[RP TownTalk] another, better article on proposed MARC service expansion

[Dwight Holmes]

This is from the Baltimore Sun, and has more detail than the Post
article I shared previously. The good news here for Riverdale Park is
that the adding of a midday train on the Camden Line is expected to be
introduced in the next 9 months! (We shall see!)

BTW, the description here of standing room only trains certainly
doesn't sound like our Camden Line.  We're still basking in the luxury
of a seat every time (granted, the trains no doubt get a lot more
crowded the other side of College Park -- there's pretty heavy traffic
between UMd and points north).

MARC aims to triple service
BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Maryland Transit Administration is planning a
sweeping expansion of its popular but crowded MARC commuter train
service, including weekend runs and additional weekday trains by next
year and a tripling of the system's capacity by 2035, according to
this report by Michael Dresser published by the Baltimore Sun.
The detailed blueprint, outlined in a briefing by MTA Administrator
Paul J. Wiedefeld, envisions a system that eventually would stretch
from Virginia to Delaware and have the capacity to carry more than
100,000 riders a day.

The plan, the cost of which would amount to billions of dollars over
the next 28 years, would add tracks in areas that are bottlenecks and
would increase the frequency of train arrivals. It would bring new
interconnections with existing and future transit lines and create a
new transportation hub at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Although many of the changes would not occur until much of today's
work force is long retired, the plan also includes improvements that
current riders would see between now and next summer.

MTA's near-term plans include additional trains on the Penn Line,
some of which would operate on weekends, and a midday train on the
Camden Line.

MARC's Penn, Camden and Brunswick lines now run on weekdays only. The
Washington-to-Baltimore Camden Line runs at peak hours only -- a
deterrent to potential riders who worry about having to return home
early in an emergency.

Wiedefeld cautioned that many of the changes require the assent of
CSX Corp., which owns the Camden Line and Western Maryland's
Brunswick Line, and Amtrak, which owns the Perryville-to-Washington
Penn Line.

But the administrator, a former chief executive of Baltimore-
Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, said he has begun
negotiating with the two railroads on adding trains.

The MARC service has been growing steadily in popularity in recent
years as long-distance commuters have sought alternatives to
congested highways and relief from high gasoline prices. Daily
boardings, which were fewer than 20,000 in the mid-1990s, now exceed
30,000.

That growth is good news for the MTA and the environment, but not for
riders' comfort. The system has only 27,000 seats, and many trains
run with passengers standing.

"There are certain trains that are so crowded the conductors can't
get through the trains anymore," said Christopher Field, a regular
rider of the Penn Line. "Extra seats are more than welcome, and
weekend service would be an absolute thrill."

Wiedefeld said the number of riders has been increasing at a rate of
6 percent a year, which he attributed largely to highway congestion.

"We expect this demand to grow," he said.

In addition to crowded trains and overflowing parking lots, the MARC
service has been beset by track and equipment problems that have cut
its reliability -- defined as arrival within six minutes of the
scheduled time -- to about 90 percent, Wiedefeld said. The MTA's goal
is to improve that performance to 95 percent or more.

The plan is broken into five stages: the improvements to be made over
the next nine months; intermediate stages in 2010, 2015 and 2020; and
a long-range plan extending to 2035.

Such long-range plans have been a recurring phenomenon in Maryland
transportation. Some have been carried out, but others -- notably
Baltimore's planned regional Metro subway system of the 1970s -- have
been consigned to history's dustbin as the projected expenses grew.

But Wiedefeld's MARC plan, which he said he drafted at the direction
of Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, has several powerful
imperatives driving it.

One is the military's base realignment and closure process -- known
as BRAC -- which is expected to bring thousands of jobs to Maryland
over the coming decade. Two of the areas that will see the most job
growth are Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground -- both of which
lie along the MARC Penn Line.

Another is the obsolescence of the Amtrak and CSX tunnels through
Baltimore. The plan envisions a new Amtrak tunnel leading to Penn
Station by 2020 and a new CSX freight tunnel by 2035 -- allowing the
Howard Street Tunnel, the scene of a near-disastrous fire in 2001, to
be converted to passenger use.

MARC has had a sometimes difficult relationship with Amtrak and CSX,
neither of which is focused on commuter rail. But Wiedefeld said he
expects the two railroads to work closely with MARC on system
expansion because all will benefit.

"It has to be done in partnership with Amtrak and CSX," he said.

Over the next nine months, Wiedefeld said, MARC plans a series of
improvements in customer service -- including an overhaul of an
electronic passenger alert system that now often delivers news of
problems hours after the information would be useful. Between now and
next summer, he said, he hopes to add 1,500 seats per day. An
additional 4,000 would be added by 2010.

The 2015 phase of the plan is expected to bring a more drastic
expansion -- especially on the Penn Line. Under the plan, MARC's
busiest line would gain 12,000 seats and would be extended to Elkton
and Newark, Del., where it would connect with the commuter rail
systems serving Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del.

The plan also calls for expanded service by 2015 at Odenton and at a
new Aberdeen station to accommodate BRAC-related riders. It also
envisions a new station at Bayview, which would eventually connect
with the planned east-west transit service known as the Red Line.
Penn Line trains would run every 15 minutes at peak times and 30
minutes off-peak.

By 2020, the plan calls for an extension of all three MARC lines
across the Potomac River to Northern Virginia -- giving BRAC workers
rapid-rail access to the Pentagon and the concentration of military
offices in Crystal City. For the Penn Line, it anticipates a new
Amtrak tunnel through Baltimore, helping to alleviate the current
speed restrictions.

By 2035, most of the Penn Line would have four tracks, allowing more
flexible scheduling for MARC and Amtrak. The Penn Line also would
connect with the Baltimore Metro at its Upton Station and an
anticipated station north of Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Presuming that the Howard Street Tunnel will at some point no longer
be needed for freight traffic, the plan also calls for the Camden
Line to be extended to the north and east. The outline shows the
Camden using the track of what is known as the old Belt Line to make
stops at the old Mount Royal Station, Charles Village and Clifton
Park before meeting up with the Penn Line at Bayview.

Ed Cohen, president of the Transit Riders Action Council, said the
Camden proposal is an "efficient use of constrained resources."

"This is a way of utilizing a resource that already exists," he said.

Wiedefeld said that in coming weeks, he will meet with legislative
leaders and other MARC stakeholders to outline the financial details
behind the proposal.

The MTA chief said the expansion of MARC -- with a large percentage
of high-income riders -- would not come at the expense of other
transit services such as the bus system, light rail and the Metro.

"We shouldn't think of this as a Gucci system," he said. "This is
moving toward more of an urban commuter rail system."

(The preceding report by Michael Dresser was published by the
Baltimore Sun on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007.)

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