Metro moves forward with Union Station overhaul

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - Metro's Board of Directors Thursday passed its final hurdle to move forward with the "Link Union Station" project. A lengthy environmental review on the project was finalized this week.

The $2.3 billion overhaul will expand the width of the existing crowded passageway beneath the station's rail yard by 140 feet and add new elevators and escalators. It will also build new run-through tracks over the 101 freeway adding more trains for passengers.

In 2017 Metro proposed a glassy, airport-like concourse for riders. Agency officials decided to move forward without the raised concourse after determining it would result in longer travel times.

The four-year project is expected to start major construction at Union Station sometime in 2022.

It's considered the 5th busiest Amtrak station in the country and the busiest in the Western U.S.
It's a major transportation hub serving 110,000 people every day . Metro predicts the amount or people traveling through union station will double by 2040.