The Chicago Union Station Company was a wholly owned subsidiary of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

that owned

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, 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 The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois. It included the current Norfolk Southern-own ...

and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (two Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiaries), the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Burlington Route), and the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

(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 A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

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 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 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. A fifth line - the

Chicago and Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 a ...

- merged with the PFW&C line at Alton Junction and used Union Station, admitted on September 18, 1915. The last Pennsylvania Railroad 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 Air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning, or renting, land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by others. This lega ...

. A new connection at Englewood Station was completed October 15, 1971, allowing trains on the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

to run over the PFW&C to Union Station instead of to

LaSalle Street Station LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. First used as a rail terminal in 1852, it was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968, and for the Chicago, ...

. This was never used by passenger trains, as the dying Rock Island decided to continue using LaSalle, and

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. ...

Rock Island District The Rock Island District (RI) is a Metra commuter rail line from Chicago, Illinois, southwest to Joliet. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the Rock Island District line are "Rocket Red" in honor of the Ch ...

commuter trains still use that same route. The CM&StP became the

in 1928. Their approach trackage, shared with the PCC&StL, has since been acquired by

. The CB&Q and its approach became part of Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, and is now part of the BNSF Railway. The PFW&C trackage is now owned by

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

(transferred from Conrail 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 The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

. Amtrak also owns former PFW&C trackage from Roosevelt Road south to Alton Junction ( 21st Street), including their 14th Street Maintenance Facility. 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