For the last century, this site has served as the primary terminal for the Chicago and North Western Railway and its successors Union Pacific and Metra.

Other less famous trains such as the Corn King Special (Omaha), Viking (Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Minneapolis/St Paul), and Columbine (Denver).

Metra service was maintained with only minor interruptions during construction – following the example of the demolition and replacement of New York Penn Station.

[citation needed] In 1991 Metra purchased the train shed from Chicago and North Western and conducted a survey to determine the condition.

The examination included necessary repairs to improve its structural integrity and redesign measures to bring the station up to modern mass-commuting standards.

Many engineering challenges had to be addressed and resolved, not only because of the train shed's prominent location but also due to its high traffic volume as it was to remain operational to 45,000 daily commuters during the project.

Such challenges included the removal of original lead paint, the complete replacement of all 16 tracks which served 200 trains a day, extensive structural steel repairs (under load), erection of a new steel canopy, complete exterior masonry restoration, new electrical and plumbing systems, and construction of a new pedestrian concourse.

During the rehabilitation project, which lasted four years and cost $138 million, over 60 contractors spent more than 800,000 man-hours performing repairs and producing new construction.

The station was renamed the Ogilvie Transportation Center in 1997, two years after the C&NW merged into the Union Pacific Railroad.

The station was named for Richard B. Ogilvie, a board member of the Milwaukee Road (the C&NW's rival and competing neighbor) and a lifelong railroad proponent, who, as governor of Illinois, created the Regional Transportation Authority, which is the parent agency of Metra.