Chicago Union Station is an
intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
and
commuter rail
Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the
Near West Side of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's flagship station in the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, Union Station is the terminus of eight national
long-distance routes and eight regional
corridor routes. Six
Metra
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
commuter lines also terminate here.
Union Station is just west of the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
between West Adams Street and West Jackson Boulevard, adjacent to the
Chicago Loop. Including approach and storage tracks, it covers about nine and a half
city blocks (mostly underground, beneath streets and skyscrapers, some built with the earliest usage of railway
air rights
In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...
).
The present station opened in 1925, replacing an earlier
union station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
on this site built in 1881. The station is the
fourth-busiest rail station in the United States, after
Pennsylvania Station,
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...
, and
Jamaica station in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
[ and 120,000 daily Metra riders] and the busiest outside of the
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...
. It handles about 140,000 passengers on an average weekday (including 10,000 Amtrak passengers).
It has
Bedford limestone Beaux-Arts facades, and an interior with massive Corinthian columns, marble floors, and a Great Hall, highlighted by brass lamps.
The station connects to multiple transit authorities including the
Chicago Transit Authority bus and
Chicago L lines,
Metra
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
,
Pace,
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets.
Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
, and more either within the station or within walking distance.
Name
Chicago Union Station is named a
union station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
, like many train stations across the United States that were shared by several railroad companies.
The station is the third union station to occupy the site between West Adams Street and West Jackson Boulevard. The station is known by the acronym CUS, as well as by its Amtrak station code CHI.
Location
Chicago Union Station is situated in the
West Loop Gate neighborhood of the Near West Side of Chicago, just west of Chicago's
Loop. The station's underground concourse and train sheds abut the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
; passageways extend west beneath Canal Street to the main station building, one block over.
Services
Amtrak
*''
Blue Water'' (Chicago – Port Huron, Michigan)
*''
Borealis'' (Chicago – St. Paul)
*''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'' (Chicago – Emeryville)
*''
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
'' (Chicago – New York)
*''
City of New Orleans'' (Chicago – New Orleans)
*''
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...
'' (Chicago – Portland/Seattle)
* (Chicago – Miami)
*''
Hiawatha
Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...
'' (Chicago – Milwaukee)
*
''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' (Chicago – Carbondale, Illinois)
*
''Illinois Zephyr'' and ''Carl Sandburg'' (Chicago – Quincy)
*''
Lake Shore Limited'' (Chicago – New York/Boston)
*''
Lincoln Service'' (Chicago – St. Louis)
*''
Pere Marquette'' (Chicago – Grand Rapids)
*''
Southwest Chief
The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...
'' (Chicago – Los Angeles)
*''
Texas Eagle'' (Chicago – San Antonio/Los Angeles)
*''
Wolverine
The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...
'' (Chicago – Pontiac)
Metra
*
BNSF Line
*
Heritage Corridor
The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as ...
*
Milwaukee District North Line
*
Milwaukee District West Line
*
North Central Service
*
SouthWest Service
Connections
Local rail service
Unlike many major American intercity and commuter rail hubs, Union Station does not have any direct connection to local
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
service. However, two
Chicago "L"
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated railway, elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the four ...
stations are within walking distance of Union Station.
* (two blocks south of the station):
* (three blocks east of the station, on
The Loop): , , , and
Metra's other three downtown terminals – the
Ogilvie Transportation Center
The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (), on the site of the former Chicago and North Western Terminal, is a commuter rail train station, terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. For the last century, this site has served as the primary t ...
,
LaSalle Street Station and
Millennium Station
Millennium Station, (previously known as Randolph Street Terminal and occasionally referred to as Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a commuter rail terminal located in the Chicago Loop, Loop area of Chicago, do ...
– are all within walking distance of Union Station. Passengers connecting from Ogilvie can access Union Station's north platforms on the opposite side of Madison Street.
Bus service
Numerous
CTA bus routes stop directly at Union Station:
* Union Station Transit Center: 1, 28, 121, 124, 128, 151, 156
* West side of Clinton, north side of block: 125, 130, 192
* West side of Clinton, south side of block: 7, 60, 157
* Southwest corner of Clinton/Jackson: 126, 754, 755 (
Pace)
Union Station Transit Center is located adjacent to Union Station's parking garage. The bus station opened in 2016, on land formerly used for a surface parking lot. It features an elevator and stairway to the Amtrak underground pedestrian tunnel, allowing commuters to pass between Union Station and the bus staging area without crossing at street level.
Union Station has a counter operated by the
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets.
Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
intercity bus company. Tickets are available for purchase, and some Greyhound and
Megabus buses pick up passengers on South Canal Street, on the east side of the station building. The full-service Greyhound station is four blocks southwest of Union Station.
Historical services

Union Station was served by lines in all directions even before
Penn Central and
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
consolidated the downtown terminals. The station served as a terminal for the following railroads:
*
Chicago and Alton Railroad – only a tenant, later part of the
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...
*
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
(Burlington Route)
*
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) – The station housed its corporate offices from 1924 to 1986
*
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (
PRR)
*
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Panhandle) (moved to use the
PFW&C approach after April 23, 1917)
*
Penn Central Transportation Company (former services of the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
and
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...
) (moved from
LaSalle Street Station October 27, 1968)
*
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
(began May 1, 1971, moved from
Dearborn Station May 2, 1971 and
Central Station March 6, 1972 (''
Floridian'' moved January 23, 1972); Amtrak's ''
Calumet'' and ''
Indiana Connection''
commuter trains also ran into Union Station)
Some of these trains and their names have survived to present Amtrak services, such as the ''
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...
'', the ''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'', and the ''
Hiawatha
Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...
''.
The name ''
Ann Rutledge'' was used by Amtrak as a Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City route until a name and service consolidation in 2009. There is also a ''
Lincoln Service'' that operates in Illinois.
Interior
Station building

Located west of Canal Street, Union Station's
station building occupies an entire city block. At its center is the Great Hall, the main waiting room. Arrayed around the Great Hall are numerous smaller spaces containing restaurants and services, and a wide passageway leading to the concourse. Above the main floor are several floors of office space, currently used by Amtrak. Original plans called for many more floors of offices, forming a skyscraper above the Great Hall. This was never completed, although the plan has been revived in recent years.
The Burlington Room is an event space at the northwest of the Great Hall. The room features large columns, chandeliers, four French block murals of landscape scenery, and an original mirror. The space, initially a women's lounge, was restored in November 2016, after years of damage and neglect. For event uses, the space has color-changing lights and an audiovisual system.
The headhouse includes a space formerly used as a
Fred Harvey restaurant. After a large fire in 1980, the space was damaged, windows on Clinton Street were destroyed, and the space was left vacant since then. In 2018, Amtrak announced plans to redevelop the space into a multi-level food hall, using funds from the sale of its parking garage. A new entrance and canopy would be installed on Clinton Street, and new windows would replace the bricked-up windows. The food hall was planned to open in the summer of 2020.
The headhouse also includes a Metropolitan Lounge, one of seven Amtrak offers in its stations. The lounge operates like an
airport lounge
An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and better access to custome ...
, accessible to business- and first-class passengers, as well as other high-price ticketed passengers. The lounge reopened in June 2016, moving from the concourse to the headhouse. It has two stories and , double the space of the previous lounge. It features different seating areas intended for businesspeople, families and children, and people using phones or tablets. The space has bathrooms with showers, and an elevator.
Platforms and tracks
Union Station is laid out with a double stub-end configuration, with 10 tracks coming into the station from the north and 14 from the south. Unlike most of Amtrak's major stations, every train calling at Union Station either originates or terminates there; all passengers traveling through Chicago must change trains to reach their final destination. There are two through tracks to allow out-of-service equipment moves between the north and south side, including one with a platform to allow extra long trains to board. Between the north and south sides of the station is a passenger concourse. Passengers can walk through the concourse to get from any platform to any other without stairs or elevators.
Odd-numbered platforms (1–19) are on the north half of the station, and even-numbered platforms (2–30) on the south half. The north tracks are used by Amtrak for the ''
Hiawatha
Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...
'', the ''
Borealis'', and the ''
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...
'', and by
Metra
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
for the
Milwaukee District West,
Milwaukee District North, and
North Central Service routes. The south tracks are used for all other Amtrak services, as well as by Metra for the
BNSF,
Heritage Corridor
The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as ...
and
SouthWest Services. Two station management structures (known as glasshouses), one on each side of the terminal, monitor train-to-track assignments and the flow of traffic in and out of the station. Actual oversight and control of switching and signalling is accomplished by two "train director" positions, one for each side of the station, located in the Amtrak control center in the station's headhouse.
Numerous entrances provide access to Union Station's underground platform level. The main entrance is on Canal Street opposite the headhouse, but passengers can also reach the platforms directly from the headhouse via an underground passageway. Two secondary entrances are located in Riverside Plaza near the Jackson Boulevard and Adams Street bridges. The Union Station Transit Center bus terminal across Jackson Boulevard has a stairway and elevator leading to the south concourse. On Madison Street, across the street, and one block east from
Ogilvie Transportation Center
The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (), on the site of the former Chicago and North Western Terminal, is a commuter rail train station, terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. For the last century, this site has served as the primary t ...
, are a set of entrances to the north platforms.
Architecture
Union Station was designed by
D. H. Burnham & Company (known for its lead architect
Daniel Burnham, who died before construction began). The successor firm of
Graham, Anderson, Probst and White completed the work. The terminal was among the first to anticipate automobile traffic; it was first designed in 1909, one year after the
Model T entered production. It was designed with ticket offices, concourses, platforms, waiting and baggage rooms, and shops, all on a single level, meant to be easy to navigate. At opening, the terminal also housed a hospital, chapel, and jail cell.
The main building, a square Neoclassical structure, takes up one city block. Its architectural style contrasts with modern glass-faced buildings around it. The station has wide porticos and large colonnades on its exterior. The street-level entrances utilize
Indiana limestone.
The station originally featured a large
Beaux-Arts concourse building along the river, made with marble, glass, and iron.
Massive steel arches held up the vaulted roof, and several stairways led passengers down to the platforms. The concourse was demolished in 1969 and replaced with an office tower.
Great Hall
At the building's center is the Great Hall, a -high atrium capped by a large barrel-vaulted skylight. The room has connecting lobbies, staircases, and balconies. Enormous wooden benches are arranged in the room for travelers to wait for connections, and two specially designed underground taxicab drives were built to protect travelers from the weather.
The room's columns are of textured Roman travertine, with leafy golden Corinthian capitals. The ceilings and insets are coffered, with decorative rosettes.
Two statues by
Henry Hering – ''Night'' and ''Day'' – look down on passengers, symbolizing the 24-hour operation of the railroads. The statue ''Night'' holds an owl, while ''Day'' holds a rooster.
Related structures
Power station

The
Chicago Union Station Power House is a decommissioned coal-fire power plant that provided power to Union Station and its surrounding infrastructure.
[Matthew, Hendrickson.]
Iconic South Loop power station, facing wrecking ball, should be saved instead, preservationists say
, Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
. October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.[Koziarz, Jay.]
Preservationists push to save and repurpose iconic Union Station power house
, '' Curbed''. October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.[Chicago Union Station Power House]
, Preservation Chicago. Retrieved October 17, 2019. Located on the Chicago River, north of
Roosevelt Road, it was designed in the
Art Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...
style by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White in 1931.
The power plant was decommissioned in 2011.
It was included in
Preservation Chicago's 7 Most Endangered list in 2017 and 2020, as Amtrak has plans to demolish the building.
Post office
The same architecture firm that designed Union Station also designed the
Old Chicago Main Post Office, a post office atop the station's southern tracks. The post office, opened four years before Union Station, utilized the rail system, funneling mail to and from the trains below. An expansion in 1932 made the structure the world's largest post office.
Construction over the station's train shed

The large amount of land above the tracks and platforms has tempted property owners and developers. Possibly inspired by
Terminal City, a development built atop New York's
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...
's train shed, Chicago moved to develop the
air rights
In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...
above Union Station's tracks. The first building to be built was that of the ''
Chicago Daily News'' in 1929. Designed in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style, it was the first structure to add a public promenade along the river, which would be named
Riverside Plaza. Soon after, in 1932, the new
Chicago Main Post Office opened. Also in the Art Deco style, it is a gigantic structure that occupies two full city blocks. The
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and subsequent
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
halted development, but in the 1960s, work began on Gateway Center, a
Modernist complex of five buildings. Only the first four were built, and construction lasted into the 1980s through several economic cycles.
In 1990 the
Morton International Building opened. Now named for
Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
, it was the tallest building constructed over the tracks. With the construction of
River Point beginning in 2013 and
150 North Riverside beginning in 2014, the entire length of the train shed and tracks from Union Station north to Fulton Street and south to Polk Street is enclosed by overhead development.
Chicago Union Station's train shed, covered by buildings built above the tracks, helped lead locomotives to funnel significant soot and smoke in and around the station. This was unlike Grand Central Terminal, which has only allowed electric trains into its trainshed since opening.
History
The current Union Station is the second by that name built in Chicago, and possibly the third rail station to occupy the site. The need for a single, centralized station was an important political topic in 19th and 20th-century Chicago, as various competing railroads had built a series of terminal stations. The numerous stations and associated railyards and tracks surrounded the city's central business district, the
Loop, and threatened its expansion. The various stations also made travel difficult for through-travelers, many of whom had to make inconvenient transfers often slowed by street traffic from one station to another through the Loop. Union Station was part of architect
Daniel Burnham's city-wide
Plan of Chicago in 1909.
Predecessors
On December 25, 1858, the
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad opened as far as
Van Buren Street in Chicago. It built the first station at what would eventually become today's Union Station on the west bank of the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
.
The railroad built a permanent depot at the corner of Canal and Madison streets in 1861.
On April 7, 1874, five railroads agreed to build and share a
union station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
just north of the original Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad station site at Van Buren Street. These railroads were:
*
Pennsylvania Company (a subsidiary of the
Pennsylvania Railroad)
*
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
(Burlington Route)
*
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...
*
Chicago and Alton Railroad
*
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (The Milwaukee Road)
The Michigan Central, which had previously been using the
Illinois Central Railroad's
Great Central Station, soon decided to back out of the agreement, and continued to use the Illinois Central Depot. The
Chicago and North Western Railway, not part of the original agreement, considered switching to the new station from its
Wells Street Station but deferred instead. In 1911 it built the
Chicago and North Western Passenger Terminal for its operations.
The remaining four original companies used the station when it opened in 1881. The
headhouse of the Union Depot, a narrow building, fronted onto Canal Street and stretched from Madison Street to Adams Street. Tracks led into the station from the south, and platforms occupied a strip of land between the back of the headhouse and the bank of the Chicago River. South of the station, Adams, Jackson, and Van Buren Streets rose over the tracks and the river on bridges. The station, along with its successor, was effectively two back-to-back stub-end terminals. Virtually all trains arriving would terminate there, and passengers traveling further would need to change trains.
Replacement

Growth in passenger traffic, as well as a civic push to consolidate numerous railroad terminals, led to a proposal for an enlarged Union Station on the same site. The second Union Station would be built by the
Chicago Union Station Company. This was a new company formed by all the railroads that had used the first station, save for the Chicago and Alton, which became a tenant in the new station. The Pennsylvania Railroad, then the U.S.'s largest railroad company, planned and directed the project.
The architectural firm was
D. H. Burnham & Company (known for its lead architect
Daniel Burnham, who died before construction began). The successor firm of
Graham, Anderson, Probst and White completed the work.
Work began on the massive project in 1913, and required purchasing adjacent properties and moving freight facilities. Construction stalled during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and resumed in 1919.
The station finally opened on May 16, 1925, twelve years after construction began; some viaduct work continued into 1927. The construction cost, funded by the railroad companies involved, was projected to be $65 million, but ended up costing $75 million.
Construction was delayed several times by World War I, labor shortages and strikes. The construction of the station also involved the demolition and relocation of some previously existing buildings such as the
Butler Brothers Warehouse along the Chicago River. It is one of about a dozen monumental
Beaux-Arts railroad stations that were among the most complicated architectural programs of the era called the "
American Renaissance", combining traditional architecture with engineering technology, circulation patterning and
urban planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
. Union Station was hailed as an outstanding achievement in railroad facility planning at the time.
Wartime, decline, and resurgence
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Union Station was at its busiest, handling as many as 300 trains and 100,000 passengers daily, many of them soldiers. Illustrator
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...
captured this era with his cover painting for a December 1944 issue of ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', depicting the station jammed with Christmas travelers. After the war, the growth of highway construction and private ownership of automobiles caused a severe decline in American passenger-rail ridership, including at Union Station.
In 1969, the station's owner demolished the concourse building, making way for a modern office tower. A new and modernized, though less grand, concourse was constructed beneath the tower.
In May 1971, the national railroad
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
was formed to take over long-distance passenger train service, while commuter trains remained privately operated.
In 1980, the station's
Fred Harvey restaurant experienced a large fire. The space was damaged, windows on Clinton Street were destroyed, and the space was left vacant since then.
In 1984, Amtrak bought out the shares of Chicago Union Station Company held by
Burlington Northern (successor to the Burlington Route) and the Milwaukee Road, becoming sole owner of the station.
In the 1990s,
Lucien Lagrange Associates made some patchwork renovations, including to the Great Hall and its skylight, which had been blacked-out since World War II. Restoration of Union Station continued. Numerous spaces within the station had yet to be renovated, and many sat unused, especially within the station building.
21st century
After the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, Amtrak closed the pair of taxicab drives in the name of security. Passenger traffic has increased and is exceeding the design capacity of the 1991 renovation. On May 1, 2002, the station was designated a
Chicago Landmark, protecting its exterior, rooflines, and public interior spaces from alterations.
The status protects all exteriors, rooflines, the central lightwell, vehicular drives, the Great Hall, skylight, and select interior features – balconies, porticos, corridors, lobbies, and stairs.
In 2010, Amtrak (the current owners of the Chicago Union Station Company) announced plans to air-condition the Great Hall for the first time since the 1960s. That year a ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' investigation revealed high levels of diesel soot on the underground platforms of Union Station.
Metra
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
established an "Emissions Task Force" to study this problem and recommend solutions to improve air quality in the underground areas. In 2011, its lighting system was replaced with more energy-efficient light bulbs and motion sensors, reducing the station's annual carbon emissions by 4 million tons.
Custom steel lighting covers were added to top these safety/light towers, helping them blend in with the overall neoclassical style of the station.

In 2011, the city held a public meeting to discuss goals for the station, aiming to accommodate the expected 40 percent growth in passengers by 2040.
In the following year, city agencies joined to publish a master plan for renovating and improving Union Station.
Short-term goals were to improve station entrances and expand waiting rooms, as well as enhance bus lanes on Clinton and Canal Streets and create a bus terminal (completed in 2016). Goals for the next five to ten years included widening commuter platforms, using unutilized mail platforms (including an extra-long through platform) for intercity passenger trains, adding more through tracks and platforms, reorganizing facilities for better capacity and flow, increasing height clearances of the tracks, and improving street access to and from the station. Long-term, proposals include increasing capacity and improving the ambiance of the station by significantly expanding or replacing station facilities in the 200 or 300 blocks of South Canal Street. Adding track and platform capacity along Clinton Street or Canal Street was also analyzed.
In June 2015, Amtrak announced that it would renovate the station, including opening up long-closed spaces and replacing the worn staircases with marble from the original quarry near
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
In 2016, the women's lounge was restored, renamed the Burlington Room, and opened for use as an events space.
The space was initially a women's lounge, and later became an Amtrak warehouse. It then suffered years of neglect and water damage, and was eventually closed off. In November 2016, the room was renovated and reopened. An architecture firm removed wooden decking that divided the space into two floors, and took out a drop ceiling that defaced the original ornate ceiling. The work restored the room's columns and chandeliers, including creating several replica chandeliers. The room also has four French block murals of landscape scenery; three of the four were cleaned and preserved, while the fourth was reproduced. An original mirror and banister were added to the room's north end. The space was improved for events with color-changing lights and an audiovisual system.
In 2016, Amtrak held a competition for renovations and development of Union Station. The winner, Riverside Investment & Development Co., proposed multiple changes, including new retail, a food hall, and two 12-story towers. The plans followed an unrealized 2007 plan for a tower addition above Union Station.

From 2018 to 2019, a $22 million restoration of the Great Hall, including restoring original detailing and rebuilding the large skylight, was completed, increasing natural light by 50 to 60 percent. The skylight, originally built in the 1920s, suffered from decades of harsh weather, leading to countless patchwork repairs, many of which blocked light from entering the Great Hall. The 2018–19 renovation restored the historic skylight to its original appearance, and added another glass skylight atop it. The new skylight is better-designed to prevent water and snow damage, and increases light entering the Great Hall.
In 2018, Riverside Investment & Development Co. released a revised plan that included a seven-story addition above Union Station, adding 404 apartments to the building. The planned design was created by
Solomon Cordwell Buenz, resembling Burnham's earlier proposed tower above the station, designed to handle the weight. The addition was to be clad in glass and light bronze, differentiated from the station's design as recommended in its landmark designation. The developers also planned to renovate the existing upper levels of Union Station's headhouse, adding 330 hotel rooms. The proposal was met with mixed reactions by preservationists and architectural critics, with
Blair Kamin, the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
''s critic, calling it "banal" and "top-heavy".
Several months later, the developers announced they were cancelling the plan for the seven-story addition, instead constructing only a single additional penthouse floor, set back to not be visible from the street. The revised plan kept hotel rooms in the station's upper floors, and added a proposed 50-story office tower replacing the station's underutilized parking garage.
In 2018, Amtrak announced plans to redevelop the former Fred Harvey restaurant space into a multi-level food hall, using funds from the sale of its parking garage. A new entrance and canopy would be installed on Clinton Street, and new windows would replace the bricked-up windows. The food hall was planned to open in the summer of 2020.
In September 2019, Union Station's 700-car parking garage permanently closed in order to be demolished. Its replacement is the , ,
BMO Tower, opened in 2021. The skyscraper includes a park above 400 parking spaces. The construction did not affect the
pedway from the terminal to its adjacent Union Station Transit Center.
In March 2020, U.S. Representative for Illinois
Dan Lipinski filed a bill to shift operational control of the terminal from Amtrak to Metra. Lipinski noted that Metra utilizes the station much more than Amtrak does, and operates its other large stations more effectively than Amtrak operates Union Station. Amtrak officials threatened to stop service to Union Station if the change is to be made, stating it would be impossible to operate and would serve as a blockade to regional and national Amtrak service. Congress was out of session during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and aimed to discuss Lipinski's bill once sessions resumed.
In popular culture
Union Station is used as a filming location in television and movies. Films in which the station appears include ''
The Sting
''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film. Set in 1936, it involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had dir ...
'' (1973), ''
Silver Streak'' (1976), ''
On the Right Track'' (1981), ''
Doctor Detroit'' (1983), ''
The Untouchables'' (1987), ''
The Package'' (1989), ''
My Best Friend's Wedding'' (1997), ''
Flags of Our Fathers'' (2006), ''
Public Enemies'' (2009), and
''Man of Steel'' (2013).
It featured prominently in a third season episode of the TV series ''
ER'' (1994) titled "Union Station". It was also featured in Season 4, Episode 8 of the TV series ''
Fargo'' (2020), although it was depicted as ''
Kansas City Union Station.''
A 2016 exhibit in Union Station showcased the station and Chicago's use as a filming location in American cinema.
A photograph of Union Station is featured on the cover of
''To All Trains'', the final album by the Chicago rock band
Shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...
.
Amtrak ridership statistics
In 2019, Amtrak handled 3,379,760 arrivals and departures at the station. 3,161,204 of these were coach and business class tickets, and 218,556 were first class and
sleeper class tickets. 2,365,259 trips were taken on state supported Amtrak services (''Blue Water'', ''Hiawawatha Service'', ''Hoosier State'', ''Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg'', ''Illini/Saluki'', ''Lincoln Service'', ''Pere Marquette'', and ''Wolverine''), and 1,007,508 trips were taken on
long-distance Amtrak services (''California Zephyr'', ''Capitol Limited'', ''Cardinal'', ''City of New Orleans'', ''Empire Builder'', ''Lake Shore Limited'', ''Southwest Chief'', and ''Texas Eagle'').
In 2019, the average trip to/from the station was in distance. Among coach and business class passengers, the average trip was in distance, while the average trip among first and sleeper class trip was in distance.
Between the fiscal years 2002 and 2008, Amtrak ridership more than doubled at the station, surpassing 3.1 million in the 2008 fiscal year.
The following is the top-ten stations which receive the most ridership to/from Chicago Union Station out of the 265 that Amtrak rail services that directly connected with Chicago Union Station as of 2019:
Metra ridership statistics
Cumulative ridership
See also
*
Architecture of Chicago
*
History of passenger rail in Chicago
*
List of busiest railway stations in North America
* ''
Illinois Service''
* ''
Missouri River Runner''
References
External links
*
Chicago Union Station – Metra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago
1925 establishments in Illinois
Amtrak stations in Illinois
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Illinois
Former Chicago and Alton Railroad stations
Former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad stations
Former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad stations
Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
Railway stations located underground in Illinois
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1881
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1925
Transit centers in the United States
Union stations in the United States
Railway stations in Cook County, Illinois