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West Baltimore station is a regional rail station located in the western part of the City of
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
along the Northeast Corridor. It is served by
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
Penn Line The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail service running from Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Perryville, Maryland, along the far southern leg of the Northeast Corridor. However, the great majority of trains terminate at Baltimore's Penn ...
trains. The station is positioned on an elevated grade above and between the nearby parallel West Mulberry and West Franklin Streets ( U.S. Route 40) at 400 North Smallwood Street. Three large surface lots are available for commuters. The station is not
accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
, with two low-level
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s next to the outer tracks, but MTA Maryland plans to later renovate the station with accessible platforms and entrances.


History


Edmondson

The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P), owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, opened to Baltimore in 1873. By the early 1900s, the PRR stopped at Lafayette and Calverton (also known as Gwynns Falls) west of Baltimore, serving local residential areas. Because both the B&P and the
Northern Central Railway The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, whe ...
approached
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
from the west, PRR through trains from Washington to Harrisburg had to operate in reverse from Baltimore to Washington. To correct this, the PRR planned to replace the two stops with a single intercity-oriented station located between them, along with a wye at the north end of the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel to allow trains to bypass Penn Station. The PRR opened bidding for station construction, with an estimated cost of $50,000 (), in July 1916. The
Spanish Mission style The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
station, constructed of red brick with a terra-cotta tile roof, was designed by PRR staff architect William Holmes Cookman. The station, named Edmondson, opened on May 1, 1917. Original plans called for the installation of high-level platforms and a footbridge connecting them to the station building. However, this was delayed by the nationalization of railroads during World War I, and neither the station improvements nor the wye was ultimately built. Unlike the comparable
North Philadelphia station North Philadelphia station is an intercity rail and regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located on North Broad Street in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Southeastern Pennsylv ...
, Edmondson was not a success. It was far from the city center without a good transit connection to it, and without the wye the station did not serve Harrisburg trains. Instead of being a major intercity stop, Edmondson was mostly served by local commuter service between Washington and Baltimore. Local service continued under
Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
from 1968 to 1976, then under Conrail until 1983, and finally as the
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
-operated, state-funded AMDOT service (renamed the
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
Penn Line The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail service running from Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Perryville, Maryland, along the far southern leg of the Northeast Corridor. However, the great majority of trains terminate at Baltimore's Penn ...
in 1984). The station was briefly closed in March 1979 after an accident destroyed the stairway to the platform.
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
's '' Chesapeake'', a limited-stop commuter train between Washington and Philadelphia, began stopping at Edmondson on July 29, 1979. The ''Chesapeake'' was discontinued on October 30, 1983.


West Baltimore

Edmondson continued to be a stop on the state-funded commuter service. The Edmondson and Frederick Road stops were closed on April 27, 1984; they were replaced with West Baltimore station, two blocks to the south of Edmondson Avenue, on April 30. The stairs and platforms were removed, but the station building remains in place as a private business (which it had been converted to even before the stop closed). 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 The following highways are numbered 40: International * European route E40 Argentina * National Route 40 Australia * NSW State Route 40 (Windsor Road and Victoria Road in Sydney) * Victorian State Route 40 * Mulligan Highway (Queensland) Br ...
) 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 has 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 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 also served by 6 MTA Bus routes: *PK CityLink Pink - West Baltimore to Cedonia *OR CityLink Orange - West Baltimore to Essex *BL CityLink Blue - Johns Hopkins Bayview to Westgate / CMS *26 LocalLink 26 - Mondawmin Metro to South Baltimore Park & Ride *77 LocalLink 77 - West Baltimore MARC to Catonsville *150 Express BusLink 150 - Harbor East to Columbia (WB stop on Franklin, EB stop on Mulberry, does not serve bus terminal)


References


External links


Franklin Street entrance from Google Maps Street ViewWest Baltimore MARC Station Project
{{Amtrak Maryland stations Stations on the Northeast Corridor MARC Train stations Penn Line Railway stations in Baltimore Railway stations in the United States opened in 1984 1984 establishments in Maryland West Baltimore