The Department of Transportation will reclaim management of Union Station, with changes to be formalized in September. DOT has owned the building since the 1980s but had outsourced daily operations and commercial management to the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation. Amtrak took over those responsibilities last summer, and DOT announced another management change at the launch of new Acela trains. The move is justified by officials as a response to disrepair and safety concerns. Union Station serves about 70,000 passengers per day on more than 200 trains and houses dozens of shops and restaurants. Administration visits and statements highlighted alleged crime and homelessness issues at the station.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Wednesday that it will reclaim management of the station, with changes expected to be formalized in September. DOT has owned the building since the 1980s. But it had long outsourced the management of its daily operations and commercial aspects to a local nonprofit, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation. Amtrak took over those responsibilities last summer and it was at the launch of its new Acela trains that DOT announced management would soon change hands once again.
As the administration officials walked through the Beaux-Arts building, heckled by protesters, they painted a picture of Union Station as an especially unsafe area. Hegseth called it "part of the epicenter" of crime, adding that a first responder previously told him it is their No. 1 call location. "You have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have the mentally ill who harass, who threaten violence, who attack families, and they've done it
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