UNION STATION

PLANNET was involved in the restoration efforts at Union Station, an iconic Los Angeles Landmark. Constructed in 1939, Union Station has since become one of the main travel hubs in the western United States and the large surrounding LA metropolitan area. Known as “The Last of the Great Railway Stations,” this iconic train station in downtown LA sees over 100,000 travelers a day. In order to support such a busy and vital travel hub, Union Station had to undergo physical renovations and technological upgrades. PLANNET partnered with Union Station to help transition the historic landmark into new and leading-edge, industry standard technical infrastructure.

Recognized as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1972, Union Station’s renovation and restoration efforts came with many challenges when restoring a historical landmark. PLANNET takes pride and is uniquely qualified to create a symbiotic infrastructure that does not subtract from the uniqueness of the building. Restoration efforts stayed true to the original 1939 building design that is so iconic to many Angelenos, while still introducing the technological necessities of the 21^st century.

Capital improvement and restoration efforts began in 2013. PLANNET was introduced to the project in 2019, with work being completed in 2021. PLANNET’s scope of work included providing design expertise around wired and wireless networking, video surveillance, access control, and network backbone cabling to support high-speed networks for tenants and the traveling public. One of PLANNET’s main efforts was to establish new pathways in order to bring technology to underserved areas of the facility. This includes designing an approach to replacing decades-old legacy cabling. These efforts support the high demand for wireless access by the many vendors and workers that service Union station daily. Along with back-of-house employees, tenants and kiosk vendors also required improved networking capabilities. PLANNET’S work brought an array of internet service providers to the facility for improved network access, and a more competitive catalog of service providers to select from overall, resulting in an improved user experience.