The Chicago Union Station Company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Amtrak that owned Chicago's Union Station, the largest intercity station in the Midwest, as well as the approach tracks. It was originally owned equally by four companies - the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway and

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly called the Pan Handle Route (Panhandle Route in later days), was a railroad that was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its common name came from its main line, whic ...

(two

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

subsidiaries), the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

(Burlington Route), and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) - and has been wholly owned by Amtrak since 1984. In 2017, the Chicago Union Station Company was dissolved into Amtrak.

History

The Union Station Company was incorporated July 3, 1913, and organized November 19, 1913, to replace the old union station on the same spot. On May 7, 1915, the company was renamed to the Chicago Union Station Company. The station was opened May 16, 1925;

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

construction for cross streets lasted into 1927. The connection with the PFW&C was at the south end of the CUS trackage at the

Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under this ...

crossing. The north end of CUS trackage is at the curve near Kinzie Street, west of which the PCC&StL and CM&StP shared trackage to a split at Western Avenue. At the Roosevelt Road crossing, the tracks of the CB&Q split to the west, turning west just after crossing under the

St. Charles Air Line Railroad The St. Charles Air Line is a rail line in Chicago, Illinois, partially owned by the BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Canadian National Railway. It is currently used by the Canadian National Railway for freight trains and by Amtrak passe ...

. A fifth line - the Chicago and Alton Railroad - merged with the PFW&C line at

Alton Junction The Alton Junction, more commonly known as the 21st Street Crossing, is a historically significant rail location in Chicago, Illinois. The junction can be found just east of Canal Street and north of Cermak Road near Chicago's Chinatown. It is lo ...

and used Union Station, admitted on September 18, 1915. The last

train into the north side of Union Station (via the PCC&StL) ran April 23, 1927; afterwards, PRR passenger service ran out the south side and the PFW&C, using the

South Chicago and Southern Railroad South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

to reach the PCC&StL. Buildings were gradually built over the sunken approach tracks using leased air rights. A new connection at Englewood Station was completed October 15, 1971, allowing trains on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad to run over the PFW&C to Union Station instead of to LaSalle Street Station. This was never used by passenger trains, as the dying Rock Island decided to continue using LaSalle, and Metra's Rock Island District commuter trains still use that same route. The CM&StP became the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1928. Their approach trackage, shared with the PCC&StL, has since been acquired by Metra. The CB&Q and its approach became part of

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the e ...

in 1970, and is now part of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. The PFW&C trackage is now owned by Norfolk Southern (transferred from

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

in 1999). Amtrak acquired the outstanding shares held by BN and the Milwaukee Road in 1984, having earlier acquired the stake held by what had become Penn Central. Amtrak also owns former PFW&C trackage from

south to

( 21st Street), including their

14th Street Maintenance Facility 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number ...

. In May of 2017, the Chicago Union Station company dissolved, with its assets now being owned directly by Amtrak.

References

Corporate Genealogy - Chicago Union Station CompanyRailroad History DatabaseChicago Union Station Company Records
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Union Station Company Companies affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad west of Pittsburgh Companies affiliated with the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad subsidiaries Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Amtrak Illinois railroads Companies based in Chicago Railway companies established in 1913 Non-operating common carrier freight railroads in the United States Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area 1913 establishments in Illinois American companies established in 1913