Washington, DC (Amtrak station)

Washington Union Station is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters and the railroad's second-busiest station with annual ridership of just under 5 million. The station also serves MARC and VRE commuter rail services, the Washington Metro subway, intercity bus lines, and local Metrobus buses.At the height of its traffic, during World War II, as many as 200,000 passengers passed through the station in a single day. In 1988, a headhouse wing was added and the original station renovated for use as a shopping mall. Today, Union Station is one of the busiest rail facilities and shopping destinations in the United States, and is visited by over 40 million people a year.HistoryPredecessor terminalsBefore Union Station opened, each of the major railroads operated their own stations: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trains arrived and departed from the New Jersey Avenue Station, while the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad), the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the Southern Railway operated from the B&P's station at 6th and B Street, NW—the current location of the National Gallery of Art.