Transportation Department plans to take over D.C.’s Union Station

The Transportation Department is planning to take over management of D.C.’s Union Station, Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced Wednesday, in another example of the White House exerting power over the District as National Guard soldiers and federal law enforcement officers continue to patrol the city.

It’s not clear how dramatic the change will be for the transit hub, which connects regional trains and buses to the Metro system. Duffy said it will involve a cooperative agreement with the nonprofit Union Station Redevelopment Corp., which controls the station, and Amtrak, which leases space from the USRC.

For the last year Amtrak has controlled both sides of the station, and officials have said it allowed them the flexibility to use some unoccupied retail space for passengers. Now Amtrak will run the passenger area while USRC will manage the retail.

“We think that we can manage the property better,” Duffy said Wednesday, by bringing in more businesses that will help pay for improvements. He called it a “power play” in line with the takeover of city police: “We are going to make the investments to make sure that this station isn’t dirty, that we don’t have homelessness in Union Station.”

Troops have been posted in and around the station since President Donald Trump’s Aug. 11 takeover of city policing. White House officials held a news conference there last week that was repeatedly drowned out by protesters. Duffy said better security will be coming, along with new elevators and lighting and a roof replacement.

The announcement came hours before Duffy was set to join an inaugural ride on one of the Acela trains going into service this week between D.C. and Boston. His agency also has taken control of renovations at New York’s Penn Station, putting Amtrak and former subway executive Andy Byford in charge.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), an agency within the Transportation Department, has owned the Union Station complex for 44 years, while USRC manages the property. Until last year, a private real estate company controlled the retail inside the station. During the pandemic, as travel plummeted and crime spiked, Union Station - already suffering from declining retail and decaying infrastructure - suffered. Riders said incidents involving people in mental health crisis made them reluctant to spend time there.

For years, Union Station’s columned facade also was the backdrop for one of the city’s biggest homeless encampments, frequently referred to by advocates as a stop of last resort for some of the District’s most vulnerable residents. The National Park Service cleared the encampment in 2022, displacing dozens of unhoused adults, citing mounting concerns over public health and safety. Since then, the government has enforced a no-camping zone.

The station’s fortunes have improved. Amtrak seized control of the retail side of the building through eminent domain last year; new businesses have opened and it is again crowded with commuters, tour groups and shoppers.

A new train platform was added this month, and a Wolfgang Puck restaurant is set to take over space on the upper level.

At Wednesday’s Acela launch, Amtrak President Roger Harris said the agency had “already been spending a lot of time cleaning the station up and having it operate more efficiency” but that “the Department of Transportation will be able to bring a lot of focus on the station and help to revitalize it commercially.”

The USRC has been working on a $10 billion expansion of the station under the leadership of Doug Carr, who managed the redevelopment of New York’s Moynihan Train Hall.

But occasional incidents continue. There was a fatal shooting in the station’s parking garage in February, not long before Duffy’s wife passed through.

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Marissa J. Lang contributed to this report. This is a developing story that will be updated.