Amtrak opens a new Metropolitan Lounge Monday at Union Station, but it’s not for everyone.
The lounge, which offers free soft drinks, coffee and light snacks, is reserved for passengers in business class, sleeping cars or the top two tiers of the Amtrak Rewards program.
Work on the $7 million lounge began in January, said Leonard Koroski of the Goettsch Partners architectural firm. The new lounge occupies space that had been used just for storage or employee breaks; it’s beneath and above one of the marble “Untouchables” staircases leading down into the Great Hall.
It’s twice the size of the lounge it replaces, and unlike the old lounge, the new one can be entered both from inside the station and from the street.
“Passengers can check their bags and enjoy the city or they can relax here,” said Marc Magliari, Amtrak media relations manager.
Koroski said the lounge has a kids’ play area, as well as comfortable seating and plenty of places for business travelers to get work done.
“It’s amazing,” said Kathy Folz, an Amtrak Rewards member. Folz and her husband, Tom, praised the abundance of electrical outlets in the new lounge.
Amtrak is using $60 million of its own funds to renovate Union Station, Magliari said. The first project involved complying with health codes that were developed after the 1991 station renovations.
Other projects include creating event space in what used to be the station’s “women’s lounge,” and fixing the Great Hall’s chronically leaking skylight, he said.
“We really want to do the right thing with the renovations,” Magliari said.
