President Donald Trump’s administration is stopping a long-planned Union Station expansion project dead in its tracks.
Instead, the Department of Transportation intends to pursue a new public-private partnership rather than move forward with a federally approved expansion plan approved under the Biden administration.
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The announcement last week comes just months after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced $466 million for structural repairs, concourse expansion, security enhancements and other improvements at the station.
Now, the department is setting aside another $24 million to help develop a new vision for Union Station’s future through a public-private partnership.
“Overhauling the historic Washington Union Station is a pivotal part of President Trump’s plan to make D.C. beautiful and safe. This is the gateway to our nation’s capital, it’s time its infrastructure reflect that,” Duffy said in a news release last week.
The roughly $8.8 billion plan approved under the Biden administration had been years in the making and received final federal approval in 2024. It included bringing a new train hall, expanded tracks and platforms, a new bus terminal and other upgrades designed to accommodate future growth in rail travel. It also promised to increase the station’s passenger capacity significantly.
A spokesperson for the D.C. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development told WTOP, “Union Station is beautiful and deserves investment to increase capacity, improve safety, and be a great American regional transportation center and asset to the nation. This project has been a longtime priority because our world-class city deserves a train station of the same standard.”
Duffy said the new path forward would ensure long-term profitability for “this gorgeous transportation monument” while creating a public-private partnership to deliver upgrades and improve the passenger experience.
What’s still unclear is what a replacement plan will look like, how much it will cost, and whether it will deliver the same rail capacity envisioned under the discarded proposal.
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