Save the 10:05 pm MARC train, MTA
Without a late weeknight MARC train from Washington to Baltimore, Baltimore and Howard County become much less attractive for people working in DC. The train kept me from sleeping on the Farragut Square sidewalks many times when I worked in DC for The Sun. Mike Dresser chronicles the late MARC train's peril in today's Sun.
Veteran federal worker Rolf Schmitt does not regularly take the 10:05 p.m. MARC Penn Line train out of Washington. Usually, he is back at his Bolton Hill home much earlier.But every so often, his job at the U.S. Department of Transportation keeps him at the office late into the evening. It is then that he depends on that train, which the Maryland Transit Administration is proposing to discontinue as of Jan. 12 as a cost-cutting measure.
Schmitt recently made an appeal to Baltimore City Councilman William H. Cole IV, who prompted eight colleagues on the 15-member council to join him in a letter asking Gov. Martin O'Malley to spare the train. They contend that a late train is critical if Baltimore is to attract residents who work in Washington, including members of the incoming Obama administration.
"It makes us a little less attractive for those people we're trying to attract," Cole said.
Comments
I just want to know why they think that they can just eliminate trains when people have already purchased a ticket. It happened to me in November when they eliminated service on Veteran's Day among others. Now they tell me that my ticket won't be honored on Inauguration Day; and there won't be any service on the Penn line north of Penn Station. Why? So that the trains will be available for the hordes of non-working people who want to attend the festivities. Great, now in addition to the train fair, I have to spend money for gasoline and pollute the air on one more day. Shouldn't I at least get a rebate for all of the days the train doesn't run? I'm about to pack it in and start driving again. Who wants to pay for gas and a train ticket? No wonder more people don't use mass transportation.
Posted by: Dan | December 11, 2008 5:52 PM
If you check the pdf version of the MARC Penn Line schedule at the url below, you will see that noted below the times is a notice that only certain trains will operate on Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and the day after Thanksgiving. Those trains are the ones with an S at the top of the column.
MARC trains also do not run on other federal holidays which are listed in the same paragraph. While not listed on the schedule, Inauguration Day is a federal holiday in the D.C. area. Incidentally, on the schedule is also Martin Luther King Jr. day which this time comes on January 19, 2009. So MARC will not be running commuter trains on Jan 19 or 20.
http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/schedulesSystemMaps/penn_Sept08%20.pdf
Posted by: Ted | December 12, 2008 10:33 AM
MARC needs to charge dramatically higher prices. I ride MARC and after employer transit benefits it costs me (out of pocket) only $75 for a monthly ticket. I bet the vast majority of regular MARC riders pay the same or less.
I would pay at least twice that amount for more and better MARC service.
Not only do they need to keep and extend late night service, they need to add Baltimore-DC express service. With no other stops, that would be a ride of 30 minutes or less. Then downtown Baltimore would really have a renaissance. People could live in Baltimore and have a shorter commute to DC than people living in Virginia.
As it stands now, it is preposterous that the more business MARC gets, the slower, crappier, and more deficit-ridden it gets. The "business model" is totally screwed up. They should at least charge enough to have more to reinvest as ridership goes up.
Posted by: Andrew | December 12, 2008 12:02 PM
The vast majority of MARC patrons pay from 150-300 a month for their monthly passes. I travel between Baltimore Penn and Washington and Baltimore Camden and College Park to commute to school. The one concern I have with having the last northbound train being 8:40pm is if the train breaks down. This happened to me a month back where we had to wait for the 10:05 train. I also heard there were some Amtrak employees who ride these trains coming back from work in Washington. I just hope MARC patrons get their voices heard, if MTA even cares.
Posted by: K. C | December 12, 2008 7:49 PM
I wish they would bring back the 10:45pm northbound train, too (from DC to Baltimore Penn Station). There is a 10pm northbound train on Amtrak (and MARC pass-holders have access to certain Amtrak trains). However, there are no later trains.
Posted by: T | December 16, 2008 8:23 PM