Amtrak is reimagining the Concourse at Chicago Union Station and is seeking the ideas of the traveling public, other station users and area residents. Improvements to the boarding process, modernized amenities, and new services are among the changes to be designed.
A survey, now posted at ChicagoUnionStation.com, kicks off the design phase of the project. A QR code linking to the survey is on video screens throughout the station. The survey is open through the end of this month. Amtrak is committed to engaging with users of Chicago Union Station throughout design work and eventual construction.
This is the design for the first major enhancement at track level and above since 1991 in a station that serves tens of thousands of Amtrak and Metra customers daily. It is an element of CHIP, the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, which has been repeatedly endorsed by state, regional and federal leaders.
Leading the design team at this Amtrak-owned station is Chicago-based Epstein, in partnership with FXCollaborative. This partnership combines Epstein’s expertise in managing large, multi-faceted teams on complicated public facilities with New York-based FXCollaborative’s design experience on transportation projects.
When the current Concourse design was finished 32 years ago, Amtrak had an annual passenger count of 2.3 million in Chicago. In 2019, that total was 3.3 million, with new routes to and from Chicago in development in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, among other Amtrak MidwestSM states. Annual Metra ridership, over the same period at Chicago Union Station, has grown from 26.6 million to 32.6 million.
-via Press Release