Light Rail Expansion

My friend who works at Arundal Mills told me that they have finalized plans to extend the Baltimore light rail to Arundal Mills Mall. I think it will branch off from the Cromwell Station.

"gprimr1"
My friend who works at Arundal Mills told me that they have finalized plans to extend the Baltimore light rail to Arundel Mills Mall. I think it will branch off from the Cromwell Station.

Your friend is mistaken. The only transit project in the Baltimore area that has an active study underway is the Red Line Corridor Transit Study. It is true that there was a regional rail system report prepared back in October of 2002 with service to Arundel Mills, however little has come of that report beyond Red Line Corridor Transit Study.

Sand Box John wrote:"gprimr1"
My friend who works at Arundal Mills told me that they have finalized plans to extend the Baltimore light rail to Arundel Mills Mall. I think it will branch off from the Cromwell Station.

Your friend is mistaken. The only transit project in the Baltimore area that has an active study underway is the Red Line Corridor Transit Study. It is true that there was a regional rail system report prepared back in October of 2002 with service to Arundel Mills, however little has come of that report beyond Red Line Corridor Transit Study.

Actually there is the "Baltimore Area Regional Rail Plan" which would consitute a major expansion of rail transit in the region which does include service to Arundel Mills. As this is a 40 year projection, it is far from certain how much, if any, of this ultimate system will actually get built. You can do a search on the Baltimore Area Regional Rail Plan ( from the MTA web site) and find it. The Red Line study may, in fact be further along than the rest of the plan, but the rest is still out there.

"walt"
Actually there is the "Baltimore Area Regional Rail Plan" which would consitute a major expansion of rail transit in the region which does include service to Arundel Mills. As this is a 40 year projection, it is far from certain how much, if any, of this ultimate system will actually get built. You can do a search on the Baltimore Area Regional Rail Plan ( from the MTA web site) and find it.

I am well aware of the Baltimore Area Regional Rail Plan, I participated in one of the workshops that took place that lead up to that committees report. The assumption that I got in gprimr1post was that this extension was on the verge of starting construction. As you and I know this is not true.

The Red Line study may, in fact be further along than the rest of the plan, but the rest is still out there.

If history is any evidence, the likelihood that even half of that ambitious plan becomes reality is pretty slim. My evidence is the Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System from the late 1960s. Just over half of one of the five lines was built. One third of another line was changed to light rail. Today's Red line project was also part of that 1960s plan and will likely end up being built as BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) if built at all.

Sand Box John wrote:
If history is any evidence, the likelihood that even half of that ambitious plan becomes reality is pretty slim. My evidence is the Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System from the late 1960s. Just over half of one of the five lines was built. One third of another line was changed to light rail. Today's Red line project was also part of that 1960s plan and will likely end up being built as BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) if built at all.

Unfotunately that DOES seem to be the history of these kinds of plans. DC was fortunate in that it was able to build the Metrorail system pretty much as it had been planned. I also agree- rail service to Arundel Mills, or anywhere else not presently served is FAR from being imminent.

"walt"
Unfotunately that DOES seem to be the history of these kinds of plans. DC was fortunate in that it was able to build the Metrorail system pretty much as it had been planned. I also agree- rail service to Arundel Mills, or anywhere else not presently served is FAR from being imminent.

After I wrote my comment I thought about the history of what happened in Baltimore and what happen 40 miles down the road in Washington. The Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System plan from the 1960s came after the National Capitol Transportation Agency (NCTA) which was created in the late 1950s and evolved into WMATA in the late 1960s. The agency in Baltimore was an organ of state government and therefore was heavily influenced by the administrations that came and went. NCTA and later WMATA were and are independent agencies.

Two factors influenced the results. NCTA and later WMATA had people within those originations that were there for years that were dedicated to building metrorail, that influence trickled down to the grass roots and resulted in support for the goals that NCTA and WMATA set.

The person that had the most influence during the formative years of the Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System was William Donald Shafer. The Central Light Rail Line was his baby both as mayor and governor. The idea of a regional heavy rail transit system in Baltimore had to compete with his light rail project. There was much less support for a fixed rail transit system in the Baltimore region then there was and is in the Washington region resulting in the plan not being fully built.

I will also add that the political landscape and demographics in the Baltimore region on transportation issues is very different then in the Washington region. NCTA and WMATA had a major hand in molding those demographics and that political landscape, no such entity exists or existed in the Baltimore area.

That is a GREAT explanation of the factors which led to the "complete" DC Metrorail system vs the single line heavy rail Metro in Baltimore. I am much more familiar with the history on the DC end ( I was working in DC during Metro's early years) than I am with the Baltimore situation. It is a shame, though, that there wasn't the support for the complete Baltimore system that there was for the DC system, as the Baltimore region would have been VERY well served if its complete system had been built.