(Washington) The US government announced on Wednesday to recover the operational management of Washington station to “return its beauty” as part of its campaign to take charge of the United States capital.
President Donald Trump “wants to return his beauty to Union Station, he wants to make the trips safe again, he wants to return to the capital of our country,” said transport secretary Sean Duffy during a press conference at the station, by declining the presidential slogan (“Make America Great Again”).
The walls of the American capital station have belonged to the Federal State since the 1980s, but its operational management has been delegated.
Believing that the historic building – the station opened in 1907 – was poorly maintained and is poorly famed, the US government wants to end this situation by September, according to a press release.
We will make investments to ensure that this station is not dirty, not frequented by homeless. We want Union Station to be a place where shops want to settle.
The American Secretary of Transport, Sean Duffy, at a press conference
Photo J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press
US transport secretary Sean Duffy
“We believe that we can manage it better,” he added, on the occasion of the commissioning of a new generation of high-speed trains Acela, manufactured by French Alstom and operated by the company Amtrak in the Northeast, between Boston, New York and Washington.
According to him, the recipes linked to the installation of new shops will make it possible to restore its chandelier to the building, which has in particular a large luminous hall of neo-classical style with a cradle vault and raised statues.
It is necessary to “improve elevators, lighting, safety (…), replace the roof and other major equipment”, lists the press release.
The American executive has been presenting Washington for weeks, which votes a vast majority for the democratic opposition, as on the verge of chaos, in a gripping crime, despite declining statistics. He ordered the deployment of soldiers from the National Guard, some of whom carry weapons in the streets of the capital.
