Rail News: Passenger Rail
Maryland Transit Administration renovates BWI station platforms

This morning, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) reopened the northbound platform at the BWI MARC/Amtrak Station — just in time for the busiest travel day of the year.

The agency rebuilt and lengthened the 1,050-foot northbound and southbound platforms at the Penn Line station, which serves BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

The new platforms are 700 feet longer, enabling passengers to use all doors on nine-car trains. MTA also added new signs, lights, shelters and benches at the platforms.

The platform renovation is part of a series of station improvements planned by MTA and Amtrak. By early 2011, MTA plans to replace two elevators to provide more reliable and easier access to a pedestrian bridge.