The Trump administration unveiled plans on Wednesday to take over management of the District of Columbia’s Union Station, extending its federal takeover of the district.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a statement saying the historic landmark had “fallen into disrepair,” teased an expansion of the property and suggested the Trump administration is considering a redevelopment project aimed at restoring the station to be “a point of pride.”
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“Under President Trump and Secretary Duffy’s leadership, USDOT will now leverage the valuable commercial aspects of Union Station, under the direct management of Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, to reinvest in Union Station,” a press release from the Transportation Department reads. “The capital needs of Union Station include improvements to elevators, lighting, and security along with enhancements to the passenger experience and replacing the roof and other major systems.”
Duffy’s office added that with the federal takeover of Union Station, “reinvestment and improved security” will “dramatically improve the income from the station, which should unlock opportunities for private investment as part of potential expansion of the station.”
Located just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, Union Station functions as a major metro hub in Washington and is a critical commuter rail and bus touchpoint. Union Station is the busiest in the metro system, with 65,000 trips per weekday, and it is Amtrak’s second busiest station in the country.
Crime has been a problem in the station, including fatal shootings and sexual assaults, and a large homeless population has heavily frequented the landmark for years, a problem Trump has targeted during his federal takeover of the district to make it “safer.”
Duffy’s announcement of “reclaiming management” of Union Station this week is the latest stage in the president’s takeover, an effort declared in early August that has included federal troops being dispatched to the district and has been branded by the president as a plan to combat crime.
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Duffy’s statement also comes just days after Trump issued an executive order targeting crime that directed him to perform inspections of qualifying transit services in the district, such as Union Station.
The order instructed the transportation secretary to look for conditions in transit services that “endanger transit workers” and “take appropriate remedial action that is within the Department of Transportation’s authority” to address them.