Chicago Union Station will receive $93 million in federal funds for renovations, but the total grant amount is far less than officials had asked for and is on Amtrak’s wish list for track improvements outside the station. has not responded.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, who were pushing for funding for the Chicago Hub Improvement Project, announced the grant on Wednesday.
Durbin and Duckworth said in a news release that the funding will expand the platform to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and upgrade the ventilation system.
The station’s Post Office platform, which has been unused since 2005, will be repurposed to accommodate intercity travel for the station’s 120,000 weekly passengers.
Amtrak, which owns the station, said it would not comment until Friday when the grant is formally announced by the Federal Railroad Administration.
The $93 million grant is $873 million Applied by Amtrak. Amtrak’s plan will cost $1.1 billion with local funding and includes other projects such as changing the track south of the station.
The new grant will not fund other Amtrak dream projects outside the station.
Amtrak wants to improve the St. Charles Air Line, an east-west rail link on 16th Street, so trains can turn directly north to Union Station. Currently, trains using this line have to head south and return to Union Station, which takes longer.
Another proposed track improvement would bring Amtrak trains from St. Louis and Texas to Chicago on the Metra Rock Island Line, making commuting faster on Metra lines.
Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who studies public policy and transportation, said getting the post office platform back up and running is important to improving the station’s capacity.
The grant “starts an effort that will likely develop into a complete overhaul of the station,” he said. “But that’s just the beginning. It’s not a quick fix, but it gets the ball rolling in an exciting way.”
Nearly 30 members of Congress led by Mr. Durbin and Mr. Duckworth. wrote a letter In September, it pressured President Joe Biden to approve funding.
