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    Chicago Union Station

    3.5 (505 reviews)
    Open 5:00 am - 1:00 AM (Next day)
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    Towards Jackson Boulevard
    Eric H.

    Even though I've commuted through Union Station numerous times, it's still a bit of a maze to me with its multiple entrances, a massive footprint spanning multiple blocks. For example, there is a Madison Street entrance near the water taxi stop. Enter there, and walk down the platform (2 blocks underground), observing waiting commuter trains and pigeons landing on the dusty beams above, until you get to the commuter rail area of union station. That part is located between Adams and Jackson. The signage here is clearly laid out, indicating the destination, track number, transit provider, and departure time. Walk a 180 to the other side, and you'll see the sliding doors for the tracks on the south end. Somewhere in the middle, there is a Metra box office where you can purchase tickets / passes. It turns out this area forms a loop under the building. There are exits which can be taken from that loop to the outside. However, you can also get to the historical union station if you follow the signs (sort of). Unfortunately, the signage was a bit misleading. It tells you to "go up the stairs" to get the main hall. But that leads to a dead end upstairs with some offices and an entry/exit point. You could also take the one way escalator up to the food court floor where there are also bathrooms. Another direction leads you into Amtrak territory. Eventually after walk through the food court and then going back down, we eventually found our way to the main hall. Though if you ask me again now, I won't be able to tell you how to get there from where we started. But perhaps it's easier to get there from street level. There's also a nifty elevator on the outside that you can take into the building. Anyways, the waiting area is timeless. Also, don't tell anyone, but as a youngster I gave a bus fare in coins to someone who was faking "oww, my stomach hurts! I gotta get to the hospital." After the bus arrived, the lady standing next to me said amusingly "you just got conned."

    Stewart L.

    I was embarking on a long-distance Amtrak trip to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief, so I settled in here for a few hours. The Station is beautiful, grand and historic, celebrating its centennial year. It was designed by Daniel Burnham, one of Chicago's premier architects. It's undergoing some renovations currently. The area around it seems a bit sketchy. The Great Hall is the largest area and main waiting area. There are a few smaller grand rooms that are available for private events, as is the Great Hall. There's a food court on the lower level. There's also the Metropolitan Lounge, which is for Amtrak Sleeper Car travelers as well as some others. Day passes are available on a space-available basis. The Lounge is modern, with none of the historic features of the Great Hall, but it does offer its own restrooms plus snacks and beverages, even a bar. There's quite a frenzy for the snacks; they run out often. There are 2 levels. The upper one is smaller, nicer and less crowded. There is a 90-minute time period mid-day when 4 major long-distance Amtrak trains depart within 20-30 minutes of each other. At this time, the Lounge is packed with nary a seat available. But boarding the train from here, before regular boarding, is well organized. You are led by various staffers to the correct track for boarding. There were a large number of Amish travelers when I visited, so I was reminded of the beginning scenes of the Harrison Ford film "Witness", which took place at Philadelphia's station.

    Jen S.

    I've taken the Metra out of here (to Deerfield) now the Amtrak. It's such a beautiful station. Signage and way finding are excellent. Staff are all helpful. Good food options in the food hall. Starbucks, Dunks and Sbarro are open before 7. Looks like chick fil an opens at 7. So there is food for early travelers. I'm here on a Saturday- work days may have different hours for openings. Lots of tables and seating. Some benches are near outlets. Wish I had the opportunity to travel out of here more often.

    North tracks. Odd numbers
    Elle Z.

    My first time at Union Station and my first solo train ride. I arrived about an hour early because I was so unfamiliar with this process. I accessed Union from Adam Street, went down steps to the sign that pointed left to ALL TRAINS. Once you are past that ALL TRAINS sign, there is another sign with arrows in different direction, pointing to how tracks split. Even numbers are on south end of station and go south. Odd go north. If you need to buy your ticket you can at the kiosk otherwise to the left of bathrooms there's a short hallway. Take the ramp on right to odd trains. I took the MD-N to Glenview, track 15. I could see it when I got there around 11:45am. I bought my ticket on Ventra app for Metra. $5.50. Cheaper than an Uber , but looking to avoid traffic! I asked a nice Metra worker when trains can board. He said boarding starts around 12:15, but it was actually between 12:05 and 12:10 that boarding opened. No worries. I w Hint, not all cars can't be used. The Quiet Car was not in use, so I was told to go back toward another car. Seats were adequate and padded. A/c is on (it's a dangerous heat index today). Use the metratracker.com to follow train online. (Needs to be an app)

    Cheryl T.

    The main part of Chicago Union Station is really pretty... ever watch 'Can't Hardly Wait' - reminds of the final scene (even though that technically was the Union Station in California) - but hey if you live in the area and want to pretend to relive that movie without the long drive, maybe this is the go to spot. It is still under a lot of construction though, so high hopes that it will look a nice sooner enough. It was still easy enough for me to navigate and find my train. Also the conductors were very nice and saw me & a couple of others ladies standing for our train. He called us over and said we can have a seat in our train early after it arrived. So overall had a good experience!

    Christmas decorations in December
    Kristin L.

    First of all, if you haven't taken an Amtrak for local travel, please try it. I love taking the train. It's such a peaceful way to travel. There's an observation car with tons of windows. It's typical really affordable (of course depends on demand and distance). And someone else is driving!! Union Station in Chicago in particular is pretty clean always busy and undergoing renovations to be updated .

    Simone S.

    Beautiful, historic station. It's decorated for the holidays with a giant tree in the main hall. Clear signage throughout and friendly staff to help with questions. I found it easily accessible and not at all difficult to navigate. Haven't been on an Amtrak train in many years but this was a great nostalgic experience.

    Welcome
    Alice K.

    Union Station is the crown jewel of Chicago Train Stations! Check out the main lobby and see the place where movie s were filmed.

    Metropolitan Lounge for Amtrak customers that have rooms or business class
    Ben B.

    This is a beautiful train station. It's of course quite busy. Being it is a major Amtrak hub it can be hectic. They are renovating various areas so getting around can be just a bit tricky for people not familiar with this station

    Branden M.

    The union station is very cool and awesome to experience. It was kind of confusing finding my train because it did not tell me which track it was on which I was kind of scared, but I asked an employee and they were able to help me.

    Wonder where this dude is heading today
    Joanna T.

    Ewww, no. I'm through here all the time and the station keeps getting worse. I appreciate that they are doing a lot of construction so hopefully long term it will be better. That said, it's consistently grimy, has poor way finding, and the station workers are uniformly unhelpful and rude. Also, Amtrak has removed ALL the waiting room seating in its area. So you stand, or sit on the floor (yuck).

    Chicago Union Station
    Katy C.

    It was my first time ever traveling through Union Station recently and I was a little apprehensive after reading some reviews. Luckily, I had a good experience both arriving and departing. When I arrived, I just followed everyone up and out, no issues there. When it was time to head back to Grand Rapids, I arrived to the area where the station is to grab some food nearby before heading in. The main hall is so beautiful and I saw lots of people taking photos. I wasn't really sure where to go, so I asked a nice employee who was very helpful - he told me to wait in the main hall and they'd announce the departure and then we could head to the gate. The overhead announcements were really hard to hear in the echoing hall, but they walked around and yelled them out, which was helpful. There is a lot of seating in the main hall but it was pretty crowded. I was able to find a spot on a bench to eat my lunch and then went to the gate about 30 minutes before departure. Everything was smooth and I got on my train on time!

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    4 months ago

    Managed to tackle Union Ststion during a busy time of day. The stay was friendly enough and directed us even with all the construction.

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    5 months ago

    Rude worker. Made us pay for luggage even though it fit in the sizing bin. Others with same size luggage didn't have to pay.

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    Page 1 of 13

    Chicago Union Station Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Chicago Union Station

    Which entrance should be used to access the business class lounge?

    Canal Street-west

    I am going to be catching an Amtrak train city of New Orleans from here. What is the most convenient entrance to use?

    Canal or Adam's street

    Restaurant in there?

    The whole second floor is a food court that has things like Au Bon Pain, McDonald's, a bar, and Gold Coast Dogs

    Are there tours available of the station?

    Yes, go to their website for more information. Walking Tour of Union Station… Read more

    Is there a public phone inside the Union Station? Please help! Thanks!

    No ☹️

    View All 6 Questions

    Review Highlights - Chicago Union Station

    The lounges are very spacious and even luxurious in the metropolitan lounge and main waiting room.

    Mentioned in 14 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Ogilvie Transportation Center

    Ogilvie Transportation Center

    (186 reviews)

    West Loop, Near West Side

    Why oh why does the sign on the Madison St entrance of this building say "Accenture Tower" when…read moreit's really just the retail front of Ogilvie Transportation Center?! That confused me so much the first time I came here that I went across the street to Union Station by mistake thinking I had gone to the wrong place, and I missed my train. Please make better signage indicating that this entrance is also for the train station, as Google maps is getting less and less accurate (it put the marker in the middle of the intersection between the two stations). Other than that, the station is fine. Plenty of ticket machines and display screens showing the train schedules. There are escalators up to the track area for disability access as an option besides stairs. Just expect a huge line for the bathrooms. The retail shops and food items are price gouging to the extreme, like an airport would be.

    Last week was my first time taking a train into the city while visiting Great Lakes. I was…read moretraveling alone and a little nervous about getting into the city and unsure about the area that the Ogilvie Transportation Center is in. Reviews made it seem like a confusing place to navigate. I boarded the Union Pacific North Train Kine from Great Lakes just outside of the Navy Training Center. I purchased my ticket on the Ventra App and I boarded the train and took a seat. There were several stops along the way and the Ogilvie Transportation Center was the last stop. The Conductor visited the car I was riding in just a couple of stops before ending at Ogilvie to check and/or sell tickets. The Conductor was polite and patient. When I exited the train at Ogilvie, I just followed the crowd to the stairway into the station and then just chose to exit the building at the Canal Street exit whit turned out to be just perfect for starting my journey into Chicago for the day. At the end of the day, when I returned to Ogilvie, it took me a few minutes to figure out the train schedule and locate the right stairways onto the loading platform. They have large screens at each loading platform stairway entrance that shows where each train travels to and what time they leave. There are stairways on each side of the train station to get you to the train. One important thing to note is that for some stops, the first cars of the train, the doors do not open. So it's best to find a seat towards the back cars or make plans to walk through a couple of cars quickly to get to the exit doors that open. The Ogilvie Transportation Center was easier to navigate than I had thought.

    CTA - Clark/Lake - Need the Brown, Come on down.

    CTA - Clark/Lake

    (59 reviews)

    The Loop

    クラーク駅はオヘア空港に向かうブルーラインの駅です。 空港に直通で便利ですが1時間はかかります。…read more地上にはシカゴ名物のループの駅もあります。 シカゴの真冬はミシガン湖の風も相まって射すような寒さ。 駅すぐのリバーウオークは真冬には川に流氷が現れます。 冬以外は観光船で大賑わいです。 昔の話ですが、地下鉄は冬でも暖房はなかったです。 真冬のある日、私は空港に行くため朝4時に地下鉄に乗ると、 男性がベンチに横たわって寝てました。 車両には他に男性ふたり、私は少し離れて座りました。 次の駅で身なりの良い40代位の男性と、 中学生位の男の子が乗ってきました。 確実に親子だとおもいます。 3つ先の駅で降りる寸前、父親は寝てる男性のズボンのポケットに いくらかのお札をねじ込んで降りていきました。 息子は父の姿を見て無言で後ろについて降りていきました。 当然、寝てる男性は気づいてます。 でも、それから1時間近く終点の空港まで微動だにしませんでした。 空港到着、皆が降りていきます。 彼はどうするのだろう。私は最後まで座席にいました。 すると、彼は身体を動かすでもなく、顔を動かすでもなく、 寝たままポケットのお金をだして、 片目で確認するとそのままポケットに戻し目を閉じました。 夜が明けるまで 地下鉄で往復して過ごすのだと思います。 このふたりの男性、住む世界は天と地ほど違うと思うけど、 私は二人に共通する人間の奥にある何かを感じずにはいられませんでした。 帰宅して夫に話すと、そうだねと一言。 昔のことですが、今も鮮明に残っている光景です。 私は数年前から夫に次いで年金生活者になりました。 結婚時からお金は葬式代と僅かなものを残すだけでよいと 若い頃からふたりでたくさん旅に出ました。 歳を重ね、夫と旅の思い出を語る時間が本当に幸せです。 これからも旅に出て、(今は夫はお留守番、土産話聞き役となる) この世を去る寸前まで、この素晴らしい世界を見て行きたいです。 WBC観戦、4年後また絶対に行きます。 その時はシカゴから長距離列車でマイアミへ。 目標ができました。 おしまい。

    Clark and lake is one of the superstations where you can transfer to multiple lines. The station…read morecan get pretty crowded on a weekday during rush hour but it looks like they have improved on headway so there are more trains. Looks like they upgraded some of the signage and are currently upgrading one of the entrance under the Thompson center. Curious to see how that ends up though

    Metra

    Metra

    (58 reviews)

    The Loop

    Like New York City, Chicago has one of the best public transportation systems in the U.S. I've had…read moreseveral meetings in the Loop where my office is located. The trains are clean. The seats are comfortable. The conductors are professional, and most of all, the train is on time most of the time. I don't have to deal with expensive parking, and walk underground to the elevator to my office. Sweet! I go to the office twice a week and enjoy unwinding on the train. I prepare for meetings, too. The train takes you to the museums stop, Hyde Park, the south burbs, and the University of Chicago. It's the cheapest and most convenient way to visit the city.

    I travel on Metra Electric when I use Public Transportation about 90% of the time. Its usually…read moregood. Yesterday there were electrical delays at Millenium Station during Rush Hour. Got on tje train more delays. The conducter was great. He didn't take our tickets. Today as I'm in Hyde Park waiting on the Metra now 8 minutes late, the announcer says it the train conductor doesn't see you, he won't stop. I get on. Riding south they pass my stop without any announcement. The conducter says its the Engineers fault with NO compassion or recourse just Mitchy Attitude. I said bacl the MF up! He said can't do that. I had to ride to tje end of the line wait 10 minutes and get home an hour past the time I should've been. Wouldn't you be pissed at such an easy fix? Mistakes are human but arrogance and incompetence are unacceptable!

    CTA - Clinton [Blue]

    CTA - Clinton [Blue]

    (8 reviews)

    Where do I begin? Bullet points! Writing is like thinking, and (in this case) that's how I think…read more So: - Clinton station is the deepest station in the CTA. There is a staircase and narrow escalator (single file only). The station is not accessible, and stairs are needed to enter/exit street level. - This is close to the Greyhound and Union station, however there is no underpass. These are a block or two away, and would put you under the elements. - I did not encounter any foul smells or grossly unsanitary conditions. The archway one descends through could use some paint, and the floor would benefit from a power washing. However, the first staircase from street level definitely needs some elbow grease, including the railing. - The station is very well lit and did not feel unsafe. - There are no screens showing arrival information. I have to use the Transit app to show me when the next train is coming. - Seating is extremely limited, I think I saw one bench, though I could be wrong and there could be two. Thus, while some things are typical of CTA stations (like limited seating), the lack of screens and heightened need of a deeper cleaning cost Clinton Station some points. At the same time, I have definitely seen worse in terms of safety and cleanliness, hence a star was saved.

    CTA has a station at Clinton. It gives you good access to downtown. What isn't good is the…read morecondition of this nasty ass facility. Avoid touching anything. The place also really smells. It sadly is typical of many stations around downtown. It serves the Blue Line. This station is also way down under. It's actually the deepest in the CTA. There's an escalator thankfully but it takes a long time. Also the station smells bad. It has a pungent piss odor that could put you in a coma. The good thing is trains come often and usually are on time.

    Chicago Union Station - trainstations - Updated May 2026

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