Talk:BWI Rail Station

First train station?
I think this argument about BWI's claims is largely due to nomeclature. The Blue Line Airport station in Boston is a stop on a mass transit line; by "train station," I imagine BWI means a more conventional long-range/commuter rail station. I'm trying to come up with an easy-to-use generic term for this.


 * I think those terms would be intercity rail and regional rail, as opposed to urban rail transit. They are both existing Wikipedia terms describing classes of rail. I think the "first" claim for BWI holds if the first two qualifiers are applied; as for if the third term is applied, I'll leave it to the Boston and Cleveland people to duke it out. SixSix 01:05, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

By the way, I don't care what it says on the BWI Web site: a quick look at a map will illustrate that BWI Rail is by no definition "on the grounds" of BWI. It's more than a mile from the airport terminal, and the station is owned by Amtrak, not the airport. --Jfruh 03:08, 8 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Yeah i was think the same thing, BWI is the first airport in the United states to have a inter-city rail link associated with it, though i don't know about this Boston thing, i have all ways been told that the first airport served by urban heavy rail was Cleveland, according to the GRTA website:

"RTA's Red Line was the first rapid transit service to an International Airport in North America. On Friday, November 15, 1968, direct rapid transit service began from downtown to the Cleveland airport. In addition to serving air travelers, the new extension brought rapid transit facilities closer to southwest suburban commuters."
 * And as for you map thing, the station is on the airport grounds, not "in the terminal" and was purpose built for the airport, and is nearer to the terminal then the rental car station, and several of the long term parking lots, which are "on the grounds" of the airport. Also the BWI station is no less convenient to the airport then "Airport" station in Boston, in which both you need to take a bus to the terminal, and yes i have used both.


 * I don't really think you can argue with the BWI website since "on the grounds" is such a lousy, ambiguous term: does it mean on property owned by the airport authority? That's lame; the airport authority owns land all over the place. Does it mean inside the big chain link security fence? Good grief. "Adjacent" would be entirely accurate and not a stretch. In fact, the Wikipedia article used "adjacent" until someone changed it to "a mile from the airport", which, of course, is also ambiguous. The airport is a gigantic place. A mile from WHAT? The cargo terminal? The parking garage? The rental car facility? The chain link security fence? Of course, they probably meant the terminal, but neglected to say so...SixSix 01:05, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Airport (MBTA station) opened January 5, 1952. There is a transfer to airport shuttle buses (originally operated by the MBTA) to get between the station and terminals. --SPUI (talk) 09:15, 8 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Nomeclature again -- the Cleveland Red Line stop was the first station in an airport terminal, as opposed to the shuttle-bus model employed in Boston. The problem with these "firsts" is that everyone just narrows the category to make sure that their candidate is "first".  --Jfruh 13:53, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
 * I think Cleveland is really first in that it actually went to what most people would consider "the airport"--the terminals. Moreover, it was designed to go specifically to the airport; Boston's line just goes near, and past, the airport.  Not that this Boston/Cleveland debate really belongs here...--Jason McHuff 18:00, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

Airport access
Is it possible to walk to the airport terminals, or do you have to take the bus? --SPUI (talk) 08:39, 24 September 2005 (UTC)
 * you "could" walk it, but i am sure the police might have a problem with it, since the terminal reconfig, not many waking pathas, and it you like long walks. --Boothy443 | comhrá 08:45, 24 September 2005 (UTC)


 * The article says the bus takes two minutes. How does that make a "long walk"? --SPUI (talk) 14:53, 24 September 2005 (UTC)


 * I've never taken the BWI rail station shuttle bus, so I can't vouch for that 2 minute figure. In fact, I rather think that it's an underestimate, as the station is more than a mile away and I'm guessing that the bus doesn't average 30 mph to and fro.


 * The two minute figure was, indeed, wishful thinking. I corrected it to a more-realistic five minutes. The two probably came from two miles. SixSix 00:35, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * When I last took it, the bus appeared about 10 minutes after the train discharged passengers. We hung out on a piece of sidewalk in the parking structure. The bus ride itself was about 12 minutes to my terminal. I just missed the cutoff for getting a boarding pass printed, even though I had checked in. :-( 132.236.10.69 (talk) 20:35, 18 February 2011 (UTC)


 * But anyway, while I'm sure it's physically possible to walk to the terminal in not a terribly long amount of time in the absence of traffic, the landscape is not at all set up for walking. You'd have to walk along and across major multi-lane roads designed to speed auto access to the airport.  I'm pretty sure that there aren't any sidewalks in most places, and in some spots where you'd have to walk across wide roads, there aren't any lights either.   Add the fact that if you're going to the airport, you've probably got some luggage, and you see why most people take the free bus. (And by "most people", I mean "everybody".) --Jfruh 10:59, 25 September 2005 (UTC)


 * OK, so it's not like Logan Airport where you can't actually walk along the airport access roads (though with Big Dig changes you can now get between the subway station and the airport via city streets and and airport hotel, which is more useful for bikes, which are likely not allowed on the airport bus). --SPUI (talk) 16:34, 25 September 2005 (UTC)


 * There is a way to get relatively close: using the BWI Bike Path, which swings by the station, one can get within about&mdash;this is just a SWAG&mdash;a quarter mile from the terminal (to the surface lot right across from the Daily Garage, for anyone who is really interested). However, along that last quarter mile, there is no "official" sidewalk or path. Trust me, I jog right there every other evening. SixSix 00:35, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 one external links on BWI Rail Station. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20100223223839/http://mta.maryland.gov/services/marc/serviceInformation/MARC_Council_January_2010_Meeting_MInutes.pdf to http://mta.maryland.gov/services/marc/serviceInformation/MARC_Council_January_2010_Meeting_MInutes.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20110715210545/http://www.rtands.com/newsflash/maryland-has-plans-for-bigger-bwi-rail-station.html to http://www.rtands.com/newsflash/maryland-has-plans-for-bigger-bwi-rail-station.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20100118085448/http://www.mtamaryland.com:80/services/bus/routes/bus/ to http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/bus/routes/bus/

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