BWI Airport
Halethorpe is an intermediate station on MARC's Penn Line. The current station opened on August 12, 2013. This project built two full length high-level side platforms for the four track Northeast Corridor. Both ends of the nine-car long high-level platforms have staircases down to track level and low-level platforms. At only the front of each platform are wooden level-crossings to allow a single door can be opened in case a train needs to stop on one of the two express tracks.
The station has plaque from its opening in August 2013. This plaque dedicates the new station to J. Edward “Ned” Malone, 1927-2002, a former Western Maryland Railway/Chessie System Employee, Maryland State Delegate and Baltimore County Sherriff.
The platforms are both fully canopied with a light green angled canopy structures. The edges of the platforms have tactile warning strips along the platform edges. The walls of the platforms have what feel like to me very unattractive angled rebar fencing that extends to be full height and away from the platform edge. The fencing along the platform feels as if the platforms are designed to be completely closed off to prevent trespassers when there is no train service. The station's various secondary entrances lack gates, so this doesn't actually happen.
The platforms are connected by a central pedestrian bridge. This bridge is enclosed by mesh and glass walls with an angled roof just like on the platforms. Two similar brown tiled towers hold up the pedestrian bridge on each side of the station. One of these brown towers contains the elevator. The other a staircase. The elevator on the Washington-bound side of the station leads down to the stations 928 space parking lot with an intermediate floor for the platform itself. At street level is a small "station house area" containing some MARC Ticket Vending Machines and restrooms.
There are additional exits from the Washington-bound platform down to the large, long, and narrow parking lot. It's literally 0.43 miles from the southern end of the parking lot to the northern end with four parking lot entrances from parallel Southwest Blvd. There are staircases at either end of this platform. These split into two staircases in opposite directions after leaving the platform. Two ramps are directly between each of these staircases and the pedestrian bridge in the middle of the station.
The stairs/elevator up to the pedestrian bridge on the Baltimore-bound platform don't lead directly out to any streets. This platform does have a ramp near its northern (Baltimore-bound) end that leads up to Potomac Avenue that curves and becomes parallel to the tracks north of the station. Here there are bus stops for Baltimore Local Link Route 32 and an hourly University of Maryland Baltimore County Shuttle Bus to and from the main campus of this university. The shuttle bus stop is decorated in an advertisement for the college.
The new platforms are just south of the original low-level platforms. The original pedestrian connection between the low-level platforms are still open to the public. These are switch-backing staircases up to the sidewalk of the Francis Avenue vehicular bridge over the Northeast Corridor. The former shelters and platforms are gone in this area but there are still an unnecessary number of bike racks and bike boxes in the parking lot on the Washington-bound side of the tracks. The staircase on the Baltimore side bound of the tracks leads down to track level before connecting immediately up to some steps up to parallel Potamic Avenue and the start of a sidewalk to the station's bus stop and ramp down to the modern day Baltimore-bound platform.
Photos 1-113: September 4, 2024;
