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LaHood touts proposed upgrades to DC's Union Station
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that Amtrak's plan to spend $7 billion upgrading its station in Washington, D.C. would "transform Union Station into a 21st century transportation hub worthy of a 21st century city."
Amtrak said last week that upgrading Union Station was a part of its master plan for the capital region's main intercity railway stop. Among the agency's plan is creating a new train shed and building new passenger concourses and street entrances.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday in a blog post on the Department of Transportation's website that the improvements were long overdue.
"Here in Washington, Union Station is the gateway to the city. From this multimodal hub, locals and visitors alike are connected to our nation's capital and to the rest of the country by Metro, Amtrak, and local and interstate buses," LaHood wrote.
"With over 100,000 daily rail and transit trips, the station is already operating beyond its current capacity," he said. "And with projections showing that Amtrak and commuter rail ridership at the station could more than double in the next fifteen years alone, it's only set to get busier."
Amtrak said when it unveiled the master plan that the renovations to Union Station will make it easier for the station to accommodate high-speed trains in the future. The agency has called for increasing the speed of its trains to more than 200 miles per hour by 2030.
LaHood made a similar point on Monday.
"The expanded rail and passenger capacity in this station is essential to bringing high-speed rail to Washington--and to accommodating future growth on the Northeast Corridor," he wrote.
LaHood added that the proposed new train shed would "welcome passengers to the nation’s capital, bring natural light to station spaces, and better organize connections to Amtrak, commuter rail, transit and other transportation services.
"New passenger concourses and a series of new street entrances will be seamlessly integrated with the existing station, allowing passengers and visitors to easily access the entire station complex and adjoining neighborhoods while enjoying improved amenities and expanded retail opportunities," he said of the proposals.
LaHood said the Amtrak master plan called for the improvements to Union Station to take place over a 15-year period.
