Chicago Union Station needs fixing

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Steve4031

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I just passed through again on Thursday after my trip on the CZ. I also waited with a friend in the Acela lounge who traveled with me. He was continuiong on the Capitol Limited to Cleveland.

The station was jammed with crowds starting the easter weekend travel period. I observed that the red caps had to maneuver to get around passengers with their powered carts. They seem to drive as though people see them and will get out of the way. Things move and function, but it looks like a disaster area.

Additionally, lines for the gates extend back pass the enterance to the Acela lounge.

I think its time for a complete redesign of Union Station. so for fun, what would you do to fix it?

I would start off moving those wiating areas to the great hall, and eliminated that cattle call boarding that characterizes Union Station. The Acela lounge could remian, but why not have the red caps pick up passengers on the east side of the lounge by the doors that lead to track 28/29? They could still reach all of the platforms, but they would not be driving through crowded public areas. I would like to see Union Station function more like NYP, where one just goes and gets on the train with no fuss.
 
Somehow they have to figure a way to use the old huge main hall to alleviate the overcrowding. The problem is the way the station is configured I don't know any easy way to do this. The Acela lounge is ridiculously overcrowded when waiting for all the afternoon western long hauls to leave.
 
nferr said:
Somehow they have to figure a way to use the old huge main hall to alleviate the overcrowding. The problem is the way the station is configured I don't know any easy way to do this. The Acela lounge is ridiculously overcrowded when waiting for all the afternoon western long hauls to leave.
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If you think that the Metropolitan lounge is crowded now, you should have seen it before the major expansion 2 or 3 years ago. :eek:

Back then if you were standing there and had a heart attack you needed a reservation just to fall down. :blink:
 
Doesn't help crowding much, but it would be nice (if impractical) to have the El service Union Station.
 
You aren't from Chicago are you? Union Station gets a lot of train traffic, and it's not as big as Penn station. So yes it is going to be crowded. Just do basic math and you will see. They can't really expand it much either. The skyscrapers and all kind of get in the way. Personal I don't see anything wrong with it. Then again I live in Chicago and too me it's just part of being in a big city. You deal with crowded places. If I wanted ample space I'd move to boofoo Alabama or something. But if I did that I wouldn't get the choice of many different Amtrak trains to ride when I wanted.

There is a reason we are called the city of big shoulders. Our "crowded" train station proves the bigness of the shoukders.

happy easter all
 
Funny thing, last month when I was in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago it wasn't crowded at all. Plenty of seats available and this was even during the afternoon hours.

I have seen it so crowded, though, that the Thin Man would have had trouble finding Standing Room Only.
 
The only time I've seen it when it's not crowded is early in the morning. It fills up fast.

If the great hall was brought back to it's original purpose and its original look, where it had more of those nice, big old benches, and the center was an information desk, and the west side once again had a couple of small shops and restaurants, and the washrooms were opened to the public again, there'd be no over crowding. An added plus would be that it would once again look like one of those big, beautiful stations from the past.

Using the passenger waiting room for passengers in the great hall would mean that they couldn't close the waiting room and rent it out to the rich and famous once in awhile as they do now. Nothing is more disappointing than to take a visitor to the great hall only to see it closed to the public. Its original plan was solely for the public and it should have remained that way.
 
Guest said:
Doesn't help crowding much, but it would be nice (if impractical) to have the El service Union Station.
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The El did serve CUS many years ago. It was taken away when they put the Blue Line in, which doesn't really serve CUS. :angry:
 
JayPea said:
Funny thing, last month when I was in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago it wasn't crowded at all. Plenty of seats available and this was even during the afternoon hours.
I have seen it so crowded, though, that the Thin Man would have had trouble finding Standing Room Only.
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My experiences at the lounge have been similar. Before the renovation I've even had to sit on one of those solid round coffee tables in order to get off my feet. I didn't like doing it but had little choice; sit or fall down! After the renovation there was plenty of seating, I'd say the lounge was about 10-15% full with a decent choice of where to plug in my laptop. It was around 7PM or so IIRC.
 
Everydaymatters said:
The only time I've seen it when it's not crowded is early in the morning. It fills up fast.
If the great hall was brought back to it's original purpose and its original look, where it had more of those nice, big old benches, and the center was an information desk, and the west side once again had a couple of small shops and restaurants, and the washrooms were opened to the public again, there'd be no over crowding. An added plus would be that it would once again look like one of those big, beautiful stations from the past.

Using the passenger waiting room for passengers in the great hall would mean that they couldn't close the waiting room and rent it out to the rich and famous once in awhile as they do now. Nothing is more disappointing than to take a visitor to the great hall only to see it closed to the public. Its original plan was solely for the public and it should have remained that way.
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Probably about spot on, lots of space there but just so badly used.

Too narrow a space in front of the platform entrances as well, another 20 to 30 foot would allow things to flow more easily. There is no shortage of space past the gateline.

(And get rid of those stupid e-voices announcing what track it is, even if there is no train there. Annoying noise pollution.)

(Oh, and learn how to get people on a train without a song and dance. Its just getting on a train, its not hard.)
 
Every time I have been to CUS in the summer, the Great Hall was pretty warm. Am I correct in assuming it is not air conditioned? If it were to again be used as a waiting room, I would think they would need to be able to cool it down in the summer and heat it up in the winter.
 
printman2000 said:
Every time I have been to CUS in the summer, the Great Hall was pretty warm. Am I correct in assuming it is not air conditioned? If it were to again be used as a waiting room, I would think they would need to be able to cool it down in the summer and heat it up in the winter.
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Another problem with using The Great Hall is - they rent it out for special occasions from time to time. There have been times when I was there you couldn't even get in as they had it roped off and all the benches taken out.
 
I was in Chicago Union Station on April 8 and April 11. I was in the Metropolitan Lounge in the evening waiting on the 8pm City of New Orleans and I was in it on April 11 waiting on the 1:45pm Texas Eagle. There were plenty of seats both times. I thought it was very nice. You want to see crowded, try the Magnolia Room in New Orleans. Their first class lounge has bout 10 seats. Anyway I like the crowds at Chicago Union Station. I really liked watching everyone running to their Metra trains at rush hour last Wednesday. I think its a great station. Its a big city...your going to have big crowds....its just part of the experience.
 
MrFSS said:
printman2000 said:
Every time I have been to CUS in the summer, the Great Hall was pretty warm. Am I correct in assuming it is not air conditioned? If it were to again be used as a waiting room, I would think they would need to be able to cool it down in the summer and heat it up in the winter.
Click to expand...
Another problem with using The Great Hall is - they rent it out for special occasions from time to time. There have been times when I was there you couldn't even get in as they had it roped off and all the benches taken out.
Click to expand...

When I was there last month workmen were in the process of removing benches in the Great Hall. I assume they were going to have a special occasion of some sort.
 
I really like the crowds as well. Of course, wife and I are from a town with 20,000 people and crowds are rather an exciting part of being in a big city.

We were in the Metro Lounge in March and as usually is the case, the lounge is rather crowded in the middle of the day when the western trains are getting ready to leave. But our group of 12 was able to find seats both in the 10-12 PM time and again when we were leaving at 2. Same thing when we returned to board the Capitol at 7PM.

I think the old waiting room is nice the way it is. Mostly quiet with just a few people sitting on the benches reading. Allows one to savor the atmosphere and reflect on the history of the station.

I think a better way to sign in passengers at the desk might help but the amount of room to do so is limited. The people there have always been friendly and helpful and made the Metro Lounge experience a positive one. The restrooms could be larger since there is only one stall in the men's room.

Just 2 cents from Railroad Bill-- six weeks until our first trip on the Texas Eagle. :p
 
In case anyone's curious, this is what the concourse area of Chicago Union Station looked like before the current office tower was built on the site:

CUS.jpg


In a perfect world, we'd tear down the current skyscraper monstrosity and put this back. Of course, though, this is far from a perfect world ...
 
I was in the Metropolitan Lounge 3 times last month. Yes it was crowded in mid afternoon, but not overly so. After the western LD trains (CZ, EB, SWC) departed at or before 3 PM, the Lounge was almost empty until like 5:30. But there was always plenty of seats.
 
Montanan said:
In case anyone's curious, this is what the concourse area of Chicago Union Station looked like before the current office tower was built on the site:
[picture removed]

In a perfect world, we'd tear down the current skyscraper monstrosity and put this back. Of course, though, this is far from a perfect world ...
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WOW! I hope people didn't bump their heads too often on the ceiling! :lol:
 
Everydaymatters said:
Using the passenger waiting room for passengers in the great hall would mean that they couldn't close the waiting room and rent it out to the rich and famous once in awhile as they do now. Nothing is more disappointing than to take a visitor to the great hall only to see it closed to the public. Its original plan was solely for the public and it should have remained that way.
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Aloha

When I was in CUS March 31, there wasn't much time for me so I went straight to the Lounge, I was lucky I missed Richard Simmons in the Great Hall. I have enjoyed the beauty of the Great Hall before.
 
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mercedeslove said:
You aren't from Chicago are you? Union Station gets a lot of train traffic, and it's not as big as Penn station. So yes it is going to be crowded. Just do basic math and you will see. They can't really expand it much either. The skyscrapers and all kind of get in the way. Personal I don't see anything wrong with it. Then again I live in Chicago and too me it's just part of being in a big city. You deal with crowded places. If I wanted ample space I'd move to boofoo Alabama or something. But if I did that I wouldn't get the choice of many different Amtrak trains to ride when I wanted.
There is a reason we are called the city of big shoulders. Our "crowded" train station proves the bigness of the shoukders.

happy easter all
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I live in Chicago, and after having traveled through NYP, 30th street station in Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., find the layout to Union Station to be deficient. Especially, if Chicago is to be a hub in the Midwest High Speed rail network. The current layout barely manages the flow of passengers. When there is an increase in rail traffic, the current design will not be able to handle the additional passengers.

Secondly, I am not expressing surprise at the station being crowded, I am stating dissatisfaction with the layout of the station, and how crowds are managed here.

Transportation planners in the Chicago area and the state of Illinois have failed the region for the past 30 years. That is why there is no decent rail connections to the airports, and why we have some of the worst commute times in the nations on the expressways. The fact that one must walk two blocks south to connect with the closest subway station only to ride 3 stops to transfer to another line that involves going up and down stairs twice to connect to the line that goes to north Michigan avenue only highlights the backwardness of the transit system here. Obviously, some of this was done years ago, but the fact that nothing was done to rectify makes no sense.
 
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