Station Review #122: Martin State Airport (MARC)


Martin State Airport is a station located at Eastern Avenue and White Marsh Boulevard in Middle River, Maryland, near the Martin State Airport, its namesake. 

History



This station was built in 1991 along with the rest of the extension from Baltimore Penn to Perryville. At some point between 2016 and 2019, the station was rebuilt with new platforms, shelters, and a repainted depot.

Tour

Martin State Airport is an interesting station to say the least. The quality of the station is incredibly exaggerated, and its less awful than one would expect.

That isn't to say it's any good. In order to get to the actual platforms, you need to cross a ditch

Closeup on the ditch

I'm fairly certain this is a stormwater ditch of some form, since I could see no water in it when i visited

The tracks

The outbound "platform" 

In order to bound an outbound train, you have to walk onto the Northeast Corridor. The worst part is that this isn't the only station on the northeast corridor like this! 

The platforms as a whole

Rather than having one large platform, Martin State Airport has multiple smaller platforms. All of them suck. 

In typical MARC fashion

Much like other inaccessible MARC stations though, you need to use a step stool to access the first step to even get onto the train. 

Departure clock

Shelter

Station depot
 
The station house is a trailer. It used to be white.

What????

The station depot is not only open, but stocked with actual usable amenities. 

Ticket machine, benches, brochure area

Bathrooms

Non-gender neutral single-occupant bathrooms. Why. Literally what is the point. On top of that the water fountains were also broken. 

Parking

Bicycle Parking

Yes there are bike lockers here as well. 

Historical plaque

Train

Train jail :(

Bus Connections

There's only one real bus connection:

  • 59 - Moravia-Whispering Woods: This bus starts in the neighborhood of Frankford,  does a long loop around in a few East Baltimore neighborhoods nearby, and then goes along Eastern Boulevard (which then becomes Eastern Avenue) before ending in a bus loop in nearby Chase, MD that is surrounded by absolutely nothing. The frequency is about hourly, though sometimes worse. 


Points of Interest Near Martin State Airport Station

Martin State Airport itself. There's an aviation museum out there, as well as . Unfortunately, the entire area surrounding the station looks like this: 


Yeah. That's clearly great land use. The crosswalk closest to the station fron the bus stop on the southern side of Eastern Avenue actually exists and is very modernized, so people can take the bus to the train station and actually cross the road at least. It can be hard to tell where the station itself is, however. 

Statistics

Name: Martin State Airport
Agency: MARC
Line(s): Penn Line
Locality: Middle River
Municipality: Middle River
County: Baltimore (county)
State: Maryland
Ridership: 214 riders per average weekday (2017)

Amenity Checklist

Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ✓
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ×
Existence is justifiable: ✓
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): n/a
Good Wayfinding: ×
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Safe to use: ×
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
TVMs: ✓
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (countdown clocks): ✓
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 3/10? This is somehow better than I expected. I legitimately don't know what to say.

Station Directory


--------Maryland--------
--------Cecil County--------
Perryville
--------Harford County--------
Aberdeen 
Edgewood
--------Baltimore County--------
Martin State Airport
--------Baltimore City--------
--------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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