rtabern
Conductor
I got wind that the Legacy Club at Chicago Union Station is likely slated to close by June 2019... if not sooner. Amtrak was planning to use this as a "model" --- and if successful --- would be emulated at other larger stations around the country. Apparently it was NOT a success. My guess is --- sleeping car passengers and business class passengers already have a free lounge (Metropolitan Lounge) no more than 200 feet away... that is pretty much the same.... and is free, so they're not going to pay $20 a head to use another lounge. Coach passengers are generally economic minded and the $20 a head was too steep for them. If I'm scraping up $30 to go to Carbondale or wherever, I probably wouldn't pay $20 for some cookies and soda... I'd use that $20 to upgrade to business class and get a nicer seat and get in the Metropolitan Lounge. Apparently, daily Metra commuters and office workers who work around the station are killing Amtrak's bottom line... buying $50 monthly passes and then coming every day between 12:30p-1:30p for the happy hour and getting 2 free alcoholic drinks every day. Hey, that's upto 40 drinks for $50 in a month. This hasn't been announced anywhere I have seen, but Amtrak is preparing to close the lounge and quietly stopped selling the yearly pass. Rumor has it, that retail will be moving in there --- quite possibly a wine shop is the buzz going around now. Won't happen for several more months though as there are other priorities and construction going on that retail might worry about hurting business. Hope they keep the room and old barber shop the same.