National Limited
Service Attendant
I was recently in Washington DC for a weekend getaway. My flight flew out of BWI. I got to union station in the pouring rain and quickly booked a train on the Amtrak app. When I got to the Claytor concourse I was surprised to see a New York Penn station size mob waiting to find the gate posting for my regional train. It was almost a third world experience attempting to get to the gate, through the gate, and then on the train. The roof of the Claytor concourse leaks. There were puddles all around Gate K. Passengers were lined up like cattle. It was almost as fun as going through security at a national airport the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I have to say as an eager Amtrak enthusiast that it was rewarding to see so many people attempting to use Amtrak. But also disappointing to see that the Claytor concourse doesn’t appear to be adequately sized for the amount of traffic Amtrak sees at Washington Union Station. So my question is this: Was the Claytor concourse ever big enough to handle Amtrak traffic at Union station? And are there any plans to make high-level platforms available on the through tracks?