The origins of the Metro Subway lie in the Baltimore Area Mass Transportation Plan, published in 1965, which envisioned six rapid transit lines radiating out from a central city loop. Planning studies from 1968 proposed a rail transit system long. As the vision was translated into reality, the original concept was trimmed to a system in the Phase 1 plan, published in 1971. This plan involved two of the original six lines: a northwest line from Downtown Baltimore to Owings Mills and a south line to Glen Burnie and the airport. Phase 1 was approved for funding by the Maryland General Assembly in 1972. In response to crime concerns of Anne Arundel County residents, the MTA eliminated the south line from Phase 1 plans in 1975. When the Baltimore Metro opened on November 21, 1983, only the "Northwest" line of the 1965 plan had come to fruition. This segment provided service between Charles Center in Downtown Baltimore and Reisterstown Plaza in the northwest section of the city. On July 20, 1987, a addition extended the line from Reisterstown Road Plaza to Owings Mills in Baltimore County, much of it running in the median of I-795. A further extension of from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital was opened on 31 May 1995. Once the project was completed in 1995, the total cost for the Metro Subway was $1.392 billion. The current system is long, including underground, elevated, and at grade level. Eight of its 14 stations are underground, at depths of to below street level. Its elevated stations stand from to above ground. When the system started operation, it became the largest single user of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins. On February 11, 2018, the MTA announced a month-long closure of the entire subway system to complete emergency track repairs identified during a safety inspection. An aboveground portion of the system had already been shut down due to emergency inspections and repairs. The system reopened on March 9. Farebox recovery is only 28%. This is comparable to other similarly-sized system is the continental United States, although low for international standards.
Route
The Metro Subway has a single line that is shaped like a reverse "J". Trains head south underground from Johns Hopkins Hospital, turn west as they pass under Baltimore's central business district, then north and ultimately northwest towards Owings Mills. The route leaves its tunnel northwest of Mondawmin station, entering an elevated structure that parallels Wabash Avenue and the Western Maryland Railroad. The route eventually leaves the older railroad right of way to enter the I-795 median, which it occupies all the way to the system's Owings Mills terminus. Trains heading for Johns Hopkins Hospital are referred to as "eastbound" trains, while trains heading towards Owings Mills are said to be "westbound".
Schedules
A trip from one end of the line to the other takes about half an hour. Headways range from 8 minutes during daytime peak to 11 minutes late at night and on weekends. Trains run from 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, 6 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
Fares
These are the current fare prices for MTA buses, Light Rail, and Metro Subway travel.
Type
Regular fare
Reduced fare
Single trip
$1.90
$.90
Day Pass
$4.40
$2.20
Weekly Pass
$21.00
-
Monthly Pass
$74.00
$22.00
Note: People who qualify for paratransit services can use Metro Subway free of charge.
Connecting services
Most Metro Subway stations are served by a number of MTA bus routes. In 1984, just months after Metro first started operating, many feeder routes were created that were given the designation of a letter followed by a number. In 1987, many of these routes were renamed and only the prefix "M" was used. Over the years, the number of M-lines has shrunk, as many of the routes were consolidated. In 2008, routes that were designated with the letter "M" have been renamed to plain two-digit designations. Finally, on August 30, 2009, the last four were either renumbered or eliminated, with no routing changes made; they continue to act as feeder routes to the Metro Subway. There is no direct connection to the Baltimore Light Rail or to MARC. The Metro Subway's Lexington Market Station is a walk from the Light Rail stop of the same name and the State Center Station is about 1.5 blocks away from Light Rail's Cultural Center. In addition, MARC Penn Station is about a one-half mile walk from State Center, and MARC Camden Station is about five blocks from Lexington Market.
Stations
Source:
Performance
For fiscal year 2010, the MTA reported 95% on-time performance for the system. It averaged 3.0 passenger trips per revenue mile, with a total of 13.4 million passenger trips for the year. Vehicles operated at an average cost of $11.59 per revenue mile. Local buses, in comparison, performed at a cost of $13.57 per revenue mile.
Rolling stock
The line uses cars manufactured by the Budd Company at their Red Lion plant in Northeast Philadelphia. Most were delivered in 1983 with a supplementary set of essentially identical cars being purchased in 1986 for the line expansion. The cars, marketed by Budd as the Universal Transit Vehicle, are identical to those used on the Miami Metrorail because the two agencies built their systems at the same time and saved money by sharing a single order. Trains draw power from the electric third rail. The cars are long, wide, and have a top speed of. Cars are semi-permanently attached in married pairs, and 2-, 4- and 6-car trains are all seen on the line. Each car can hold up to 166 passengers. The fleet had a significant overhaul between 2002 and 2005. Seats were reupholstered, and the floors were replaced. External destination rollsigns were replaced with LED displays; internal systems that display train destinations and upcoming stop announcements were also installed. In 2006, there were discussions with Washington, D.C.'s Metro system about combining car orders with their 6000-series cars to achieve lower costs through economies of scale as the cars are similar, but the talks failed to work anything out. The MTA currently owns 100 Metro Subway cars. In July 2017, the MTA announced the purchase of 78 new railcars to replace the entire subway fleet. The cars will be built in Florida by Hitachi Rail Italy, formerly AnsaldoBreda, and will be similar in appearance to those purchased for the Miami Metrorail.
Proposed extension
Consideration is being given for an extension, from the Metro Subway's Johns Hopkins Hospital terminus northeast to Morgan State University, dubbed the Green Line. Due to the expected high cost of building it as an extension of the existing Metro Subway, the extension may take the form of a connecting light rail or bus rapid transit service. As of 2011, plans have not progressed.
