Station Review #46: West Baltimore (MARC)


West Baltimore is a station on MARC's Penn Line, located in the Southwest Baltimore section of the city of Baltimore, in the Midtown Edmonson neighborhood. 

History

Old building of Edmonson station

Before West Baltimore station was even an idea, there was the B&P Railroad, which was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. They operated two stations, Lafayette and Calverton. The Pennsylvania Railroad also operated a service from Washington DC to Harrisburg, via York and Baltimore. This required trains to operate in reverse, especially when going towards DC from Baltimore. 

To solve this, the PRR decided to replace Lafayette and Calverton stations with one station in-between both named Edmonson in 1916. A wye was to be built at Edmonson station, it was supposed to be similar in spirit to a transfer station to a station like North Philadelphia. The station was built, but the wye was never completed because World War 1 happened. Edmonson was never the transfer station they had wished it to be. The PRR also planned to build high platforms and a footbridge at Edmonson, but these, too, never happened. 

In 1979, Edmonson ended up gaining Amtrak service under the Chesapeake, an Amtrak commuter train that went from DC to Philadelphia. This only lasted until 1983, when it was discontinued. The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) also ran trains through Edmonson station under the branding AMDOT. This later was spun off into a new sub-agency named MARC, and this line became the MARC Penn Line. 

In 1984, MARC decided to close Edmonson and another station named Frederick Avenue and merge them together to create a new station named West Baltimore, two blocks south of Edmonson Avenue. It has not changed much since. At some point, a bus loop was added, but not much else after. 

Tour


A northbound train coming through the station.

West Baltimore station is a mess, to say the least. It has two platforms, one for each side, and neither is long enough to fit a full train. 

Northbound Platform


Bench.

The northbound platform has very little, one of the only things offered is this red bench. Seriously, that's all you get. A small red bench. 

The barren northbound platform.

The only good thing about the northbound platform is that one can easily get to the bus loop from it. 

Speaking of the bus loop...

The Bus Loop

The bus loop doesn't have much to it. There is more than enough for people to be satisfied with it, though. 

Some signs and an interactive touchscreen that tell you when the next buses and MARC Penn train in any direction arrive

Staircase

Bus Stops

The bus loop has everything you would need at a bus loop, it has bus bays, benches and shelters, and countdown clocks for the buses. 

Southbound Platform

Shelters at the southbound platform

The southbound platform has two shelters on it, both with benches and not much else. This sounds okay at first, but not until you realize the problem with the southbound platform. The problem with the southbound platform is that you need a stepstool to get onto the train because it's too low. 

Did you think I was lying? 

A conductor will come out of the train with a yellow step stool, which will let passengers get on or off of the train. Without using a step-stool provided on the train, you cannot board the train because the platforms are too low to do so otherwise. 

This station is probably one of the worst for accessibility that I have ever seen.  This is especially because able-bodied people aren't even able to get onto a train there on their own. This station desperately needs to be rebuilt, but somehow has not yet. 

The Lawn

The lawn in front of the southbound platform

On the other side of the southbound platform, there's a lawn. It's a nice piece of greenery, I guess. 

What's not nice is this very old boardwalk-like staircase to the station. It felt like it could cave in at any moment, and while it probably would survive for a while, a metal or concrete staircase would probably be much sturdier. 

View of lawn from the station itself

It's a nice and manicured lawn, one that's reminiscent of old larger Pennsylvania Railroad stations, kind of like a small park as well. 

There's not much else at West Baltimore station. 

Bus Connections

View of the entire bus loop

There are a few buses that go to West Baltimore station. These buses include: 

CityLink:


• Blue: CMS to John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center 
• Orange: West Baltimore station to Essex
• Pink: West Baltimore station to Cedonia 

LocalLink:


• 26: Mondawmin SubwayLink to Patapasco LightRailLink
• 77: West Baltimore station to Catonsville
• 150: Harpers Choice to Fells Point
• 163: West Baltimore station to Tradepoint Atlantic 

As one can easily notice, West Baltimore is a very important bus transfer location in Baltimore. 

Points of Interest in Midtown Edmonson


Some rowhomes along Franklin Street

There is not much to see in the area around the station. This area is mostly residential, with very little occurring here that would be of any interest to tourists. There is a lot of density in the area, though, which is pretty interesting, as well as interesting architecture. 


Statistics:


Name: West Baltimore 
Agency: MARC (MDOT)
Line(s): Penn Line
Locality: Midtown Edmonson
City/Township: Baltimore
County: Baltimore City
Ridership: 164 Riders per average weekday

Amenity Checklist:

Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ×
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): n/a
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ×
Maps: ×
Multiple entrances/exits: ×
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ×
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ✓
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 3/10, and 2/3rds of that is the bus loop


Station Directory


--------Maryland--------
--------Cecil County--------
    Perryville
--------Harford County--------
Aberdeen 
    Edgewood
--------Baltimore County--------
    Martin State Airport
--------Baltimore City--------
Baltimore Penn 
    West Baltimore 
--------Baltimore County--------
    Halethorpe
--------Anne Arundel County--------
BWI/Thurgood Marshall 
    Odenton
--------Prince George's County--------
    Bowie State University
    Seabrook
New Carrolton 
--------Washingon D.C.--------
Washington DC Union 

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