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Wow, 7 billion clams to undo decades of bad decisions. The station was designed from the get-go to handle enormous crowds--and performed well under the crush of traffic from two world wars and presidential inaugurations in the heyday of passenger service. The "overcrowding" woes are self-inflicted wounds by Amtrak and many ill-considered alterations of the station in the past forty years. The first was the execrable "National Visitors Center" and the second effort, to max out retail space, essentially converted the building to a shopping mall. The latter consumed the entire original, quite spacious concourse. The cramped "Claytor Concourse" is the result. Octavius is exactly right. The too-small physical plant is not helped by Amtrak's idiotic "security theater" that forces crowds of pax to wait in the station until shortly before departure time, upon which said crowds are herded through the gates, airline-style.

by Paul on Jul 25, 2012 3:57 pm • link • report