West Baltimore station

West Baltimore
MARC commuter rail station
Platforms at West Baltimore Station
Location	400 North Smallwood Street Baltimore, MD 21223
Coordinates
Owned by	Maryland Transit Administration
Line(s)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	23 40, 47, 150
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	861 (MARC)
Services
Preceding station   MARC   Following station Halethorpe toward Union Station Penn Line Penn Station toward Perryville

West Baltimore is a regional rail station on the MARC Penn Line located in the western part of Baltimore City along the Northeast Corridor. It is positioned on an elevated grade above Mulberry and Franklin Streets (Route 40) at 400 North Smallwood Street. Two large surface lots are available for commuters. West Baltimore station is not handicapped accessible, but MTA Maryland plans to renovate the station with accessible platforms and entrances.

History

Staircase to the northbound platform

The Pennsylvania Railroad maintained a stop at Edmondson Avenue for many years; the station building is still in use as a private business. In 1968 PRR merged with New York Central Railroad to form Penn Central Railroad, and after years of financial despair turned the line as well as its entire operation over to Conrail. In 1978, Amtrak began running the Chesapeake commuter train, which stopped at Edmondson Avenue as well. MARC took over the service as far as Perryville in 1983 and began stopping at West Baltimore station two blocks to the south.

In 2009, it was announced that approximately 400 parking spaces east of Pulaski Street would be added, as part of the project to remove the portion of Interstate 170 (now Route 40) that had never carried vehicular traffic. The spots were not to be permanent, but instead only available until redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood. The expressway was demolished in the fall of 2010, and the spaces opened soon after.

West Baltimore station attracted criticism for being unsafe due to crime and the poor conditions of the platforms and staircases, which are crumbling and rusted. As part of the larger project to repair the Interstate 170 area, the station will be improved over a period of several years. Immediate repairs to the stairs and platforms, as well as improved shelters and lighting, were made in 2014. Ultimately, the platforms will be extended to serve more cars per train and raised for handicapped accessibility, and ramps built to surrounding streets. The Red Line light rail service, originally planned to begin construction in 2015 (before its cancellation that year) and open in 2022, was to run along the Route 40 corridor in the median of the highway underneath the elevated city streets with a stop at West Baltimore. Escalators and elevators would be used to transport commuters from the station to the streets above the Route 40 corridor in West Baltimore.

Bus connections

The station is served by 4 MTA bus routes:

• 23 Rolling Road/Wildwood to Fox Ridge
• 40 QuickBus Security Square Blvd. at CMS. to Middle River
• 47 QuickBus Walbrook Junction to Overlea Loop
• 150 Express Bus Columbia to Downtown Baltimore

External links

• Franklin Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• West Baltimore MARC Station Project