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A view of the Union Station sign by Gatoona –

Top 10 Facts about Union Station in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande Station and Central Station.

Approved in a controversial ballot measure in 1926 and built in the 1930s, it served to consolidate rail services from the Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific Railroads into one terminal station. Conceived on a grand scale, Union Station became known as the “Last of the Great Railway Stations” built in the United States. 

The structure combines Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne styles. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Let鈥檚 look at the top 10 facts about Union Station in Los Angeles.

1. The Union Station is a major transportation hub for Southern California

The Union Station serves almost 110,000 passengers a day. It is by far the busiest train station in the Western United States; it is Amtrak’s fifth-busiest station and is the twelfth-busiest train station in North America. 

Four of Amtrak’s long-distance trains originate and terminate here: the Coast Starlight to Seattle, the Southwest Chief, and Texas Eagle to Chicago, and the Sunset Limited to New Orleans. The state-supported Amtrak Pacific Surfliner regional trains run frequently to San Diego and also to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. 

The station is the hub of the Metrolink commuter rail system and is a major transfer point for several Metro Rail subway and light rail lines. The Patsaouras Transit Plaza, on the east side of the station, serves dozens of bus lines operated by Metro and several other municipal carriers.

2. Architect Daniel Burnham designed Union Station

Union Station, Los Angeles by Antoine Taveneaux –

Daniel Burnham, an architect with a knack for masterful urban planning projects, was tapped in 1901 to become the de facto head of the Senate Park Commission which was the McMillan Commission, in honor of Sen. James McMillan of Michigan, who chaired the Senate Committee for the District of Columbia.

Union Station鈥檚 designers went for an ancient Roman vibe in their plans, drawing inspiration from the famous Baths of Diocletian and Caracalla as well as the Arch of Constantine. The symbolism of its design went even further, according to the National Park Service. NPS says it served to reflect the growing importance of the United States and its neoclassical elements 鈥渃onnected Washington to Athens and Rome,鈥� two ancient centers of civilization. That connection was continued through Burnham鈥檚 master plan for the Mall, with the stately Lincoln Monument, the Memorial Bridge, and other buildings.

3. The site chosen for Union Station was a neighborhood created by Irish immigrants

The decision to plant Union Station was made to construct it in the middle of Swampoodle, a neighborhood populated by Irish immigrants. It was also the home of Swampoodle Grounds, the baseball stadium where the Washington Nationals played from 1886 to 1889.

Nearly 100 homes were torn down to make room for the station, and the neighborhood faded from local memory. But it is having something of a revival in the form of a new public playground and dog park in NoMa, which opened last year. Neighborhood residents got the chance to vote on the name, and Swampoodle won in a landslide.

4. The Union Station cost $11 million during construction in 1939 

Megabus in Patsaouras Transit Plaza of Union Station, Los Angeles, CA by Downtowngal –

The Union Station took over from La Grande Station which had suffered major damage in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Passenger service was provided by the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific, as well as local lines of the Pacific Electric Railway and Los Angeles Railway.

Union Station saw heavy use during World War II but later saw declining patronage due to the growing popularity of air travel and automobiles. The famed Super Chief luxury train carried Hollywood stars and others to Chicago and thence the East Coast. 

5. The Peanut Special, a chartered train, carried supporters of Jimmy Carter to Union Station in 1977 for his inauguration

In 1977, President-elect Jimmy Carter鈥檚 campaign coordinated a special Amtrak ride to bring supporters to Washington for his inauguration. It was dubbed the 鈥淧eanut Special,鈥� and it began its route at the Plains Depot in Plains, Ga., which had been shuttered to passenger travel in 1955 but reopened in 1976 as Carter鈥檚 campaign headquarters. 

About 350 supporters, 30 staff, and 35 reporters rode the Peanut Special, and the 鈥渁tmosphere on board was dominated by large quantities of refreshments, mostly liquid, plus peanut tie tacks, peanut balloons, peanut necklaces, and other peanut souvenirs.鈥�

6. Union Station was repurposed as the 鈥淣ational Visitor Center鈥� ahead of the bicentennial

Union Station (1939), Los Angeles, California, USA by Dietmar Rabich –

Ridership hit its peak during World War II when as many as 200,000 people transited through Union Station each day, but it saw a steady decline in the wake of the war. As train ridership began to fall, Union Station began sinking into a state of disrepair and it was at risk of being demolished. 

But in the 1960s, planners dreamed up a new purpose for the aging transit hub ahead of the expected leap in tourists around America鈥檚 bicentennial celebration: a National Visitor Center. The government leased the station from its railway owners and poured millions of dollars into repurposing it.

7. President Ronald Reagan signed the Union Station Redevelopment Act to rehabilitate Union Station after its roof leaked in 1981

In February 1981, the station鈥檚 situation had reached a critical mass. The state of the terminal was egregious, and the National Park Service declared the building unsafe. It closed it to the public after rain poured through the ceiling, leaving train passengers to trek around the eyesore to access the Amtrak station just behind it.

Just a few months later, President Ronald Reagan signed the Union Station Redevelopment Act on Dec. 29, 1981. The bill laid the groundwork for the building鈥檚 revival. It also enabled the formation of the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, a nonprofit organization that exists to restore, preserve, and maintain the station as a transit hub for years to come.

The refurbishment, which cost about $181 million, added a large parking garage. the building reopened to passenger travel, complete with a shopping mall, a movie theater, and plenty of dining options. It also added a central terminal for buses.

8. The Union Station鈥檚 ceiling has 23-karat gilding

Interior of New Union Station, Los Angeles, by Tichnor Brothers –

After a magnitude-5.8 earthquake jostled the District in August 2011, Union Station was among the building casualties in need of repair. DCist reported in 2014 on the repair efforts, which included reinforcing the 96-foot-tall plaster ceiling and regilding its 255 octagonal coffers.

A $350,000 grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation helped pay for the project, which required more than 120,000 sheets of gold leaf. The leafing was imported from Italy. The lifespan of the gilding was deemed, to last more than 75 years.

9. The Union Station has a presidential suite

The presidential suite on the building鈥檚 far east side was designed in the wake of the assassination of President James Garfield to give presidents and other dignitaries a safe place to wait for their trains. Garfield had been fatally shot at one of Union Station鈥檚 predecessors, the Baltimore and Potomac rail station, as he was rushing to catch his train in 1881. 

The Presidential suite also serves as an event space that is available to rent out. Union Station itself also has been the site of inaugural balls and other large events.

10. Amtrak had huge plans for Union Station: tripling the passenger capacity and doubling train capacity in the next 20 years

Amtrak has dubbed its initiative to modernize and expand the 112-year-old station鈥檚 capacity the 鈥�2nd Century Plan.鈥� The estimated $7 billion plan, which grew out of Amtrak鈥檚 2012 Master Plan for the station, calls for new, wider train platforms, new below-track concourses, and a new bus facility. 

It also includes an urban mixed-use development called 鈥淏urnham Place,鈥� in a nod to Daniel Burnham, to be built above the rail yard. This is part of an ongoing effort to improve the station, which, at the southern terminus of the busy Northeast Corridor, is Amtrak鈥檚 second-busiest station