Your tweets and visions for Union Station

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With the news of Metro’s impending purchase of Los Angeles Union Station, I asked Metro followers and friends on Twitter and Facebook what they’d like to see at Union Station that isn’t there now. Here are their answers:

Tomdemie @metrolosangeles Supermarket and shopping restaurant

lensovet @metrolosangeles better integration and transfers between modes. a few months ago you had to stand on a freeway to take southbound expresses

trainman74 Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge.

Denise_V @metrolosangeles I’d like to see more security/police there. At night it’s filled with odd people.

jasonburns @metrolosangeles RE: Union Station – Reopen Harvey House as a 24-hour diner. http://bit.ly/gG21en

dennisthai @metrolosangeles would love to see a bar there and TVs broadcasting sports or news @ union station.

tomato1972 @metrolosangeles Peet’s!

Sorry, tomato1972: Starbucks beat ’em to it and is coming soon!

busblog A Pink’s hotdog stand.

ayogist @metrolosangeles: What would you like to see @ Union Station that isn’t there now? / a subway line to the westside while i’m still alive!

andiedavino @metrolosangeles i’d like to have the signs working 4 @PACSurfliners trains 830/1010 so i know for sure which platform they r dept from

mrnonel @metrolosangeles Union Station needs better fast food concessions.

Dairenn @metrolosangeles It would be nice if Traxx could come back. Is there WiFi?

There is not wifi at this time that I’m aware of. But Starbucks usually provides it.

Silverk79 @metrolosangeles how a bout an In & Out burger restaurant!!??
malcolmbmiller @metrolosangeles more room for passenger drop off. have to jump out of a moving car to avoid getting yelled at! see #union #station #DC

From Metro’s Facebook page:

Brigham Yen I want to see Union Station become a destination itself in the future like many other train stations in the world (like in my dad’s hometown Taipei). I want to see LAUS continue to add more retail, restaurants, and entertainment, making LAUS an attraction itself, and then maybe people won’t find it a “hassle” to transfer there anymore as they may just end up staying to eat, shop, or just hang out.

Via email to sourcemetro@gmail.com:

Steveland Harris: How about one of those Best Buy Mobile vending machines for electronics on the go?

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9 replies ›

  1. I think I mentioned it before, but I think we should get Greyhound to relocate from their current bombed out location at 7th/Alameda to Union Station.

    10 out of 10 people would prefer to arrive in Los Angeles after a long ride on a Greyhound bus at Union Station where they can easily transfer to the rail lines to get to where they need to go. Dropping passengers off in literally the middle of nowhere at 7th/Alameda is just sinister! 🙂

  2. Please respect photography at Union Station. It’s an historic landmark and people enjoy taking photographs of the place.

  3. My vision is that Union Station will be developed into a world class transit hub serving its residents, tourists, and customers. I was just there this week and it’s a lovely historical place with so much potential. Planning, development, and preservation is the key. I would also like to see a first class security presence. Sheriffs and Metro Security.

  4. Glad to hear that metro will be acquiring the property and there is so much Metro can do to make it better; but first:
    1) Maintain the station please! When you have thousands of people flowing through a place trash cans fill, up and bathrooms get dirty…fast.
    2) fix signage: one morning they weren’t working at all. I was taking a new train. Not convenient.
    Now for add ons:
    1) live “nextbus” signage in more places and let’s get red line updates up at the gold line and vice-versa so we don’t always have to run.
    2) more places to eat, the better.
    3) and redo the gold line platform. I feel like it’s a tight squeeze and deserves better coverage. This is more for the future.

  5. I’m not sure that Union Station has the room for a full-sized supermarket or even a Fresh and Easy.

    This is a side issue, but if we are to move to Transit Oriented Grocery Shopping (TOGS?), we have to be willing to change the way we shop.

    Most supermarkets are designed for the person who fills an SUV with groceries once a week, and does all of his shopping in one place, and all at once. (very auto-oriented!)

    What we need would be more Famima!!-sized convenience stores or neighborhood delis at the majority of Metro Rail stations.

    Instead of shopping at Union Station and then taking the train home, it might make more sense to take the train home and then pick up a few items on the way home from the commuter rail station (or walking home from the subway station).

    Instead of taking one large load home, urban Japanese do their shopping a few items at a time, because they know that if they run out of milk, a 24-hour FamilyMart is just down the street at the local subway station …

  6. In foreign transit stations (let alone central stations) I’ve marveled at practical conveniences like a dry cleaners, ATMs (ideally Union Station would have ATMs for multiple banks), locksmiths that make key copies, and all manner of things. It’d be great to see these sorts of services, along with perhaps a Fresh & Easy market, to help make transit options even more competitive in terms of getting all of one’s chores done easily without a car.

  7. Visions for Union Station:
    1. Reopen the Fred Harvey Restaurant and great little dining car bar next door with a super chic/retro restaurant/bar
    2. More informal dining/shopping options like Union Station in DC and Grand Central Station in NYC
    3. Escalator & Elevator connecting Gold Line and Red/Purple lines

  8. I’m not on FaceBook or Twitter, but I will say I’m actually happy with the retail that’s there now.

    Main thing I’d be concerned about is the basics. Keeping a historic, classic building in good shape can’t be easy and maintaining the bathrooms (especially the bathrooms!), the lights, the paint, etc. is important.

    Beyond that, more announcements, better signs, better electronic sign boards. And more ticket machines.

    And of course, better links to all of Los Angeles.

    And I asked Famima!! if they can be more like their Japanese cousins and accept TAP as currency XD