Washington Union Station, designed by architect Daniel Burnham, opened in 1907. The Beaux-Arts structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and fronts Columbus Circle, where avenues converge in a park setting created during the City Beautiful movement. Today, over 40 million people use Union Station each year, connecting to long distance, intercity and regional trains as well as the busiest station in Washington’s extensive Metrorail subway system.

The station is a key terminal on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, the most travelled passenger rail corridor in the United States, with connections to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. The station is also the district’s primary intercity bus terminal. Increasing transit usage and demand for additional development in Washington’s urban core has led to an evolution in the station’s function and development process.

The Union Station Expansion Project has achieved the next major milestone in a process that encompasses comprehensive planning, public engagement, and environmental assessment. The project scope also includes conceptual design services for improving and expanding passenger spaces, enhancing the overall customer experience, as well as the coordination with various stakeholders to enhance the functionality of this important regional intermodal facility.

The project respects and reinforces the importance of the station’s historic building, while creating new areas of the station to integrate it with the surrounding neighbourhoods, including the proposed construction of Burnham Place, a separate proposal for mixed-use buildings and open space over the rail yard and other station components.

Union Station has seen a number of uses over its life beyond rail services. The current configuration includes a variety of shops and eateries selected to serve passengers, visitors, and local office workers. The project will supply new links to the surrounding communities currently separated by the busy rail lines. New walking and cycling links will provide new and safe connections to the station and adjacent areas of interest. 

When complete, the Union Station Expansion Project will create a revitalised transit hub that will offer connections to the city, the region and beyond in an uplifting setting underpinned by one of Washington’s most significant civic icons.