Union Station
Washington-Union Station is a historic railroad station opened in 1907 and designed by renowned planner Daniel Burnham. The historic monument to transportation station is located in the Northeast Quadrant of the city, just a 10 minute walk from the U.S. Capitol Building and the eastern end of National Mall. Senate Park provides unobstructed views and green space on the walk between the station and the U.S. Capitol. The station is one of Washington, DC's great monuments and fits in with the Monumental Federal City aesthetic of the area. The building of the station was an important part of removing railroad tracks from near the National Mall, and the creation of this green space in the United States' master planned capitol city.
The architecture of the historic station is clad in white granite. This, including classical exterior elements, are inspired by Roman architecture. These include the Arch of Constantine over the main entrance to the station (complete with statues of roman solders and the winged figures of transportation). The main two vast interior halls were inspired by the Baths of Diocletian (that also was a major influence in New York's now demolished Penn Station).
During the 1960s decline of the railroad, the station started being modified from just being a historic railroad station serving a then declining number of passengers. The two co-owners of the station considered tearing the building down and replacing it with a much smaller station in 1958 under an office building. Instead, the station was taken over by the National Park Service and turned into the ill-fated National Visitor Center in 1976. This included building a slide show area in the lower level dug out and beneath the floor of the former waiting area (main hall). This project also relocated Amtrak to a small new building next to the station, with a distance of 1,900 feet from the main station entrance to the tracks. A new driveway was built that fully enclosed the historic station by roadways (albeit one elevated over the ends of the train platforms).
The National Visitor Center was a huge failure, was expensive to staff and operate. It attracted very few visitors and closed in 1978. As part of the National Visitor Center project a new very large six story parking garage was built over the northern quarter of the tracks and platforms, making the platforms with the lowest numbers feel dingy and underground, this didn't open until the early 1980s, also contributing to the visitor's center lack of patronage.
In the 1980s the station closed due to deferred maintenance and neglect but with the station so close to the US Capitol Building, Congress acted. After the Department of Interior replaced the roof of the station, the station was turned over to the USDOT. The plan this time to restore the station was by turning it into a shopping mall. As part of this project a new Amtrak gate area opened in 1988, this area is where passengers board trains, lining up at gates that don't feel particularly historic (but feels airy with a double-height ceiling, unlike the 1991 waiting and gate area at Chicago's Union Station). The two grand halls and historic portions of the station were turned into a shopping mall, and rentable event spaces leased out to a developer.
Commuter-oriented Rail service has always operated from the station to Maryland (and Martinsburg, WV) with commuter rail service to Virginia on the Virginia Railway express beginning in 1992.
This shopping mall turned railroad station served DC fairly well for 30 years — it was one of the busiest places in DC — used both used by Railroad passengers and visitors going to the shops and dining outlets. The COVID-19 pandemic created an increase in vacant retail space and a desire by Amtrak to have more space for its railroad passengers. This resulted in Amtrak spending $505 million in February 2025 to buy out the leaseholder of the Union Station Shopping Mall and return it to railroad control for proper redevelopment for railroad passengers.
Our tour of the station begins at the historic front entrance where tall grand columns tower over central arches, with a covered exterior walkway surrounds three of the four sides of the station, although glass has shielded off any entrances at the eastern end of the building. This exterior walkway is as impressive as the interior spaces of the station with arched roofs and lots of exposed white granite. A Washington Metro entrance is also located under the NE corner of these porches.
The station overlooks Columbus Circle a large plaza in front of the station, this includes a taxi stand directly outside the station, and two additional roadways, used for passenger pick-ups and drop-offs. First Street NE-bounds the west side of the station with no real street on the east side of the station (just two different driveways that eventually connect to F Street NE). The seven different streets running at different angles that all converge at Columbus Circle (all part of L'Enfant's master plan for the city from 1791) make leaving the station via foot a bit confusing to a Washington visitor, it's very easy to start walking down the wrong Avenue or Street.
After entering the station, passengers reach the Main Hall or Great Hall. This is a monumental space with a 96-foot-tall ceiling, with little gold medallions providing decorative elements. High windows under the arches on the south and east sides of the hall provide plenty of natural light. 26 statues of Roman Solders provide a protective force for all who travel through Union Station. This Great Hall was originally the station's waiting room lined with lots of benches. When I visited in 2011 there were still some benches lining the Main Hall and West Hall, but by 2024 these have all been removed.
On each side of the main hall are the equally impressive but smaller West and East Halls. The West Hall contains shops and restaurants (many closed, some with balconies overlooking the hall). The West Hall is entered via passing through a set of columns into a slightly smaller space except for glass in the arched ceiling.
The East Hall is entered through sets of three doors but is more intimate with a flat roof ceiling made of glass. The East Hall is often closed for special events (There is one photos of it on this website).
After passing through the Main Hall, passengers reach what was once the Train Concourse. This is a vast room with a tall arched ceiling containing many skylights allowing natural light into the space. Originally the ends of the train tracks directly abutted this space with the iron gates for trains running directly down the middle (well northern third) of this room. Today this space has been carved up into lots of smaller spaces with storefronts taking up most of the space on both sides and three different floors. A balcony level has been added with staircases winding their ways up and down through the space, dividing it up There is also a basement level (with staircases up and down to it). This basement level contains a food court, a Metro entrance, and a Walgreens (it had a movie theater until 2009).
For train passengers, the train concourse contains the Amtrak ticket office (straight ahead after you enter from the Great Hall). Towards the eastern November 2024 Amtrak opened a branded as temporary Waiting Room for ticketed passengers. This room feels very out of place in the historic station with completely white malls and very bright lighting. It feels like people sitting in the waiting area are on display through the glass of the former store area (it was where a Uniqlo store once was). There is also a customer service office and red cap area.
Present day passengers, after passing through the train hall, reach the station's train gate area. This is the modern area built in 1988. At the western end is an entrance to WMATA that includes a direct connection and corridor entrance to Gate A out to the tracks used by MARC trains that allows the bypassing of this main area. MARC has a small information office, and separate departure board nearby once in the modern train gate area. This is where MARC Vending Machines can also be found.
Along the wall opposite trains are a few more shops and towards the southern end of the area is an airline-style baggage claim for Amtrak checked bags (with fencing so staff can double check and pull baggage claim checks from retrieved bags).
The modern gate area has largely a double ceiling with a balcony/exposed passageway going across the middle of it. This balcony continues at the same-level to the balcony of shops in the historic Train Concourse. This balcony leads out to sets of doors through the upper story of the train gate area. These lead beneath the roadway that circles the entirety of Union Station (with a bunch of dock-less scooters that I don't understand how anyone could access).
These continue to a wide bank of two escalators with staircases on each side that lead up to the first level of the station's six story parking garage. The first level of this parking garage is Washington DC's intercity bus station. Unlike Boston that has a proper indoor intercity bus facility above South Station with passengers waiting indoors, bus passengers in Washington, DC must wait in the elements. There are just open air bus bays with what feels like chains and other fencing to keep passengers out of the bus lanes. There are just a few modular interior spaces for restrooms and bus company ticket offices, there are no proper waiting rooms. Stairs and escalators continue up to the second level for Rental Cars.
The parking garage also provides another exit from Union Station. A well signed (but not attractive, I was with a group the first time I used this exit and had a feeling of “Why are you taking us into the parking garage?”) walkway leads along the edge of the bus bays on the first story of the garage. This continues to a short sidewalk along the short access ramp into the garage that leads out to the H Street Bridge. The H Street bridge leads across all of the Union Station tracks (at or near the ends of the platforms, since the platforms are different lengths). In the middle of the H Street bridge is the terminus of the DC Streetcar at a single little platform in the middle of the street.
To board trains we return to the modern gate area. Here are Gates A to L. The historic entrance ways to the original gates have been preserved in this area. These gates are the way to board all trains. All of the gates except G and A contain blue Amtrak branded stanchions. These sanctions force passengers to line-up for trains, compete with a special priority boarding line for passengers in Business Class, AGR Select Card holders and other individuals. Gates A through F are used by trains originating or terminating in Washington DC with passengers going out the doors and passing an area connecting all platforms beyond the gates before leading out to the individual platforms. Gates H through L lead to the through platforms for trains to and from Virginia with the gates leading to an escalator and elevator down to these respective platforms. Just beyond Gate L is an exit to a passageway under the roadway that encircles Union Station with a direct entrance to the 100 F Street Office Building.
Gates G and A are unusual. These gates are used by all arriving passengers and to board MARC Commuter Trains and VRE trains, although these trains also can board via regular Amtrak gates. All arriving trains are posted as arriving at Gates G or A, although when I was meeting friends on a terminating Amtrak train it posted at Gate G but I watched the crowd of people getting off the train I looked out through the double-doors and watched the mass of people walk towards gate A instead of Gate G with me walking back into the train concourse and finding them. Gate A is basically two sets of doors to leave the western end of the platform area.
Gate G is a bit more complicated, it leads to a door out to the terminating track area, before looping around and containing another headhouse area over the through Virginia platforms. This area has a variety of individual plastic seats attached to the walls. A display shows the Virginia Railway Express GPS train tracker with plenty of VRE Vending Machines in this area. Additional stairs and escalators (compared to the more cramped gate area) lead down to the low-level tracks and provide more capacity to VRE commuters boarding their trains.
Union Station finally has a Metropolitan Lounge between Gates D and E tucked under the balcony that leads across the modern train hall to the parking garage. Two different sets of doors lead into this lounge where passengers are created by a dated and windowless room. The room has a sunken living room feel with two different levels along with a verity of seating options. A buffet has coffee, soft drinks and a few snacks along one wall. Passengers on trains that are originating or terminating at the station can get priority boarding where staff opens a door directly out into the platform area, allowing passengers to bypass the boarding lines and have priority boarding.
Photos 1-16: May 30, 2011; 17-21: December 13, 2013; 22-27: December 14, 2013; 28: October 10, 2015; 29-36: August 22, 2024; 37-41: August 23, 2024; 42-51: September 30, 2024; 52-54: October 1, 2024; 55-62: January 17, 2025; 63-69: February 28, 2025; 70-124: March 2, 2025; 125 & 126: May 8, 2025;
