 When the station initially opened , entrances from 14th Street open into a large , octagonal rotunda where ticket offices , checked baggage , and a newsstand were located . As the railroad tracks are grade separated behind Union Station , the platforms are accessed by pedestrian tunnel under the tracks with stairs that lead to the platforms . The tunnel entrance is directly across the rotunda from the street entrance — a portion of which is now used as the kitchen for a brewpub housed inside the station . The concourse , off the rotunda , led to the Peach Street entrances , and contained space for a soda fountain , a barber shop , and telegraph offices , as well as access to the station 's 111 @-@ by @-@ 35 @-@ foot ( 34 m × 11 m ) waiting room . Facing Peach Street , a dining room and lunch counter run by the Union News Company , which operated the majority of the dining services in New York Central stations , were at the opposite end of Union Station from the rotunda . The entire ground floor was laid with terrazzo featuring a mosaic border and <unk> marble paneling along the plaster walls . A green and tan color scheme was originally used throughout the entire building . Superintendents for both the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads , as well as other railroad officials , had offices on the second floor of Union Station . 
