Chicago Union Station discussion

While researching (earlier this month) a potential south/west-bound Texas Eagle trip for this fall, I looked up the hours that the San Antonio station (our destination) is open. Because the southbound TE arrives somewhat late in the evening (8:45PM, if it's on time) and the northbound TE departs fairly early in the morning (7AM), the station is basically open overnight only, just the opposite of CUS!

WWW said:

Arrived after 11 pm (ole reliable late number 8) everyone hustled off the train through the south concourse -
checked baggage - and up onto Canal Street and left to ones own resources !
It felt like a rapid evacuation of a morgue in a plague condition !
Embarrassing enough I needed to use the restroom and had to have a cop let me back into the closed building !
Jeez Louise they sure wanted to close up in a flash and weren't allowing for human comfort !

Arrivals after midnight and even later probably handled the same way ?

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When was this? Amtrak would have had an obligation to provide accommodations and to provide re-scheduling for connecting passengers and there would certainly have been connecting passengers on No. 8.

In 2014 we arrived on No. 6 after midnight. We were directed to go to customer service and from there to the ticket window where we were re-scheduled on 448. We received cash compensation for meals and were directed outside to one of two waiting buses and eventually were bused to a hotel in Indiana and picked up the next morning and bused back to Union Station. There were aspects of this process that could have been handled a bit better but it did work. I can't recall if the cash was handed out at the ticket window or at customer service.

That of course was 2014 but I assume this process is still being done for connecting passengers.

This is all too confusing for me. Husband and I will be arriving to the station by Uber from Midway. My husband has bad knees and we need to get to Metro lounge without stairs or a 1\2 mile walk.

Please offer easy directions please. I have not been to the station in over 10 years.

Thanks so much for help.

gottago said:

I have not been to the station in over 10 years.

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Even longer for me (not since grad school 40+ years ago). The hubby & I would probably be catching a connecting train if we were in CUS, though, so hopefully we wouldn't need to be outside the station.

I know you can easily get redcap cart service from the lounge to the train. I wonder if you could arrange someone to meet you at an entrance and drive you to the lounge. Does anyone know if there is a way to call the lounge directly?

Brian Battuello said:

I know you can easily get redcap cart service from the lounge to the train. I wonder if you could arrange someone to meet you at an entrance and drive you to the lounge. Does anyone know if there is a way to call the lounge directly?

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I'd like to know that too!

Question: Are departure track numbers fairly consistent by route? i.e. Arriving on the City of New Orleans connecting to the California Zephyr. Or are the tracks assigned by day and/or circumstances?

WWW said:

Arrived after 11 pm (ole reliable late number 8) everyone hustled off the train through the south concourse -
checked baggage - and up onto Canal Street and left to ones own resources !
It felt like a rapid evacuation of a morgue in a plague condition !
Embarrassing enough I needed to use the restroom and had to have a cop let me back into the closed building !
Jeez Louise they sure wanted to close up in a flash and weren't allowing for human comfort !

Arrivals after midnight and even later probably handled the same way ?

Click to expand...

That's pretty amazing that a super major city like Cicago closes its main train station by 11. Baltimore Penn Station closes at 2 AM and reopens at 3. And back in 2007 or so, I was in Chicago and took a Metra train that left CUS at midnight. CUS was certainly open at midnight back then.

MARC Rider said:

That's pretty amazing that a super major city like Cicago closes its main train station by 11. Baltimore Penn Station closes at 2 AM and reopens at 3. And back in 2007 or so, I was in Chicago and took a Metra train that left CUS at midnight. CUS was certainly open at midnight back then.

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Station information for Chicago Union Station on the Amtrak website indicates that the station is open 7 days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. each day.

ThomB said:

Thanks for the details. We will be there in May to catch the Zephyr. After seeing the above posts I'm glad we decided to stay near the station the night before departure. I was hoping we could access the station from the SE since we are staying on the other side of the water at Jackson and Franklin. I haven't been to Union Station for quite a while so I appreciate the details in the earlier posts.

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You can access the station from the doors just off Jackson west of the river. There is also an elevator in that area. This is the exit I typically recommend for anyone attempting to access transit, also, as there is a bus stop right across the street (which will get one to the L easily) and a traffic light to cross.

railiner said:

What happens when an Amtrak arrival is extremely delayed...several hours past midnight? Surely they have to remain partially open until then?

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I have arrived well after the 1 A.M. closing on an extremely delayed Amtrak train. Station Amtrak police and an Amtrak employee are available to direct, assist, and hurry passengers out of the station. The station reopens at 5 A.M.

Shanson said:

@John Santos , your descriptions were reasonably accurate, but the construction has impacted the corridor containing the baggage claim, Amtrak ticketing and Greyhound counter. Passengers in the Lounge are no longer escorted, they do not go down the corridor past the restrooms or take the curved ramp. Coach and sleeper passengers are mingled, but separated just before reaching the platform. Sleeper pax wind up in the old coach waiting area. (Coach pax now wait in the Great Hall.)

The construction can't be over too soon.

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This is the most accurate and concise description of the current situation at CUS, in my recent experience and observation, passing through. There is a lot of scaffolding in the corridors between the platforms and the Great Hall, as referenced, but everything seems open and in its usual place. I haven't seen any major changes or closures in the Great Hall, itself, other than that all entry is currently from Clinton rather than Canal.

I'll see if I can take some photos (whenever I'm next there) to post, for reference, to better orient those who have not recently been at CUS as to the current situation with entrances, accessibility, and ongoing construction which have been discussed and questioned on this thread.

Last summer, despite Canal St. being closed, there were 2 entrances with elevators still accessible via sidewalks running a short ways along Canal: one from Adams St. on the north, and the other from Jackson Blvd. on the south. Are those 2 entrances still open?

I remember them being on opposite sides of Canal, but I can't remember which was which.

NorthShore said:

You can access the station from the doors just off Jackson west of the river. There is also an elevator in that area. This is the exit I typically recommend for anyone attempting to access transit, also, as there is a bus stop right across the street (which will get one to the L easily) and a traffic light to cross.

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Thanks!

Rasputin said:

Station information for Chicago Union Station on the Amtrak website indicates that the station is open 7 days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. each day.

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That can't be right; at least one last train is at 12:30 (my line it's 12:50) for Metra.

A picture says a Great deal about the Great Hall - reference LINK:

https://chicagounionstation.com/information/station-map

Browse around - although realize the information maybe dated -

Which brings up the subject about what entrances are presently open for access to the Great Hall.
I previously noted the Clinton entrance was closed and directions to use either of the Canal Street entrances. Now the Canal entrance(s?) are in a state of renovation?
A little help here with the current situation. The Clinton is now open again ?
The previous aforementioned Adams and Jackson may be open but handicap/mobility restricted.***
*** Adams Jackson to the Great Hall - not the concession court east river side of the Train Station

FYI don't be planning on "get me to the church ah er TRAIN on time" !
Get some straight forward (current) information to avoid this ! My last experience was in September - flew into O'Hare - Blue Line to Clinton - up what seem like a thousand stairs to the street level - 2 an a half block walk to Jackson Great Hall entrance - waited in Metropolitan Lounge for 3 hours to board #7 (261) private cars - Escorted to train and on time and on our way !

WWW said:

A picture says a Great deal about the Great Hall - reference LINK:

https://chicagounionstation.com/information/station-map

Browse around - although realize the information maybe dated -

Which brings up the subject about what entrances are presently
open for access to the Great Hall.
I previously noted the Clinton entrance was closed and directions
to use either of the Canal Street entrances.
Now the Canal entrance(s?) are in a state of renovation ? ? ?
A little help here with the current situation !
The Clinton is now open again ?
The previous aforementioned Adams and Jackson may be
open but handicap/mobility restricted.***
*** Adams Jackson to the Great Hall - not the concession court
east river side of the Train Station

FYI don't be planning on "get me to the church ah er TRAIN on time" !
Get some straight forward (current) information to avoid this !
My last experience was in September - flew into O'Hare - Blue Line
to Clinton - up what seem like a thousand stairs to the street level -
2 an a half block walk to Jackson Great Hall entrance - waited in
Metropolitan Lounge for 3 hours to board #7 (261) private cars -
Escorted to train and on time and on our way !

Click to expand...

The info about access during this construction project could be better.
Within Amtrak's advisory ( https://www.amtrak.com/alert/chicago-union-station-access-impacted-by-street-project.html )
about CHI there is a link to an image which shows access points, etc. More useful than the Chicago Union Station map!
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content...DUuNzg2MDMyMzg2LjE3MTEzOTY2MzMuMTcxMTM5NjYzMw..

Metra Electric Rider said:

That can't be right; at least one last train is at 12:30 (my line it's 12:50) for Metra.

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As the information at the link provided on a subsequent post makes more accurately clear, Union Station is closed between 1 and 5 A.M.

WWW said:

A picture says a Great deal about the Great Hall - reference LINK:

https://chicagounionstation.com/information/station-map

Browse around - although realize the information maybe dated -

Which brings up the subject about what entrances are presently open for access to the Great Hall.
I previously noted the Clinton entrance was closed and directions to use either of the Canal Street entrances. Now the Canal entrance(s?) are in a state of renovation?
A little help here with the current situation. The Clinton is now open again ?
The previous aforementioned Adams and Jackson may be open but handicap/mobility restricted.***
*** Adams Jackson to the Great Hall - not the concession court east river side of the Train Station

FYI don't be planning on "get me to the church ah er TRAIN on time" !
Get some straight forward (current) information to avoid this ! My last experience was in September - flew into O'Hare - Blue Line to Clinton - up what seem like a thousand stairs to the street level - 2 an a half block walk to Jackson Great Hall entrance - waited in Metropolitan Lounge for 3 hours to board #7 (261) private cars - Escorted to train and on time and on our way !

Click to expand...

There is a huge canopy over the street on Canal, and it is closed to vehicular traffic. The sidewalk seems to be open with scaffolding on at least the east side of the street. Whether the entrance is open, I don't know. A friendly station police officer recently advised to either use entrances on/off Clinton or by the river at Jackson and Adams.

These photos (from two weeks ago), alone, won't be the most helpful to answer all questions out there at the moment. (I'll try to get more next time I'm downtown.) But, it may help orient and contextualize a bit, concerning the current circumstances.

As you can see, the Great Hall (and general waiting area) is open. I am standing at center: camera looking East. Directly behind me is the temporary main entrance on Clinton. To my far right is another entrance, with a pedestrian ramp to Clinton and Jackson. To the far left, there is another entrance midblock (between Canal and Clinton) along Adams.

Ahead, and to the right, is the entrance to the lounge. The second floor of it can be seen in one photo just to the right of the grand staircase.

Continuing straight ahead (past the large "To Trains" signage) window arch one finds ongoing construction. (Just before the arch are arrival/departure boards, btw.) There is scaffolding in the hallway corridors which lead right (to the Amtrak baggage and Greyhound counter areas) and further around a bend to the south platforms. If one, instead, turns left past the arch, the Metra ticketing area is right there. It is no longer staffed by agents. So there are lots of machines for Metra tickets, along with Ventra machines, and paper maps/timetables. At the left in this area are public restrooms. Continue down the hall to the left in order to reach the north platforms.

Up an escalator from the north and south platform halls you can reach the mezzanine, where there is a food court/bar/restrooms. Continuing up a second escalator (and elevator on the south end) will get you to street level at either Jackson (south/with vehicular traffic east) or Adams (north/with vehicular traffic west) at the Chicago River. These entry/exits are heavily used, especially by commuters walking to/from the Loop downtown.

Let's reposition. Back to the kiosk with clock atop where I'm standing. Walk straight ahead. You'll again continue under the arch, past the area where the Amtrak ticket counter used to be a few years ago. There's a little Art Deco fountain here. And an escalator/elevator to the entrance many might know on Canal. But the street is closed, and this entrance may or might not be too. So, let's not count on that. Instead keep walking straight ahead. You'll encounter a police officer. He's guarding the entrance to the old Amtrak passenger waiting area, through which you'll probably still pass if you're boarding an intercity train. As you say hello to him, you're standing in a hallways which runs directly from the north to south platform atria.

And that's it!

Additionally, various buses stop across the street on Adams, Jackson, and Clinton. There's also a bus terminal used by some routes just across from the Great Hall on Jackson. I'm not certain where you want to get dropped off/picked up by car. But anywhere on the station side along Clinton seems solid. Perhaps, also, on Jackson by the river. I'll see if I can identify best spots or anything to avoid when I'm next nearby.

lstone19 said:

It must be that your lack of familiarity makes you think going to the north side platforms is more convoluted as it's actually just the mirror image of what you do to get the south side platforms: "past the Metropolitan Lounge, slight bend to the left and down a short, shallow ramp (or 2 or 3 steps) and the doors are on your left" and is no harder to follow.

Commuting in and out of CUS for six years in the 2010s, I actually thought there was some very good design elements to how passengers flowed there but this was before Amtrak started using the Great Hall as the waiting room. Back then, with the Amtrak waiting room on the east side at track level, there was very little interaction between the typical Amtrak passenger flow and the typical Metra passenger flow. Metra passengers largely walked to/from work in the loop so, from the perspective of departing passengers, entered via the entrances off Adams and Jackson by the Chicago River (Riverside Plaza). Those took them down to the mezzanine past the food court and the down to the west end of the boarding concourses where the Metra trains were. Meanwhile, Amtrak passengers, more often being dropped off by cab or other vehicles, entered from Canal St. and down escalators in the center which took them into what was then the Amtrak ticketing area and from there directly into the Amtrak waiting room which in turn led to the east end of the boarding concourses where the Amtrak trains were. That changed when Amtrak started using the Great Hall but even then, Metra passengers using the Riverside Plaza entrances still had little interaction with Amtrak passengers except when Amtrak was doing a kindergarten walk from the Great Hall to a train.

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It helps if you had used the concourse before it was torn down. With things open, the relationship of the north to south tracks was clear cut. When I have navigated the maze that is the current concourse, I keep a picture of how it was back then in my mind to maintain special orientation

Canal Street columned sidwalk is open, and the elevator is in service. I don't know if Canal Street stairway is open, because we use the elevator. The other entrance that we use is the southwest corner (Clinton & Jackson) which has a ramp. Turn left (east) on Jackson to reach taxis. I'm certain that other stairways are open, but old knees send me to my preferred entrances.

NorthShore said:

These photos (from two weeks ago), alone, won't be the most helpful to answer all questions out there at the moment. (I'll try to get more next time I'm downtown.)

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Could you take some of the scaffolding by the south platforms? (We're curious to see what that area looks like.)

I can now confirm, from personal experience and witnessing, that Amtrak police clear the Great Hall and lock doors at 11 P.M. They're polite and helpful about it, even in waking homeless and asking them to leave. I'm not yet certain (will need to ask) how this affects passengers departing on late commuter trains after 11. I'm guessing access at that time is limited via the entrances by the river side by the track/concourse area.

It also seems that ride share apps, like Uber, will not allow for requesting pickup/drop off along Clinton, which currently serves as the main entrance to the Great Hall (and IMHO should continue to after construction on Canal and in the concourse area is completed. Frankly, it is a MUCH better entrance point than what has long been used, and also offers a better visual image for Union Station as a welcome to the city and the transportation network. ). Therefore, your best pickup/dropoff point if using such services should be on Jackson, just east of Canal, between there and the river.

I did not have the opportunity to take photos of the concourse entrances by the river, nor the associated escalators/elevator by the tracks. I'll return for this soon, and share.

There is an elevator at the new Clinton main entrance (photo included) which can take you from the entrance/street level to the main floor level of the Great Hall. And the ramp from the corner of Jackson/Clinton (also pictured) which does the same.



Ramp to Jackson/Clinton from Great Hall




Great Hall entrance on Clinton


Elevator to cover short stair level entrance on Clinton

Here is the ongoing construction project on Canal, in front of the traditional entrance to Union Station.


The Grand Promenade along the West side (Great Hall) of Canal.


Corner of Clinton/Jackson looking towards the accessible (ramp) entrance just past the limited access and guarded vehicular entrance, as well as the current main entrance via the Great Hall (mid block.)


Construction on Canal, with complete street blocked (sidewalks are open) showing the Great Hall on the left (west side of street) and office building/track concourse on the right (east side of street.)



CTA bus terminal across the street (Jackson) from the Great Hall. Greyhound buses stop on the street (stupid, imo) with passengers waiting along the sidewalk, similar to when Megabus used to terminate at CUS.


Underground passageway to Union Station South Concourse
Stairs to Clinton exit from Great Hall




Passengers waiting for Greyhound bus on Jackson


Looking south along Clinton, across the street from main entrance to Great Hall. Small blue canopy to the right is the accessible ramp entrance. The CTA bus terminal can be seen just to the left of those stop lights.

I hope they were gentle when they woke you up.

My final set of photos today will focus on something numerous people have asked about: the concourse construction. I was not able to walk around to the platform atria on this particular visit. But these images offer an idea of what's going on in the underground cavern, under the office building, east of the Great Hall.


Entrance to the Concourse, from the Great Hall.



Looking back towards the Metropolitan Lounge from the same place as the previous photo.



Some seats straight across from the Metropolitan Lounge.



Looking south (to the right when coming from the Great Hall) in the Concourse area, towards the Amtrak baggage area and Greyhound ticket desk.




Metra ticketing area (to the north/left of Great Hall.). This photo (above) looks back from the restrooms at the back of this area, towards the entrance to the Great Hall, which will be to the distant right of these fare machines for Metra and Ventra
.


From the restroom areas by the Metra ticket machines. In this photo, the Great Hall/baggage area and South platforms will be to the left. The North platforms will be to the right.



At center of the Great Hall looking west to the main entrance/exit mid block at Clinton.



At entrance to the Great Hall from concourse area, looking west towards Clinton entrance/exit. Metropolitan Lounge is to the left.





Looking north in Great Hall, towards entrance along Adams.