Passenger rail travel in the United States will experience significant growth in the coming years, not through a complete departure from traditional methodology but a gradual development. Developments such as upgrading existing railway lines to a higher standard, purchasing newer trains and renovating existing stations. Part of this evolution is Current overhaul of Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Station.
Baltimore Pennsylvania Station, not to be confused with New York City’s Pennsylvania Station, originally opened in 1911. Unlike its New York counterpart, the original station was not demolished and replaced with a new one. sports competition in the 1960s. However, Baltimore Penn Station has not been completely updated in at least 40 years despite being Amtrak’s 8th busiest station.
The most important part of the renovation was the construction of two new platforms. New platforms to support increased passenger capacity and service frequency of new generation Acela trains will be put into service later this year. The station will be completely refurbished, from a new roof and masonry repairs to new electrical and plumbing.
The Penn Station concourse will be extended onto the track to include new retail and dining spaces. Additionally, $400 million in private investment is expected in residential, office space and retail projects around the Penn station. Even so, these aspects of the renovation will be fruitless unless passenger traffic increases as expected.
From a business perspective, it makes sense for Amtrak to encourage investment in the Northeast Corridor. The very profitable mainline effectively subsidizes the rest of Amtrak’s services across the country. Increasing annual sales seemed like a viable method for a government-owned business to become financially sustainable and raise capital to expand without direct intervention from Washington. Baltimore Pennsylvania Station likely won’t be the last train station to receive a major investment to bring it back to standard.
