Amtrak Plans New Washington Union Station

Amtrak reports a Master Plan to revitalize its terminal at Washington D.C's Union Station. The plan lays the groundwork for an expanded and greatly improved intermodal station that will increase capacity to accommodate future service expansion and provide robust support to local and regional economic growth, Amtrak says. The estimated cost for the Master Plan is between $6.5 and $7.5 billion ($2012).

The Master Plan envisions a station which will accommodate three times as many passengers and twice as many trains.
In addition to creating a world-class facility with ample capacity for future high-speed, intercity and commuter rail service growth, the investment  would generate benefits to the city and region through job creation, increased tax revenues, and enhanced economic development., Amtrak says.

The Master Plan estimates the project to generate a total of $14.3 billion ($2012) in regional economic benefits through direct construction expenditures and other related economic impacts.

Washington Union Station was opened in 1907. The station is the second busiest in the Amtrak system, serving providing service to the Northeast Corridor via Acela Express and Northeast Regional Service and eight Amtrak long-distance and regional trains. Today, the station is currently operating beyond its capacity, serving 100,000 passenger trips and 200 trains per day, Amtrak says.

Visit www.amtrak.com.