“The station first opened in 1925 and Amtrak will involve our partners and the general public to develop a preferred design that will take us into the next hundred years,” said Jeannie Kwon, Amtrak Vice President, Mega Programs Development and Coordination. “The work at Chicago Union Station, our most critical linchpin for travel across the national network, will be performed using federal capital funds along with generous contributions from our partners for both the design and construction elements of the project.”

This is the design for the first major enhancement at track level and above since 1991 in a station that serves tens of thousands of Amtrak and Metra customers daily. It is an element of CHIP, the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, which has been repeatedly endorsed by state, regional and federal leaders.

When the current concourse design was finished 32 years ago, Amtrak had an annual passenger count of 2.3 million in Chicago. In 2019, that total was 3.3 million, with new routes to and from Chicago in development in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, among other Amtrak Midwest states. Annual Metra ridership, over the same period at Chicago Union Station, has grown from 26.6 million to 32.6 million.

“We will continue, with our partners at Metra, the City of Chicago, Cook County, the states of Illinois and Michigan, among others, to pursue all viable funding avenues. This includes, but is not limited to, pursuing grant opportunities to help fund the construction to rework the Concourse and deliver a state of the art, first-class station that mirrors the stature of a premier city,” said Barney Gray, Amtrak Assistant Vice President for Major Stations.

Leading the design team at this Amtrak-owned station is Chicago-based Epstein, in partnership with FXCollaborative. This partnership combines Epstein’s expertise in managing large, multi-faceted teams on complicated public facilities with New York-based FXCollaborative’s design experience on transportation projects.

This is one of several major infrastructure projects Amtrak’s newest department, Capital Delivery, is advancing. Amtrak is investing in modern trains, updated stations, new tunnels and bridges, and other critical infrastructure upgrades. They’re enhancing the customer experience across the country, improving safety and reliability, driving economic development, reducing trip times, expanding capacity, advancing accessibility and promoting a more sustainable future.