Baltimore Penn Station

Completed in 1911, Baltimore Penn Station is an active commuter and intercity rail station and a historic building formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The station serves the Amtrak intercity trains, MARC commuter trains to DC and Perryville, and the Maryland Light Rail Link to Camden Station. The station's history dates back to its predecessor, Union Station, which was completed in 1873, as well as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which began serving the city in 1828. Today, this is the eighth busiest Amtrak station in the US, with just over 1 million passengers annually in 2023. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and is currently undergoing renovation as part of a larger redevelopment of the area that will eventually include mixed-used developments and an expanded station concourse.

While the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had started operations in Baltimore as early as 1828, they operated out of the nearby Camden Yards and Mount Royal stations. The Pennsylvania Railroad ventured into Baltimore by first acquiring the Northern Central Railway in 1884 as a part of expanding its operation and network. Northern Central's Union Station, which had been built in 1873 and enlarged in 1882, was completely rebuilt in 1906 but still remained too small. Therefore in 1909, the PRR held a design competition for a new station at the same location which became Penn Station.

The station, designed by Kenneth W. Murcnison, a New York architect with the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, opened in 1911. The line was electrified in the 1930s and the building was renovated in 1983-84, reveling the skylights in the lobby that had been covered by blackout paint during World War II. Amtrak later replaced the Pennsylvania Railroad's intercity lines.

Since 2004, the station's entrance has been home to a fifty-one foot stainless steel sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky that depicts both the male and female form. The sculpture has been heavily criticized, while others find a message worthy of the prominent location in the way the two bisecting male and female figures share a single core with pink and blue hearts. The statue was not included in conceptual designs for the station's future, leading many to wonder if the statue will be replaced by another work of art.

New Renderings Released of Future Redevelopment, Baltimore Penn Station. March 19th, 2024. Accessed August 15th, 2024. https://baltimorepennstation.com/press-releases/new-renderings-released-of-future-redevelopment.

Baltimore, MD - Penn Station (BAL), The Great American Stations. Accessed August 15th, 2024. https://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/baltimore-penn-station-md-bal/.