Pre-Union Station terminals Before Union Station opened, each of the major railroads operated out of one of two stations: •
New Jersey Avenue Station (1851–1907):
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trains arrived and left from this railroad station. It was located at the corner of New Jersey Avenue NW and C Street NW. •
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station (1872–1907):
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P), a subsidiary of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the
Southern Railway all left from this train station. It was located at the corner of B Street NW, now
Constitution Avenue, and 6th Street NW.
20th century Construction When the
Pennsylvania Railroad and the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad announced in 1901 that they had agreed to build a new union station together, the city had two reasons to celebrate. The decision meant that both railroads would soon remove their trackwork and terminals from the
National Mall. Though changes there appeared only gradually, the consolidation of the depots allowed the creation of the Mall as it appears today. Secondly, the plan to bring all the city's railroads under one roof promised that Washington would finally have a station both large enough to handle large crowds and impressive enough to befit the city's role as the federal capital. The station was to be designed under the guidance of
Daniel Burnham, a famed Chicago architect and member of the U.S. Senate Park Commission, who in September 1901 wrote to the Commission's chairman, Sen.
James McMillan, of the proposed project: "The station and its surroundings should be treated in a monumental manner, as they will become the vestibule of the city of Washington, and as they will be in close proximity to the Capitol itself." After two years of complicated and sometimes contentious negotiations, Congress passed S. 4825 (58th-1st session) entitled "An Act to provide a union railroad station in the District of Columbia" which was signed into law by 26th President
Theodore Roosevelt on February 28, 1903. The Act authorized the
Washington Terminal Company (which was to be jointly owned by the B&O and the PRR-controlled
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad) to construct a station "monumental in character" that would cost at least $4 million (equivalent to $ in ). (The main station building's actual cost eventually exceeded $5.9 million [equivalent to $ in ].) Including additional outlays for new terminal grades, approaches, bridges, viaducts, coach and freight yards, tunnels, shops, support buildings and other infrastructure, the total cost to the Terminal Company for all the improvements associated with Union Station exceeded $16 million (equivalent to $ in ). This cost was financed by $12 million (equivalent to $ in ) in first mortgage bonds as well as advances by the owners which were repaid by stock and cash. Each carrier also received $1.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) in government funding to compensate them for the costs of eliminating grade crossings in the city. The only railroad station in the nation specifically authorized by the
U.S. Congress, the building was primarily designed by William Pierce Anderson of the Chicago architectural firm of
D.H. Burnham & Company.
Effect on the neighborhood Though the project was supported by the federal government, there was opposition at the local level. The new depot would displace residents and cleave new neighborhoods east of the tracks. On January 10, 1902, representatives of the railroads presented preliminary plans for the construction of the
Union Depot (Union Station) to representatives of the District of Columbia. They proposed to build tunnels under the tracks for K, L, and M Streets NE and to close
H Street. The street would be closed on both sides of Delaware Avenue (for a total of ). If a tunnel was to be built for H Street NE, the cost would be an extra $10,000 (equivalent to $ in ). Three days later, officers and members of the Northeast Washington Citizens' Association expressed their outrage to representatives of Congress and the railroads at an Association meeting at the
Northeast Temple on H Street NE. The president of the Association claimed that the Pennsylvania Railroad controlled Congress; a member of the Association threatened to take the matter to court. The Association declared unacceptable the loss of a major access road to downtown for the residents of Northeast; the loss of millions of dollars of business properties and of the business it represented; the closure of a vital streetcar line used by commuters, considering the alternative cost of building an access across the tracks. At the association's March 10, 1902, meeting, its president told the audience that the District Commissioners had heard their complaints, and that H Street would remain open with a tunnel running under the tracks. More than 100 houses were demolished to make way for the station and its tracks. The demolition erased the heart of an impoverished neighborhood called "
Swampoodle" where crime was rampant. It was the end of a community but the beginning of a new era for Washington, D.C.
Tiber Creek, which was prone to flooding, was
put in a tunnel. Delaware Avenue disappeared from the map between Massachusetts Avenue and Florida Avenue under the tracks. Only a small section remains, next to the tracks between L and M Streets NE.
Opening and operation The first B&O train to arrive with passengers was the
Pittsburgh Express, at 6:50 a.m. on October 27, 1907; the first PRR train arrived three weeks later on November 17. The main building itself was completed in 1908. Of its 32 station tracks, 20 enter from the northeast and terminate at the station's headhouse. The remaining 12 tracks enter below ground level from the south via a 4,033-foot twin-tube tunnel passing under Capitol Hill and an 898-foot long subway under Massachusetts Avenue, which allow through traffic direct access to the rail networks both north and south of the city. Among the new station's unique features was an opulent "Presidential Suite" (aka "State Reception Suite") where the U.S. President, State Department and Congressional leaders could receive distinguished visitors arriving in Washington. Provided with a separate entrance, the suite (which was first used by 27th President
William Howard Taft in 1909) was also meant to safeguard the Chief Executive during his travels in an effort to prevent a repeat of the July, 1881 assassination of 20th President
James A. Garfield in the old former
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station. The suite was converted in December 1941, during
World War II, to a
U.S.O. (United Services Organization) canteen, which went on to serve 6.5 million military service members during
World War II. Although closed on May 31, 1946, it was reopened in 1951 as a U.S.O. lounge and dedicated by President
Harry Truman as a permanent "home away from home" for traveling U.S. Armed Services members. On the morning of January 15, 1953, the Pennsylvania Railroad's
Federal, the overnight train from
Boston,
crashed into the station. When the engineer tried to apply the
trainline brakes two miles out of the platforms, he discovered that he only had engine brakes. A switchman on the approach to the station noticed the runaway train and telephoned a warning to the station, as the train coasted downhill into track 16. The
GG1 electric locomotive, No. 4876, hit the
bumper block at about , jumped onto the platform, destroyed the stationmaster's office at the end of the track, took out a newsstand, and was on its way to crashing through the wall into the Great Hall. Just then, the floor of the terminal, having never been designed to carry the 475,000-pound weight of this locomotive, gave way, dropping the engine into the basement. The
electric locomotive fell into about the center of what is now the
food court. Remarkably, no one was killed, and passengers in the rear cars thought that they had only had a rough stop. An investigation revealed that an anglecock on the brakeline had been closed, probably by an
icicle knocked from an overhead bridge. The accident inspired the finale of the
1976 film Silver Streak. The durable design of the GG1 made its damage repairable, and it was soon back in service after being hauled away in pieces to the PRR's main shops in
Altoona, Pennsylvania. Before the latter action was undertaken, the GG1 and the hole it made were temporarily planked over and hidden from view due to the imminent inauguration of
General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the thirty-fourth President of the United States. Until intercity passenger rail service was taken over by Amtrak on May 1, 1971, Union Station served as a hub for the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway,
Pennsylvania Railroad, and
Southern Railway. The
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac provided a link to
Richmond, Virginia, about to the south, where major north–south lines of the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and
Seaboard Air Line Railroad provided service to the Carolinas,
Georgia and Florida. World War II was the busiest period in the station's history in terms of passenger traffic, with up to 200,000 people passing through on a single day. During this time a replacement station for Amtrak had been built behind the Union Station concourse and under a parking garage. Two traffic lanes were planned but were actually only wide enough for 1-1/2 lanes. On observing its low ceiling and plastic chairs
New Yorker magazine editor
E. M. Frimbo described it as "...a bad small town bus terminal." Train passengers had to walk 1,900 feet from the front door to the tracks. The most common question asked at the Visitor Center was, "Where are the trains?" After the leaking roof caused the partial collapse of plaster from the ceiling in the eastern wing of the building, the National Park Service declared the entire structure unsafe on February 23, 1981, and sealed the structure to the public.
Restoration The 1981 ceiling collapse deeply alarmed members of Congress and officials in the new
Reagan administration. On April 3, despite a budget austerity push, administration officials proposed a plan to appropriate $7 million (equivalent to $ in ) to allow the Department of the Interior to finish its authorized $8 million (equivalent to $ in ) roof repair program. In addition, the government of the District of Columbia would be permitted to reprogram up to $40 million (equivalent to $ in ) in federal highway money to finish the parking garage at Union Station. On October 19, administration officials and members of the
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation agreed on additional aspects of the plan. Up to $1 million (equivalent to $ in ) would be authorized and appropriated to fund a study on needed repairs at the station and a second study on the feasibility of turning Union Station into a retail complex. The Department of Transportation (DOT) was authorized to sign contracts with any willing corporation to construct a retail complex in and around Union Station. The bill required DOT to operate Union Station as a train station once more, complete with ticketing, waiting areas, baggage areas, and boarding. Although no statement was made in the bill, Senate aides said the intent was to have Amtrak tear down its 1960s-era station at the rear of Union Station and move its operations back inside. The Senate passed the bill unanimously on November 23. The House approved the bill on December 16. As a result of the Redevelopment Act of 1981, Union Station was closed for restoration and refurbishing.
Mold was growing in the leaking ceiling of the Main Hall, and the carpet laid out for an
Inauguration Day celebration was full of cigarette-burned holes. In 1988,
Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole awarded $70 million (equivalent to $ in ) to the restoration effort. "The Pit" was transformed into a new basement level, and the Main Hall floor was refitted with marble. While installing new
HVAC systems, crews discovered antique items in shafts that had not been opened since the building's creation.
Remodel {{Infobox shopping mall
Washington Union Station Mall is a
festival marketplace in
Washington, D.C., United States, that is currently undergoing a significant management transition following the termination of long-standing private leasehold agreements. The previous operator of the
retail space,
New York-based
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, has been accused of neglecting the mall and not filling in vacancies. in the background in May 2022 The mall was developed by former
Rouse Company executives Jackson "Jackie" Ewing, famous for
Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Michael Ewing, who directed the WJE firm on integrating retail into historical landmarks, and Roy Williams, a principal at WJE who helped oversee the Union Station project, applying "festival marketplace" concepts pioneered at Rouse properties, including
Baltimore's
Harborplace. Union Station Mall was designed by
Benjamin C. Thompson, who also designed Harborplace and Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The station reopened in its present form on September 29, 1988. The former "Pit" area was replaced with a movie theater called Union Station 9, which later became
AMC Theatres (operating as
AMC Union Station 9), and after that, became Phoenix Theatres (operating as
Phoenix Theatres Union Station 9), which closed on October 12, 2009, and was replaced with an expanded food court and a
Walgreens store. The food court still retains the original arches under which the trains were parked as well as the track numbers on those arches. A variety of shops opened along the Concourse and Main Hall, and a new
Amtrak terminal at the back behind the original Concourse. Trains no longer enter the original Concourse, but the original, decorative gates were relocated to the new passenger concourse. In 1994, this new passenger concourse was renamed to honor
W. Graham Claytor Jr., who served as Amtrak's president from 1982 to 1993. The decorative elements of the station were also restored. The skylights were preserved, but sunlight no longer illuminates the Concourse because it is blocked by the newer roof structure built directly overhead to support the aging, original structure.
21st century Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation acquired Union Station Mall in late January 2007 for $160 million from Union Station Venture II. In July 2012, Amtrak announced a four-phase, $7 billion plan to revamp and renovate the station over 15 to 20 years. The proposed conversion would "double the number of trains and triple the number of passengers in gleaming, glass-encased halls". Then-Amtrak President and CEO
Joseph H. Boardman hoped the federal government would finance "50 to 80 percent" of the project. In June 2015, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation released a Historic Preservation Plan to guide preservation and restoration at the station complex.
A new decline The cinema closed in 2009, B. Smith's restaurant and
Barnes & Noble in 2013, and the latter's replacement,
H&M, in 2019. Amtrak moved its headquarters offices from Union Station to a nearby building in 2017. That same year, the Trump administration listed an $8.7 billion expansion and refurbishment of Washington Union Station as an infrastructure funding priority. In the early 2020s, the station saw a further decline in the number of restaurants and stores as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. "A once-thriving terminal is now filled with vacant storefronts," the
Washington Post reported in 2022. "Union Station had as many as 100 stores more than two decades ago. It’s down to about 40 retailers and eateries while more than half its commercial space sits vacant." The station continued to wrestle with issues stemming from people experiencing homelessness camped around the station and relying on its waiting and restroom facilities. In the meantime, the agency described plans for a major renovation and expansion, which seek to triple passenger capacity and double train capacity by modernizing and expanding station facilities over 20 years. The "Second Century Plan" accommodates Burnham Place, a planned transit-oriented, three million square-foot mixed-use development over the existing rail yard, that will connect the station complex to the burgeoning neighborhoods of
NoMa and the
H Street Corridor. The plan cleared a regulatory obstacle in March 2024, when the Federal Railroad Administration completed its final environmental impact statement. Officials said the renovation could start as early as 2027. Though Amtrak agreed to pay $505 million for the station's leasehold in February 2025, the station's former operator USSM sued to prevent the agreement from being approved. On August 8, 2024, free transfers were implemented between
MARC and
VRE via Union Station with a ten-trip ticket, weekly pass, or monthly pass. The intention of the transfers was affordable travel across state lines, connecting urban centers, and more job opportunities. In March 2025, a federal judge dismissed Ashkenazy's last remaining claims to the station, ruling the company had no legal right to any portion of the settlement proceeds due to the firm allowing the facility to deteriorate. In August 2025, a former lower-level storage track (Track 22) was reopened as a platform track for Amtrak and VRE use. On August 27, 2025, the
Trump administration announced it would negotiate to resume direct federal management of non-railroad areas. The mall is now owned by the
Federal Railroad Administration (
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)). The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) now manages the retail, office, and event spaces. On March 5, 2026, the
National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approved a plan to install energy-efficient white lighting on the station's exterior, the purpose being to improve public safety and light up the building's architecture at night, with completion expected by early 2027. Amtrak is nearing the completion of its Concourse Modernization Project. This renovation includes double passenger capacity by the end of 2026, with expanded seating, improved boarding processes, and upgraded restrooms. In March 2026, the USDOT launched a civics-themed storytelling program featuring large-scale visual installations at the station to celebrate
America250. The station hosted the 2026 Pink Tie Party on March 13, 2026, as part of the
National Cherry Blossom Festival. ==Architecture==