MARC Seeks Feedback on Union Station Master Plan
Officials want to turn Union Station into a modern transit hub with triple the capacity. It would cost upwards of $6.5 billion.
Last week, the MARC rail service requested feedback on a master plan proposal for the redevelopment of Union Station in Washington, DC.
The plan calls for upgrades that would allow for three times as many passengers and twice as many trains.
This would have great impact on many commuters from Odenton, who pass through Union Station every weekday on their way to work (and who surely realize that the station is operating well beyond capacity.)
The 25-page master plan outlines a partnership between a number of transit agencies including the Maryland Transit Administration, U.S Department of Transportation, AMTRAK and others, as well as private developers.
Cost estimates range between $6.5 billion and $7.5 billion, with construction phased in over a 20-year period.
It would require major public investment, and there is no clear indication of that money being set aside anytime soon. This is purely a vision, but officials said the costs would be offset by the major benefit of having a larger, more modern station.
From the report:
“By making this investment in Washington Union Station, the city and region receive enormous benefits. There will be room to comfortably triple the number of passengers and double the number of trains within the existing station footprint. Commuters will be able to move expeditiously through the station to their connections...
...Union Station itself will strengthen its role as a destination, a magnet for commercial and cultural events, and the region’s most significant transportation hub. Finally, the investment also makes possible the extension of high-speed rail service into the Southeastern United States.”
Check out the full report on the master plan.
MARC has asked riders for feedback by filling out this survey form.
There’s also a fly-by video of the proposal available here: http://vimeo.com/46619053
What do you think of the master plan to redevelop Union Station?
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Patrick H.
4:47 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Return it back to the old historical landmark that it once was. The new version looks like something out of StarWars. Use the extra money to feed the homeless.
Ryan Stavely
8:49 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
That rendering is of the back of the station (where the H Street bridge and parking garage currently are.
The historical front entrance to the station will remain unchanged.
Ella Vader
9:14 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Amtrak came out with this plan awhile ago (July 25, 2012).
Tim Lemke
10:46 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Yes, but it was just last week that MARC began seeking feedback.
Matt S.
9:21 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Something needs to be done, but $6.5 billion+ is just not gonna happen. It would be cheaper to build a new Amtrak station on the edge of the city next to a metro station and have Union Station for commuter trains only.
Ryan Stavely
8:13 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Most of the money is going to come from private developers.
Carol B
8:40 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
They can't maintain the station they already have. If MARC's in charge of it, it will cost $20 billion, takes three times as long to build as they project, and be no more efficient than the system they have now. And whom, exactly, does Amtrak plan to tap to pay for these lovely new digs? I already pay for a seat that rarely materializes (though I get to the station good 20 minutes before the train does) so I can stand all the way to DC while their young, strong, and healthy uniformed male personnel snooze in seats for which they aren't required to shell out $125/month. I and other passengers (not to mention Amtrak's own conductors and engineer) have been forced to ride for three solid weeks in a train car that stank of excrement--and it took a letter to the Board of Health to get something done about it. We're subjected on a regular basis to surly discourteous treatment by their personnel, forced to stampede halfway to New Carrollton to fight for a seat no matter how early we get to Union Station, because we're herded like cattle into the waiting area, and have to listen to one humorless conductor loudly tell another to go f--- himself for making a joke. (The first said, "Where do you want the wheelchair?" The second said, "I don't want a wheelchair at all.") That didn't deserve the response it elicited, and the passengers certainly didn't need to hear it. So no: let them prove they can provide true customer service first. They're overpaid already!