WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to take over the management of D.C.’s Union Station, the travel hub for Amtrak and the city’s Metro lines, the Transportation Department announced Wednesday morning.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made the announcement just over a year after Amtrak took over management and operations of the station.
“Instead of being a point of pride, Washington’s Union Station has fallen into disrepair,” Duffy said in a statement. “By reclaiming station management, we will help make this city safe and beautiful at a fraction of the cost.”
The Transportation Department said in Wednesday's news release that the efforts were part of a broader initiative, echoing President Donald Trump's executive order in March laying out efforts to fight crime and promote "beautification" in the capital.
The White House has enacted sweeping efforts to reshape the law enforcement presence in the district by surging in federal agents and the National Guard, a move that has drawn mixed reactions from residents, with many expressing anger and others voicing support.
During a news event ahead of the launch of a new high-speed train, Duffy said the Transportation Department aimed to make “investments to make sure that this station isn’t dirty, that we don’t have homelessness in Union Station. We want a place where businesses want to obtain leases.”
“Not a power play; we’ve always had it,” he added later, referring to the federal government’s ownership of the building. “But we think that we can manage the property better, bring in more tenants, bring in more revenue.”
The Transportation Department said the station needs “improvements to elevators, lighting, and security along with enhancements to the passenger experience and replacing the roof and other major systems.”
The release also referred to the station’s “potential expansion.” The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation said in 2024 that an expansion project was in the development stage.
The Transportation Department said it is renegotiating an agreement with Amtrak and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, which helps oversee the station and "serve as its landlord," its website says.
"In September, formal action confirming the USDOT’s renewed control of Washington Union Station is to be expected," the news release said.
Amtrak did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Duffy's announcement. A representative for the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation deferred questions to the Transportation Department.
The history of Union Station, which is owned by the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency of the Transportation Department, dates back more than a century to when it opened in 1907.
In 1981, Congress passed a law that gave the transportation secretary responsibility for Union Station's "rehabilitation and redevelopment." The law also laid out the goal to withdraw the federal government "from any active role in the operation and management of the Union Station complex as soon as practical," Union Station's website details.
Amtrak took control of the station's management and operations in July of last year in coordination with partners like the Federal Railroad Administration.
Duffy's announcement Wednesday came alongside the launch of NextGen Acela trains for high-speed rail service. In an interview with Fox Business, he noted that the project had been in progress for more than a decade, and he said on X, "This is all part of @POTUS’ vision to Make Travel Great again."
Democrats, though, quickly pointed out that the Biden-era infrastructure law provided $22 billion to Amtrak over five years to help with initiatives like modernizing trains and repairing and replacing systems.
The Transportation Department also announced in April that the administration was cutting a federal grant to Amtrak, which it said would "save taxpayers approximately $120 million."
