BALTIMORE — Amtrak has unveiled renderings of what the new West Baltimore MARC train station will look like.
It's part of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program, which is expected to cost $4 billion and fix "the biggest rail bottleneck between Washington, D.C. and New Jersey."
Amtrak just released renderings of the future West Baltimore MARC Station that will be built as part of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program 👀🚆https://t.co/xqHwsQMBQn @Amtrak pic.twitter.com/X7kV2sONVE
— Bryna Zumer (@BrynaZumer) July 18, 2024
The train station will be fully handicap-accessible, "including elevators and level boarding platforms that line up with the train," and include bathrooms, an enclosed waiting area, road improvements, improved sidewalks on Franklin and Mulberry streets, enhanced pick-up/drop-off areas, and public art.
The project's director, Amtrak Assistant Vice President Luigi Rosa, said in a statement that the renderings "reflect the meaningful input we received from community members through the design proces. The new West Baltimore MARC Station will upgrade the customer experience for thousands of annual MARC riders while enhancing connectivity to Baltimore Penn Station, Washington DC and beyond.”
The current station, at the intersection where Franklin and Mulberry streets merge into Route 40, is just a simple train platform and parking lot, without any passenger amenities.
Besides the train station, the massive bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021 is also funding $50 million in grants to the West Baltimore community, specifically for projects within a quarter-mile of the tunnel area.
At a recent Amtrak meeting on the project, in May, area residents seemed concerned about the project and its implications.
The first meeting will be held virtually on Monday, July 22. The in-person meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 24, at Mary Ann Winterling Elementary School on North Bentalou Street.
The entire tunnel project is expected to be done by 2035. More information is available here.
MTA Administrator Holly Arnold also said: "We are so excited for the public to see the transformational West Baltimore MARC Station. This is the next step in creating an interconnected transit hub for the West Baltimore community which will provide access to the local bus network, MARC trains, and the future Red Line light rail line.”
