West Baltimore MARC Station

This station is located in an interesting neighborhood to say the least so as long as you are traveling during the day you should be perfectly fine. This station is super convinent for me because parking is free even though I live right down the street from Penn Station. The only thing about this station is when I put the address into my GPS it didn’t take me to the station and I ended up having to ask someone for directions.

This is close to my house with access to the main roads which is very convenient. There is more than enough free parking and its safe as there are police cameras and police cars that are in the area all times of the day. The only thing is that you need to ask the conductor when you’re coming back to this station which cars will be stopping; as the platform isn’t long enough to accommodate the whole train.

One star for being under a mile from my house. But it’s problematic using this station if you have mobility issues. Boarding toward Washington requires going under a poorly-​maintained bridge (you will get dripped on, if it’s raining), and walking up 36 steps. I haven’t counted how many steps down it is on the north-​bound side, but it’s a lot.
I guess they think since this station isn’t used by people in wheelchairs or scooters, they don’t have to have enough handicapped parking spaces, but folks like me, who can walk, but can’t necessarily walk far, aren’t well served. There are 4 lots, and yesterday the lot was so crowded, I had to part in the 4^th lot, each lot is a block long. During the summer, I could get a handicapped space on Monday or Friday, but that’s not the case anymore. MTA painted over the parking lot spaces months ago, but hasn’t gotten around to repainting the lines to change access spaces, but the folks parking in those spaces keep parking to maintain those spaces, so several spaces are lost that way.
I don’t see how they could make this stop more accessible but I wish they could. And it would be nice, given how often this train is late, to have an indoor station to wait out of the cold or heat, maybe a place to buy a beverage.
My advice, if handicapped, if you CAN get here before 7 AM, you can probably get a space. And for those who think I’m one of those «able-​bodied individuals parking there and taking the stairs faster than others,» you need to take license plate numbers and report people. But don’t assume that a person who can climb stairs in the morning without problems is going to be able to climb down without problems in the evening. I wish I could count on being able to do things in the evening that I can do in the morning.

Construction has started on the 1^st parking lot. They moved the handicap parking and added more spaces which is great. Those parking spaces should be monitored. Are the stickers that they put in the window for them. I say this because I’ve seen able-​body individuals parking there and taking the stairs faster than others. There is also a new parking lot across the street that is still closed off. Instead of having MARC commuters rushing to get a parking space on the lots or having them park on the street why not open the finished lot to accommodate them.

Really not so bad as everyone says. Ample free parking. Easy access to trains. Safe part if the neighborhood. If you are nervous about catching the train here you are a transit novice ;)

This is where I get off of the MARC train in the afternoon, since I live only a 5-​minute drive away.
This station is in desperate need of improvements, as you can see by the attached pictures. There’s NO high platforms, lots of staircases, and no way in hell anyone with a wheelchair or a disability is going to board at THIS station. Plus, it’s in what I’ll nicely call a «sketch area» (but quite honestly, it’s smack in the middle of a ghetto). There is no way in hell I’d ever wait here after dark. There’s been plenty of car break-​ins while workers are away, with little to no security presence — no police substation, no presence whatsoever. They say there’s security cameras here, but I sincerely doubt that they work.
Add the fact that a school is right next to the station, with kids who like to throw rocks (more like medium sized pieces of concrete) at the train, and you have a recipe for disaster.
The MTA seriously needs to DO something about this station. There is no reason why anyone should have to wait here (especially when it’s dark) and not feel safe, and believe me — this place isn’t safe.