Overview
- Residents packed community meetings on Wednesday night to protest Amtrak’s proposal to build a 24-hour maintenance facility at Canal Street Yard between 33rd and 35th streets.
- Amtrak says the indoor inspection and maintenance complex would support trains serving Chicago Union Station, could take about 18 months to build, and might begin operations in 2027 or 2028.
- The project has federal transportation funding committed and a reported $125 million pledge from White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia that Amtrak and officials say accelerates the timeline.
- City leaders and community groups say the project was allowed to proceed under a federal categorical exclusion while Amtrak maintains it conducted environmental assessments, and residents are demanding the findings be released and a fuller review produced.
- Opponents and local elected officials warn the yard would raise noise, traffic, air quality and property-value concerns for Bridgeport and Chinatown and could reshape nearby redevelopment plans tied to the South Loop and The 78.