CHICAGO — Amtrak officials will meet with Chicago city officials after they reiterated concerns about the prospect of the area adjacent to Chicago Union Station serving as a temporary hub for Greyhound bus service.
After Amtrak President Roger Harris sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson and Transportation Commissioner Thomas Carney on Tuesday, Aug. 13 — expressing his “significant concerns” about the use of a section of Jackson Boulevard adjacent to Union Station and suggesting bus facilities adjacent to two Metra stations as an alternative — Chicago’s 35th District Councilman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa intervened today to set up a meeting, an Amtrak spokesperson said in an email.
A date for this meeting was initially unknown.
Greyhound will likely be displaced from its current downtown depot in the fall, and the city has indicated it thinks the area around Union Station is the best place to temporarily relocate the intercity bus service. Amtrak said in a statement last week that it had not been informed of the plan and expressed concern about congestion in the area, among other issues (see “Chicago may ask Union Station to accommodate Greyhound passengers”). Trains News Wire, August 9, 2024).
Harris’ letter noted the “significant security and facility costs” that Amtrak, the owner and operator of Union Station, would likely incur from “the use of our station by hundreds of new daily intercity bus customers. Without an agreement to adequately compensate us and mitigate any impacts, these costs and impacts would be borne by Amtrak and our customers – and indirectly by Metra and our other tenants who share in our facility expenses.” Harris also cited congestion, capacity and community concerns about “crime, traffic congestion and increased demand for service.”
The letter and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation offered two alternative locations:
— Two protected bus lanes under the Oglivie Transportation Center on Washington Boulevard, the terminal for Metra’s three Union Pacific lines, as well as 13 bus lines and two CTA rail lines. The station at 500 W. Madison St. shares the same address as the 42-story Accenture Tower and features a number of shops and restaurants.
– A bus lane next to the LaSalle Street Metra station at 414 S. LaSalle. This station serving the Rock Island District is far less developed than Union Station or Oglivie, but it does have a bus lane at Financial Place that is used by only one CTA line. (A dozen more are nearby, as are several CTA rail lines.)
“These and other locations would certainly provide a safer experience and better accommodations for bus riders facing uncertainty than this block of Jackson Boulevard,” Harris wrote.
A Metra spokesman said today that his agency had just received the letter and could not comment at this time.
