October 23, 1980
The first formal intercity air/ground/rail transportation connection in the United States — and the country’s first rail station built on airport-owned property — was officially dedicated about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the terminal of Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
Construction on that rail station serving the airport (now known as Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport) had begun the previous year. The infrastructure built at the location includes restrooms, a waiting area, and ticketing facilities in the station’s building. An adjacent parking lot that was likewise built as part of the original infrastructure would be replaced with a garage in the late 1990s.
BWI Rail Station has facilitated multimodal transportation linkages in a few key respects, including a major rail connection for passengers who travel along Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor line or use that route for other services such as the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) trains. This station has also provided easier-than-before rail access to the airport for those traveling to and from the Washington, DC, metropolitan region. Another transportation option involving the station has been a regular shuttle service between that facility and the airport terminal.
The dedication ceremony for BWI Rail Station took place shortly after noontime and following musical selections from a local high school band. Approximately 700 people were on hand for the festivities. Those in attendance included Harry Hughes, governor of Maryland; Marion Barry, mayor of the District of Columbia; and — as recounted by the Washington Post the following day — “hundreds of others in government and in the air, rail and travel industries. “
BWI Rail Station, which actually began regular operations three days later when 14 trains started making stops there on a daily basis, ushered in a new era of intermodal transportation centers across the country.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on BWI Rail Station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BWI_Rail_Station
Transportation History 
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