BWI Rail Station

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This article is about a regional and inter-city rail station. For the light rail station at BWI, see BWI Marshall Airport (Baltimore Light Rail station).
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport 20 airtransportation.svg
File:BWI Rail Station from parking garage, August 2014.JPG
The station viewed from the adjacent parking garage
Location 7 Amtrak Way
Baltimore, Maryland 21240[lower-alpha 1]
United States
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owned by Amtrak
Line(s) Northeast Corridor
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 3
Connections Baltimore Light Rail via Shuttle bus
Bus transport MTA Bus 17, MTA Bus 201
Bus transport Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland Route 501/Silver
Bus transport UMBC Transit
Construction
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code BWI
History
Opened 1980
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 692,268 annually[6] Decrease 2.57% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak   Following station
Terminus
 Acela Express
Northeast Regional
Vermonter
toward St. Albans
MARC
Penn Line
toward Perryville

The Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Rail Station (often shortened to simply BWI Rail Station) is an Amtrak and Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) train station in an unincorporated area within Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.[lower-alpha 1]

The station is located on the airport complex just over a mile from the main terminal of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. A free shuttle bus runs between the station and the airport terminal every 12 minutes from 5 am to 1 am and every 25 minutes from 1 am to 5 am.[7]

MARC Ridership

As of 2013, the daily MARC ridership was 2,442.

History

The station was dedicated on October 23, 1980, and was the first intercity rail station in the U.S. built to service an airport.[8] It is about a 20-minute train ride south of Baltimore's Penn Station, a 20-minute ride north of New Carrollton, Maryland (and its connection with the Orange Line of Washington Metro), and a 35-minute ride north of Washington's Union Station.

Rail services

The station is part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and is served by the MARC Penn Line as well as Amtrak's Acela Express, Northeast Regional, and Vermonter trains. The Carolinian served the station between 1991 and 2004. All Northeast Regional trains (except Train 179 that operates between Boston and New York) stop here.

Infrastructure

File:Baltimore airport amtrak 11.07.2012 15-31-01.jpg
The existing station and adjacent parking garage

The station's building houses a ticketing desk, waiting room, and a concessions area. The adjacent parking garage is used by commuters who ride the train to work in Baltimore or Washington, and also contains the bus stop for shuttles to the BWI terminal. The garage was built in the late 1990s to replace a smaller surface lot. It contains 3,200 parking spaces and typically does not fill to capacity.[9]

Platform renovations

The 1,050 feet (320 m) high-level platforms were rebuilt and lengthened in 2006–2010.[10] The existing structures were replaced with new precast concrete segments, and new signs, lights, shelters, railing, canopies, and benches were installed.[11]

Future expansion

$9.4 million has been allocated for design and engineering of a new station building and fourth track, which is expected to cost $80–100 million. The existing station will be demolished to make way for the new track and platform, and a new station—twice the size of the old—will be built.[12][13]

Connecting transportation

File:Northbound Northeast Regional at BWI.jpg
A Northeast Regional train at the station

A number of transportation services connect to the station, including a dedicated taxi stand. Some of these services include Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Bus, BWI Shuttle, and University of Maryland Baltimore County Transit Shuttle. While rental cars are not available at the station, the nearby BWI consolidated rental car facility is accessible via the station's other connecting modes.

Local public transit services

Pedestrian and bicycle access

  • BWI Trail: A hiker/biker trail completely encircles the airport grounds parallel to the Airport Loop, and runs adjacent to the station.[15]
  • An elevated walkway connects the station (at the second floor of the southbound platform's stairwell) with office buildings on Corporate Center Drive, including the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The BWI Rail Station is located in an unincorporated area within Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Most reliable sources agree that the street address is 7 Amtrak Way, but differ on the "city" in which it is located. Amtrak lists the city as "BWI Airport" on both of its web pages for the station.[1][2] The Maryland Transit Administration lists the city as "Linthicum" on its website & Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail (MARC) brochure.[3] However, according to Google Maps[4] the station is located outside of Linthicum Heights (Linthicum), with that census-designated place only extending to just the far side I-195 and does not include the train station. According to the United States Postal Service (USPS), "BWI Airport" is not an acceptable city name and that the proper city for the 21240 ZIP code (which is used by all the sources previously cited) is Baltimore (even though the station actually outside the city proper).[5] Nothwithstanding, the USPS does not recognize the street address provided by any of the sources.

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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