[UNLOCKED BONUS VIDEO] Riding the Entire Baltimore Metro SubwayLink

I'm still traveling right now, so I decided to unlock this fun Patreon bonus video to get something out there. For more bonus videos, as well as early access to new videos, check out my Patreon link below!
How many Maryland flags will we encounter along the way? This was filmed on the same day as Caleb's Baltimore Streetcar Museum video ( • What's It Like To Oper... ) and we originally thought it could be an April Fool's video, but that never ended up happening! Now it has resurfaced as a bonus video for all you lovely patrons!
Thanks to my patrons: Alexander Trout, Andrew Oliva, Andrew Schumacher, Anthony Albence, aoumd, Autumn Bosco, Benjamin Ledbetter, Bob Smyth, Brendan Shea, Brendan Nystedt, Brian Cudiamat, Christopher Meler, Claudio Bickel, David, David Lloyd, Dani Baronofsky, Deo_1776, Dominic Lovechio, Doug Jones, Douglas Newman, Dr. Matt Lee, eliot, Eliot Chase, Elliot Hunker, emily, FailingSystems, Gabriel Brunswick, George Schneeloch, Graham Campbell, Hack a shaq, Harrison Leong, Harvey Logan, HJD.transit, Ian Westcott, ItsGoldenCam, Jack Tat, Jack Turner, Jacob Harrison, James Robertson, Jason Rabinowitz, Jeb Rach, Jeremy Zorek, John R, Josh Mayo, Jules Wang, Just Jamie, Justin Bassett-Green, Kevin, Kian, Kieran Kentley, knope2001, Kyle Hubley, Lillian M., Marcel Marchon, Maria DeVoto, Matt Goldman, Matt Wehner, Matthew Dezii, Matthew Galenas, MeaLynk, Micah Craig, Michael Gruar (Chappington), Miles Jajich, Nate Tangsurat, Nick Lund, Patio, Paul Rivera, PDX Productions, Peter, Piero Maddaleni, Railrunner, Reid Fisher, Reyner Crosby, Rita Hao, Ryan Keefe, Sam L, Scott Fox, shortypowers, Stormy Kara, Symmetry, Tim Hull, Toronto Transit Channel, Thomas Malthouse, Will Tung, William Amara, William Wyckoff, and Wilson Calvert!
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[@PabloBD]

It's not overbuilt, it's built for the future

[@JoshDoesTravel]

(That’ll never happen)

[@shreychaudhary4477]

@@JoshDoesTravel idk about that. They're building new lines as we speak!

[@bear.94]

It’s most like PATH and WMATA Metrorail, though just one line. Its also the fastest - can reach over 70 mph. Planned in a similar era as the WMATA Metro and Miami’s as well with at least 5 lines planned - all but one were ditched.

[@jeremyzorek]

I will add, they're dated, but Baltimore's now got the last surviving Budd-designed subway cars in the US!

[@MilesinTransit]

Oof, their last subway project was the Baltimore Metro?? Talk about going out with a whimper, not a bang...

[@jeremyzorek]

@@MilesinTransit technically the last one was the CTA 2600, but those weren't designed in house. Their last proper transit car done by Budd was the UMTV for Baltimore and Miami

[@TwoFirstNamesCB]

@@MilesinTransit The initial Baltimore subway car order was shared with Miami which opened around the same time

[@TwoFirstNamesCB]

and a great railfan window/seat!!!

[@SigmaRho2922]

@@TwoFirstNamesCB The Budd UTV had two generations. The second generation was the Breda A650…

[@KobySamuel]

As someone who lives in Baltimore, you are definitely right that (1) the name change of the line to SubwayLink is stupid (happened around 2016-7) and (2) the Metro line is severely out-of-place for anyone who wants to meaningfully use it (except for Hopkins employees) and that may be due to the bus system

[@Wkay04]

it's overbuilt because it was supposed to be an entire system and was built before the entire population fled

[@TwoFirstNamesCB]

Just think how amazing of a transit town Baltimore would be if they had finished all of the originally 6 lines out from downtown, and built them in a logical way, with actual transfers.

[@db399]

@@TwoFirstNamesCB Or if the city didn't look like the apocalypse.

[@willfedder864]

@@db399 The city wouldn’t look like as much of an apocalypse had hit it if we’d built that system. It would have served to tether development of jobs and population in the city. We ran a close enough experiment when DC built theirs, and we canceled ours. It’s not like DC didn’t get hit by the crack epidemic in the 80s, too.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

sounds suspiciously like Cleveland

[@SigmaRho2922]

The Baltimore subway was shuttered for 30 days in early 2018 to conduct an emergency rehabilitation project. We are about to see the same thing in Boston but on a somewhat bigger scale.

[@jlee1522]

Kudos to you boys for not getting yelled at on the Baltimore Metro. I live in the area, and it's just so weird how we have the 1 line Metro, the 1 line Light Rail, and soon to be coming (maybe?) one line Red Line!

[@jackbates7467]

Need more trains with flags, imagine if the L had the Chicago flag on every car.

[@MilesinTransit]

The Chicago flag is actually a good flag!

[@thefareplayer2254]

Lol welp, now time for Cleveland’s expansive heavy rail system!

[@MilesinTransit]

You have no idea how much I want to ride that! Tack on the light rail and you've got a fully-fledged video, even with the Waterfront Line seemingly in permanent jeopardy.

[@thefareplayer2254]

@@MilesinTransit A pity there's no direct Cleveland-Philly trains anymore. You could get 449 direct from Boston though!

[@henryefry]

It's a subway

[@JackReedGaming]

I can't wait until the Red Line opens in 2020 and you get to ride that as well! Wait, it was cancelled and will be an intermodal system set to open at some unknown date? Fuck.

[@ubahnlexi]

they're talking about BRT or LRT as the red line... ugh...

[@ntatenarin]

"All one line of it!" I literally laughed out loud. 😀

[@bsquiklehausen]

Fastest Metro SubwayLink Rider Alive.

[@cameron_o]

So weird seeing familiar spots online, I grew up near Owings Mills and would take 795 all the time driving. The area around the owings mills metro is trying to become TOD, and for as memey as it is, they've made lots of progress

[@Brettski_1234]

The alarm sound of the train coming is the sound that pedestrian rail crossings make here when the gate shuts and a train is coming

[@petthehomeless]

Lived around bmore my whole life and I never got on the subway. I assumed it was gonna be in terrible condition, really surprised to see that it looks so nice

[@LrdZanny]

The stations are actually fantastic. Scary to be in to think about how much was spent on them basically just to build concrete walking corridors under the city, but like, really pretty.

[@peabody1976]

The annoyingly fun thing about the "car number" plate is that it's modeled on our (old-style) licence plates, which have a shield with the state flag in the middle. Even the rail transit makes an automobile reference.

[@archand6147]

Despite living here my entire life I've never actually used the subway. I feel like MD's whole theme of rail transit is that its like *so close* to greatness but just bad enough to be horribly limited. I swear if they do end up building the red line, and expanding MARC to Newark with more frequency across all 3 lines our network would immediately become so much more functional as a whole. It's a shame we're just out of range of WMATA the DC metro is so much better

[@williampamula290]

I will die on any hill that the Maryland State Flag is the best in the nation.

[@MilesinTransit]

rip

[@Token_Nerd]

The Arizona state flag would like a word with you.

[@jacorp7476]

@@Token_Nerd *New Mexico

[@meredithwagner989]

Maryland flag is the best flag.

[@JohnR-wf2hh]

My only problem with the MetroLink is that it doesn’t connect to MARC PENN or the Inner Harbor

[@vahonenko]

"Transit oriented parking lot" lol xD😅🙃

[@AssBlasster]

I spent 3 weeks in Baltimore, used the subway to get part-way to John Hpkins, and utterly forgot that Balitmore had a subway until this video

[@andrew_ray]

Metro SubwayLink is a ridiculously long name. Almost like they're trying to compensate for something. Like the lack of line.

[@Cerby1979]

Miami and Baltimore were the only cities using the Budd cars for their metros even after the Budd company went defunct. The Miami Metrorail Budd trains were retired last year.

[@MilesinTransit]

Oh, I didn't realize the Miami ones are all gone now! I was there in early 2020 and they were out and about, but I never got the chance to ride one...

[@johnchambers8528]

I only road this line one time when I was in Baltimore. My impressions of the line were like yours, where are the riders? Unlike the El here in Philadelphia I assumed that it did not have good bus connections. In Philadelphia almost every station has a connecting bus route running to and from the El to get the passengers to either their work or home location.

[@sammymarrco2]

ridership is now ab 5k entries per day in 2023

[@Harmonikdiskorde]

This is remarkably similar to Seattle's light rail -- one line, every station overbuilt...

[@MilesinTransit]

Seattle's light rail is a LOT more successful than this, though!

[@losh330]

@@MilesinTransit The should swap rapid transit technologies and then there will be balance.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

@@losh330 hopefully they seperate ballard link extension from the rest of the system so it is a proper metro like we're advocating for

[@hugoboyce9648]

lovin' the Exclusive Content™!

[@flyoma]

I lived a few blocks from the State Center station for 5 years. Never rode it (I did take the MARC, Penn was 3 blocks from me the other way). I was going to try it until one of my employees told me she had to find another way to get to work since her metro station was shut down due to a scabies outbreak.

[@BDavinci06]

I rode the Baltimore Metro for a little bit. Penn-North reminds me of Jamaica Center Station in Queens. Being that they were both built at the same time is probably obvious. It's a damn shame that it wasn't expanded. And not many people even in Baltimore, don't know about it. Also Maryland is that kind of place that it's flag is on everywhere, even on the Old Bay seasoning. Texas takes it to eleven, though.!!😂😂

[@lewnwdc]

Is this the least-used heavy-rail line in America (measured by daily ridership per route mile)?

[@chromebomb]

i love all your videos

[@MilesinTransit]

Thank you!

[@michaelquinones-lx6ks]

The Baltimore subway system seems to be a cross between PATH and the LIRR.

[@lewnwdc]

So crazy whenever a city builds only one subway line 🤔

[@3506Dodge]

That is massively overbuilt!

[@bear.94]

You can’t count every MTA logo as the state flag, lol!! But there’s not much to do in the subway section with no Wi-Fi or cell service.

[@TwoFirstNamesCB]

it may be an old, fairly useless metro. but it's *our* old, fairly useless metro

[@zachfila]

I lived in Baltimore for 10 years never rode the subway lmao

[@philiproszak1678]

I'm a Marylander, I love our flag. But... maybe we have a problem.

[@robs7640]

Please fill me in as I’m not that familiar with Baltimore’s subway system. Is this the light rail when it comes above ground?

[@MilesinTransit]

The light rail is a different system entirely!

[@robs7640]

@@MilesinTransit Thanks for your response to my original post.

[@JacksonBetz]

0:17 and there is the underlying theme of this video ;)

[@JacksonBetz]

2:16 make sure to film the announcement!!!

[@JacksonBetz]

2:38 backwards ding? what is this, Strawberry Fields Forever smh

[@JacksonBetz]

3:27 we're creating a whole-ass cartoon up in here

[@JacksonBetz]

3:40 that transition is 2006 PowerPoint-level quality. props

[@spider_hoss]

Passing under some dangerous areas of Baltimore.

[@liamsavage1500]

I just spotted somebody in the picture that I know.

[@MBTA1234]

The other Mta will be a lot more interesting

[@judgesaturn507]

How do you already have almost 4,000 subscribers?

[@MilesinTransit]

You say that like it's a bad thing! ;)

[@MilesinTransit]

(Although it's true, I have no idea why I'm growing so much! Especially when I've been traveling so much and haven't been able to put out particularly good content - but there will be some awesome stuff coming soon!)

[@judgesaturn507]

@@MilesinTransit I think it's your personality. Very geared up to modern KZbin.

[@lewnwdc]

0:31 What's your obsession with the Maryland flag? 🤔

[@trainrover]

'80s interior? its expo express leftovers are undeniably hailing the 1960s..!

[@seamusmckeon9109]

Such an odd name for a system

[@philiproszak1678]

Has Miles ridden the Baltimore light rail????

[@MilesinTransit]

Yes, but it was before I started making videos! I gotta go back and do one!

[@Aqwerty314]

My hot take is the Maryland flag is mid, it only gets all its praise because so many state flags are garbage

[@MilesinTransit]

Yeah, it's in the upper half of state flags - if it was a country flag, people would probably crap on it a lot more often.

[@meredithwagner989]

Maryland flag is best flag.

[@jonathanfriedel]

Counting flags when every car has one is juvenile. Moved on to another video.

[@MilesinTransit]

I apologize that this KZbin video about trains doesn't meet your high intellectual standards :)

[@MondoMoleMan]

do they know they are jerks ?

[@MilesinTransit]

who

[@georgepetrin1334]

Silly.

[@RichardChonak]

A reference to VAX/VMS! Aren't you, like, too young to have co-existed with it?

[@otesalgate3306]

𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔪 💪

[@teddygudelski6814]

The metro subway link sucks as a Maryland resident