where to park to pick someone up at Baltimore Penn Station?

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Meenie

Train Attendant
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
47
I'm going to Maryland for my grandson's first birthday! :) My daughter will pick me up at Baltimore's Penn Station. Where can she park to pick me up? Neither of us are familiar with Baltimore. She lives in Northeast MD (Northeast is the name of the town - not a direction, lol)

thanks :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can't help with advice for parking in Baltimore, sorry! :(

However, unless you're going on an Acela, I'd find a Regional train that stops at Aberdeen, MD which would be much closer to Northeast, MD (the town). I'd guess at least 20 miles or more closer to her. This would save her time, gas, and the frustration of driving into center city Baltimore. Alternatively, you could get off in Newark, Del, which is also closer to Northeast albeit in the other direction from Aberdeen.

Finally, another alternative and one that is viable if you are on Acela, is to get off in Baltimore. Then catch a northbound MARC train (Maryland's commuter rail system) to Perryville, MD. Perryville is just down the road from Northeast, maybe 8 miles away.
 
I've found (at least on weekends) there is free parking near the intersection of Lanvale Street and Saint Paul Street. I've been able to park there and either pick somebody up or been dropped off there with no problems.

I can't say what it is like on weekdays -- there are meters, if I recall correctly.
 
Alan, alas, there are very limited stops at Newark, DE. Your other suggestions are good though.
 
If the times for Newark or Aberdeen don't work for you, there's a circular driveway in front of the station, she can swing though and just pick you up if you're waiting out front.
 
I can't help with advice for parking in Baltimore, sorry! :(

However, unless you're going on an Acela, I'd find a Regional train that stops at Aberdeen, MD which would be much closer to Northeast, MD (the town). I'd guess at least 20 miles or more closer to her. This would save her time, gas, and the frustration of driving into center city Baltimore. Alternatively, you could get off in Newark, Del, which is also closer to Northeast albeit in the other direction from Aberdeen.

Finally, another alternative and one that is viable if you are on Acela, is to get off in Baltimore. Then catch a northbound MARC train (Maryland's commuter rail system) to Perryville, MD. Perryville is just down the road from Northeast, maybe 8 miles away.
I wanted to go to Aberdeen, but this train doesn't stop there, the only route I could find there was to go to DC and have a 5 hour lay-over there :( Didn't know about Perryville :( Wonder what the layover in Baltimore is for that one.
 
MARC train schedules can be found here:

http://mta.maryland.gov/marc-train

What time will you be getting to Baltimore? Also, MARC is M-F only.
I arrive in Baltimore at 2:44pm. If I'm reading the schedules correctly for MARC (and I'm not sure at all if I am... there's a lot of letter symbols that don't quite make sense to me... but it appears that not all the trains that pick up in Baltimore stop at Perryville. I looks like the only one that does after I arrive is almost 3 hours later :(
 
Well if you're arriving into Baltimore at 2:44 PM, although I'm not sure what train that is, you could consider hanging around Baltimore for 1 hour and then catching train #148 north to Aberdeen. It would cost you a few more bucks, but it would save on gas and driving all the way into Baltimore.

Not saying that's ideal, just trying to give you options. :)

And if indeed you're from the north, train #171 stops at Aberdeen at 3:02 PM.
 
I'm coming up from Newport News, VA on train 94 Northeast Regional
 
Well if you're arriving into Baltimore at 2:44 PM, although I'm not sure what train that is, you could consider hanging around Baltimore for 1 hour and then catching train #148 north to Aberdeen.
Or Washington DC, depending on which city you'd like to hang around for an hour.. you could get off 94 Regional at Washington at 1.35pm (you will have to change your tickets, and I believe there will be no cancellation fee if you have not printed out the ticket yet) and then board the 148 Northeast Regional at 3.02pm and get off in Aberdeen. The advantage with Washington is that the Union Station has plenty of food and shopping places to help you spend the time at hand between the two trains. Just an alternate option.
 
Well if you're arriving into Baltimore at 2:44 PM, although I'm not sure what train that is, you could consider hanging around Baltimore for 1 hour and then catching train #148 north to Aberdeen.
Or Washington DC, depending on which city you'd like to hang around for an hour.. you could get off 94 Regional at Washington at 1.35pm (you will have to change your tickets, and I believe there will be no cancellation fee if you have not printed out the ticket yet) and then board the 148 Northeast Regional at 3.02pm and get off in Aberdeen. The advantage with Washington is that the Union Station has plenty of food and shopping places to help you spend the time at hand between the two trains. Just an alternate option.
Hmmm when I tried to route myself to Aberdeen, the schedule I got had me with a 5 hour layover in DC.
 
Well if you're arriving into Baltimore at 2:44 PM, although I'm not sure what train that is, you could consider hanging around Baltimore for 1 hour and then catching train #148 north to Aberdeen.
Or Washington DC, depending on which city you'd like to hang around for an hour.. you could get off 94 Regional at Washington at 1.35pm (you will have to change your tickets, and I believe there will be no cancellation fee if you have not printed out the ticket yet) and then board the 148 Northeast Regional at 3.02pm and get off in Aberdeen. The advantage with Washington is that the Union Station has plenty of food and shopping places to help you spend the time at hand between the two trains. Just an alternate option.
Hmmm when I tried to route myself to Aberdeen, the schedule I got had me with a 5 hour layover in DC.
Maybe the 90-min guaranteed connection (this looks like it's just under 90 mins)? Maybe book under two separate reservations? I'm still a newbie, so I may be wrong.
 
Well if you're arriving into Baltimore at 2:44 PM, although I'm not sure what train that is, you could consider hanging around Baltimore for 1 hour and then catching train #148 north to Aberdeen.
Or Washington DC, depending on which city you'd like to hang around for an hour.. you could get off 94 Regional at Washington at 1.35pm (you will have to change your tickets, and I believe there will be no cancellation fee if you have not printed out the ticket yet) and then board the 148 Northeast Regional at 3.02pm and get off in Aberdeen. The advantage with Washington is that the Union Station has plenty of food and shopping places to help you spend the time at hand between the two trains. Just an alternate option.
Hmmm when I tried to route myself to Aberdeen, the schedule I got had me with a 5 hour layover in DC.
That's because the 9x Regionals can be delayed on the RF&P by CSX and Amtrak won't guarantee any closer connection as a matter of course. You'll either have to call and have an agent manually make the change or buy two separate tickets. I'd say its worth the risk. If 95 is late the crew will either homor your connection or at worst you'll have to run in and change it. You can also buy a second leg on 95 and just not pick it up if you don't need it.
 
I think everyone has pretty much covered the options for getting to Aberdeen with a change of trains (and that's something I'd definitely consider), but I can clarify the pick-up options in Baltimore a bit.

If your friend picks you up in Baltimore, there is a big circular driveway in front of the station (as Ryan said) with spots to park for 5-10 minutes. Keep in mind that if your train is running late and gets to Baltimore much after 4 PM, those waiting spots will fill up very, very quickly as rush hour commuters begin to arrive on MARC trains to meet their rides. There is a parking garage directly underneath the circular driveway (and the entrance is very convenient to that driveway), but they do not have a grace period for free parking. The rates start with the first half hour at about $6, I think. There is street (metered) parking on the adjacent streets to the station as well.

I would definitely look at getting off 94 in Baltimore and changing to 148 to get to Aberdeen, however. While the connection is not guaranteed (meaning Amtrak will book it, but will not re-accommodate you if 94 is late and misses the connection), you could just call your friend from DC if it looks like the train is going to be late and you'd miss the connection in Baltimore to 148, and just have them pick you up in Baltimore instead of Aberdeen.

It's too bad that the Newport News trains don't connect better with the MARC line to Perryville, as that would be the no-brainer in this scenario.

Rafi
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top