Baltimore Penn Station

Baltimore Penn Station—formally, Baltimore Pennsylvania Station—is the main inter-city passenger rail hub in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York City architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison (1872–1938), it was constructed in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is located at 1515 N. Charles Street, about a mile and a half north of downtown and the Inner Harbor, between the Mount Vernon neighborhood to the south, and Station North to the north. Originally called Union Station because it served the Pennsylvania Railroad and Western Maryland Railway, it was renamed to match the PRR's other main stations in 1928.^[5]

Baltimore Penn Station Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Penn Station in 2018
General information
Location	1500 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland United States
Coordinates	39°18′27″N 76°36′56″W
Owned by	Amtrak
Line(s)	Amtrak Northeast Corridor
Platforms	3 island platforms (MARC and Amtrak) 1 side platform (Light RailLink)
Tracks	8 (MARC and Amtrak) 1 (Light RailLink)
Connections	MTA BaltimoreLink: Green, Silver, 51, 95, 103[1] Charm City Circulator: Purple Johns Hopkins Shuttle Baltimore Collegetown Shuttle Jones Falls Trail
Construction
Parking	550 spaces[2]
Accessible	Yes[2]
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: BAL
IATA code	ZBP
History
Opened	1911 (1911)
Rebuilt	1984
Previous names	Baltimore Union Station
Passengers
FY 2024	1,301,274 [3] (Amtrak only)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station BWI Airport toward Washington, D.C. Acela Wilmington toward Boston South Vermonter Wilmington toward St. Albans Washington, D.C. toward Chicago Cardinal Wilmington toward New York Washington, D.C. toward Charlotte Carolinian BWI Airport One-way operation Crescent BWI Airport toward Savannah Palmetto Washington, D.C. toward Miami Silver Meteor BWI Airport toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional Aberdeen toward Boston South or Springfield Preceding station MARC Following station West Baltimore toward Union Station Penn Line Martin State Airport toward Perryville Preceding station Maryland Transit Administration Following station Mt. Royal/​MICA toward Camden Yards Light RailLink Penn–Camden Shuttle Terminus
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Edmondson toward Washington, D.C. Chesapeake Edgewood toward Philadelphia–Suburban New Carrollton toward Tri-State Hilltopper Aberdeen toward Boston South BWI Airport toward Washington, D.C. Metroliner Wilmington toward New York New Carrollton toward Washington, D.C. Montrealer Wilmington toward Montreal Capital Beltway toward Washington, D.C. Harrisburg toward Kansas City National Limited Capital Beltway toward Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. toward Miami Silver Star Wilmington toward New York Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station Edmondson Avenue toward Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Biddle Street toward Philadelphia President Street toward Calvert Street Woodberry toward Harrisburg Northern Central Railway Baltimore Division Calvert Street Terminus Preceding station Western Maryland Railway Following station Baltimore Walbrook toward Cumberland Main Line Baltimore Hillen Terminus
Pennsylvania Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Baltimore City Landmark
Area	1.9 acres (0.8 ha)
Built	1911
Architect	McKim, Mead & White; Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
NRHP reference No.	75002097[4]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 12, 1975
Designated BCL	1975
Location

The building sits on a raised "island" of sorts between two open trenches, one for the Jones Falls Expressway and the other for the tracks of the Northeast Corridor (NEC). The NEC approaches from the south through the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel and the east through the Union Tunnel.

Services

Amtrak owns the station, which is used by eight of its Northeast Corridor services. These include multiple daily Acela and Northeast Regional trains; daily round trips of the Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, and Vermonter; and the tri-weekly Cardinal. Penn Station is the northern terminus for most MARC Train Penn Line service, though some service runs further north to Perryville. It is also the northern terminus of Baltimore Light RailLink's Penn–Camden shuttle, which uses a single-track spur to Penn Station.

History

20th century

Savarin Restaurant at Baltimore Penn Station, c. 1930s

The present Pennsylvania Station is the third railroad depot on its North Charles Street site. The first one was a wooden structure built by the Northern Central Railway, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), that began operating in 1873. This was replaced in 1886 by the Charles Street Union Station, which featured a three-story brick building situated below street level with a sloping driveway that led to its entrance and a train shed that measured 76 by 360 feet (23.16 by 109.73 meters).^[6] It was demolished in January 1910, for construction of the present edifice, which opened on September 15, 1911.

Between the 1920s and 1940s, Savarin Restaurants provided full-service dining rooms at Baltimore Pennsylvania Station, Washington Union Station, and others. The Savarin Restaurant, located at the west end of Baltimore's station, was originally decorated with Chesapeake Bay-themed murals and had an entrance and exterior signage directly fronting Charles Street. By the early 1960s, the Savarin had ended table service and offered counter-service only.

The PRR operated local and intercity service on both the Northeast Corridor and the Northern Central. Northeast Corridor service included the PRR's own trains, as well as long-distance trains from southern railroads. The northeast Corridor was electrified through the station in 1935.^[7][8] Service on the Northern Central ended in the late 1960s. Penn Station was used by the Western Maryland Railway until 1958. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad instead used nearby Mount Royal Station until 1961, while the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad used a small station at North Avenue until 1954.

On September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon, then a U.S. senator from California and the Republican Party's nominee for vice president, gave what became known as the Checkers speech, in which he said his dog Checkers had been held for him at "Union Station in Baltimore," the station's former name.^[9]

As part of the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, the station was restored to its 1911 appearance in 1984.^[10] Baltimore Light RailLink service began in 1997.

21st century

Penn Station's train hall in 2022

In 2004, Baltimore, through its public arts program, commissioned sculptor Jonathan Borofsky to create a sculpture as the centerpiece of a re-designed plaza in front of Penn Station. His work, a 51-foot (15.5 m)-tall aluminum statue, named Male/Female, has generated considerable controversy ever since, with The Baltimore Sun reporting what it called a "maelstrom of criticism".^[11] Its defenders cite the contemporary imagery and artistic expression as complementing an urban landscape, while opponents criticize what they decry as a clash with the station's Beaux-Arts architecture and detracting from its classic lines.^[12][13] The Baltimore Sun editorially characterized it as "oversized, underdressed, and woefully out of place".^[14]

The Camden Yards–Penn Station light rail service was suspended in September 2019 and replaced by a bus bridge due to a lack of available operators.^[15] Service later resumed, but was again suspended in 2022 due to Amtrak construction at Penn Station. Light rail service to Penn Station resumed in June 2025.^[16]

Redevelopment plans

Several proposals have been made to convert the upper floors of the station into a hotel. Proposals from 2001 and 2006 were announced but never completed.^[17][18] In 2009, Amtrak reached an agreement with a developer for a 77-room hotel to be called The Inn at Penn Station.^[19] This project stalled along with many other hotel proposals in Baltimore.^[20]

In December 2017, Amtrak awarded a contract to Penn Station Partners for improvements to the station and redevelopment of nearby property owned by the passenger railroad. The partnership is composed of Beatty Development Group and Cross Street Partners.^[21] In April 2019, it was announced that development would encompass a transit-oriented hub of apartments, shops, offices, a hotel, and redevelopment of nearby property owned by the passenger railroad.^[22] Amtrak describes the plan as creating a premier regional transportation hub to accommodate passenger growth as the next generation of high-speed Acela Express trains start running along the Northeast Corridor in 2021.^[22]

A spokesman for Penn Station Partners stated at a presentation of its tentative plans to the public on August 13, 2019, that they will seek city and state funding to help pay the total $400–600 million project cost. Included would be a new concourse and other station enhancements to accommodate the expected increase in passenger volume. Amtrak, for its part, has earmarked $90 million in federal funding for related improvements to the station and its tracks.^[21]

Amtrak and the Penn Station Partners development team headed by Beatty Development Group and Cross Street Partners unveiled plans to construct a three-level train terminal just north of the existing station on October 15, 2020. The new structure, which is meant to supplement the current building by accommodating all passenger-oriented functions with the expectation of increased traffic from the potential installation of a high-speed rail line, will be bordered by Charles Street to the west, Lanvale Street to the north, St. Paul Street to the east and the facility's railroad tracks to the south. The existing Penn Station's restoration began in 2021, with its upper levels converted into office space and restaurants and shops occupying the ground level.^[23][24]

In a June 8, 2021 editorial, The Baltimore Sun reported that the controversial Male/Female statue was not shown in the development team's conceptual drawings for the station plaza. The developers said no decision had been reached about its future, and the newspaper called for public input on the issue.^[25]