WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan coalition of former federal transportation leaders today announced the creation of the Nation’s Station Alliance intended to persuade Congress and President Biden that the federal government has an obligation to invest in and modernize Washington Union Station. The crucial infrastructure investment in this indispensable national asset will double capacity at America’s second busiest and only federally owned train station and the greater Washington area’s busiest transportation hub.  

The new Nation’s Station Alliance (the Alliance) is led by an Executive Steering committee comprised of former Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), who argue the Washington Union Station Expansion Project is essential for our national rail and public transportation system and will serve as a catalyst for the regional economy. 

The launch of the Nation’s Station Alliance coincides with the 120th anniversary to the day that President Roosevelt signed the law that authorized a national railroad station and kicks off a national campaign to inform and rally supporters of the Union Station project. 

Senator Elizabeth Dole, who spearheaded the redevelopment of Union Station in the 1980s as Secretary of Transportation under President Ronald Reagan and is serving as Chair Emeritus of the Alliance said: “Over a century ago, the federal government built a train station aimed at serving the country and America’s capital. The nation saved the station in the 1980s and it is time for the country to invest in it again.”

The Nation’s Station is national infrastructure. Just five blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building, it serves as a gateway to the Nation’s Capital; as the backbone that connects East Coast rail lines to the north and south; and as a hub for commuters and visitors within the Washington area mega-region. Whereas nearly all other multimodal transportation facilities are owned by state or municipal transportation entities, Union Station was built by an Act of Congress and is federally owned by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Amtrak owns the 25-acre railyard behind the station. 

Rodney Slater, Secretary of Transportation under President Bill Clinton, said: “Expanding Union Station is the most direct way to spark economic development and create new transportation opportunities, not just locally but for the entire nation.” 

The FRA is currently leading the $10.7 billion Union Station Expansion Project (SEP) to double the station’s capacity, with Amtrak and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) serving as project proponents. The Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission both unanimously approved the FRA’s revised project vision, which was released in the summer of 2022, and celebrated the SEP for addressing stakeholder concerns raised with the FRA’s preferred project concept from the 2020 Draft EIS. This unanimous support for the new project vision in the summer of 2022 allowed the FRA to proceed with completing the environmental review process. But as of late, there has been no measurable forward progress. 

Despite Union Station’s critical role as national infrastructure, the station has not been adequately maintained, improved, or expanded since 1988. “We’ve waited far too long to take action to restore Union Station to its original dignity,” said Dan Tangherlini, who has worked for two presidents and two mayors of DC and is championing the Nation’s Station effort. “No more delays,” he added.

Anthony Williams, who currently serves as CEO of the Federal City Council and was the Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1999 to 2007, said the Alliance effort will help rally business, as well as generate local, regional and national support to elevate the greater Washington area’s busiest transportation hub.

“This won’t happen unless we get everyone in the boat rowing in the same direction,” Williams said. “Having people with the stature of these former federal transportation leaders says a lot about the bipartisan spirit we’re seeing here.”

For more information about the Alliance and the Nation’s Station campaign, visit NationsStation.US or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter (@nations_station).