Amtrak is set to propose a plan that involves a $7 billion transformation of Union Station, aimed at tripling passenger capacity and transforming the overcrowded station into a high-speed rail hub for the Northeast of Washington, D.C. The proposal, which will be announced on Wednesday, calls for doubling the number of trains the station can accommodate and improving the passenger experience at the second-busiest Amtrak station in the country, with 100,000 passenger trips per day.
The proposal, however, lacks a vision for the financing of the plan, which would reportedly require huge government funding commitments. Amtrak president and chief executive Joseph H. Boardman said the rail line is reimagining what it will take to make rail a vital, viable part of the region’s transportation infrastructure. “The problem that we have is that we’ve got a lack of balance and investment in a mode that moves a lot of people, that is an environmentally responsible mode, and that changes the way that people are going to be able to travel in the future with the technology that is available today,” Boardman said.
