Baltimore Light RailLink was the much cheaper but arguably much less useful replacement for what were original plans for a North-South Metro SubwayLink Line. Baltimore decided in 1980s that building Metro's were out but let's build a modern light rail system instead. It was the first modern light rail line to open on the East Coast when it opened in 1992. Like other light rail lines that opened in the 1990s, the line uses high floor vehicles built by ABB and later AAI Corporation. ADA accessible access is provided by a mini-high platform at the front end of each platform, with the driver using a bridge plate to allow boarding to the frontmost LRV door. The line (except through downtown) does largely follow original rail rights of way. Freight trains making local deliveries to local sidings also both originally operated both north and south of Downtown along the light rail tracks.
Trains (except on the Penn Shuttle) were generally two cars long when I visited in 2008. On a visit in 2024 the Light Rail felt like it was in a sad state with so many of the over 30 year old cars out of service because of maintenance and nearly every train running with just a single car (I saw only one two car train the entire Sunday afternoon I spent riding the system). As of 2024, Baltimore has newer low floor LRVs to modernize the system on order, but there are some political hurdles facing this important system upgrade.
The line was built on the cheap, entirely funded by state funds, and built relatively fast with the goal of opening in time for baseball fans going to the new Oriel Park at Camden Yards when the stadium opened in April 1992. The initial operating segment opened between Camden Yards and the Timonium Fairgrounds, first only during baseball games and regular revenue service on May 17. It was extended relatively south with three stations down to Patapsco on August 20, 1992, a four station extension to Linthincium opened on April 2, 1993, and the final two southern-most stops of the mainline down to Glen Burine on May 20, 1993.
In 1997 the final three system extensions opened: first the line reached its current northern terminus at Hunt Valley through a major business park on September 9. On December 6, a short branch to BWI Airport with direct light rail service up to the Airport terminal plus a very short branch to Baltimore Penn Station opened.
Construction on the Light Rail line continued in the 2000s, the system was originally built on the extreme cheap as a largely single-tracked railway with passing sidings reducing headways to every 17 minutes. In 2005 and 2006 the line was largely double-tracked. The exceptions are north of Gilroy Road and along the BWI Airport Spur which remain single-tracked to this day.
Frequency on the Baltimore Light RailLink is still fairly poor. Trains run along the trunk of the line every 10 minutes during rush hours and every 15 minutes off-peak. The two branches to BWI Airport and Glen Burnie receive split service every 20 minutes during rush hours, and an abysmal every half-hour off-peak.
The single tracked section north of the Fairgrounds makes service between the fairgrounds very unique with better service off-peak than peak. Off-peak service is every 15 minutes with all mainline trains running north to Hunt Valley, during rush hours only trains from BWI Airport branch run all the way to Hunt Valley, giving it 20 minute service, with trains from the Glen Burnie branch terminating at Fairgrounds.
The Penn-Camden Shuttle has its own page for this super odd secondary shuttle line.