Union Pacific Railroad Center, Omaha

Union Pacific Center is the corporate headquarters of Union Pacific Railroad and its parent, Union Pacific Corporation. The 19-story building opened in June 2004 and contains about 1.2 million square feet, accommodating approximately 4,000 employees.

Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated in 1862 under legislation supporting construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Its operations have been connected with the region since the company’s earliest years. Employees moved from the company’s previous headquarters into the present center in 2004. Designed by Gensler, with Kendall/Heaton Associates as architect of record, the headquarters features granite and tinted-glass exterior surfaces. Its main architectural element is a 19-story glass-covered atrium extending through the center, allowing daylight to reach interior office floors. The complex contains offices, conference spaces, employee facilities, and a data center supporting communications and information systems. Train movements are not dispatched from this building; operations across the railroad network are coordinated primarily from the separate Harriman Dispatching Center. The headquarters represents the continuing presence of a railroad that has influenced transportation and economic development across the western United States. Union Pacific’s network extends across 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country, carrying agricultural products, automobiles, industrial goods, energy products, and intermodal freight.

Because Union Pacific Center is a working corporate headquarters rather than a museum or conventional attraction, public access should not be assumed. Visitors can view its modern exterior from surrounding public areas and explore nearby railroad-related sites interpreting the company’s history.