Bowie State is a

regional rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

station on the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

, located adjacent to the campus of Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland. It is served by MARC Penn Line commuter rail trains. The station is located on a three-track section of the Northeast Corridor, with two side platforms next to the outer tracks.

History

The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) opened its main line in 1872, with a station at Bowie but not at Jericho Park. The B&P was merged into the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

(PRR) in 1902. The PRR opened Jericho Park station, located at the modern station site, to serve the Maryland Normal and Industrial School (the predecessor to Bowie State College) around 1911. The PRR folded into Penn Central in 1968.

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

took over the ex-PRR Baltimore-Washington service, soon subsidized by the Maryland Department of Transportation, from Penn Central at its creation on April 1, 1976. Conrail operated service to the station until June 26, 1981. It was closed as the Jericho Park Road

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

was eliminated by the Laurel-Bowie Road overpass. Bowie State station was opened on February 27, 1989, as a replacement for the Bowie station, to the south. Bowie State provided parking lots – not possible to construct at Bowie – and better road access to surrounding suburban areas. This was one of the first major station projects undertaken under the MARC branding.

References

External links

Station from Google Maps Street View
MARC Train stations Penn Line Stations on the Northeast Corridor Buildings and structures in Bowie, Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1989 Railway stations in Prince George's County, Maryland Bowie State University Railway stations in Maryland at university and college campuses 1989 establishments in Maryland {{Maryland-railstation-stub