MTA explains MARC woes
The Maryland Transit Administration, still tied up with the aftermath of Sunday's fatal light rail accident in Lutherville, finally got back to me about its troubles on the MARC Penn Line the past two days.
The MTA's assistant deputy administrator, Simon Taylor, confirmed that passengers aboard Train 509, which was scheduled to get to Washington's Union Station at 7:25, limped into D.C. about 10 a.m. So it was actually 2 1/2 hours late, not three, but that's small consolation for the hundreds aboard.
Train 509 was one of three Penn Lines delayed when a compressor blew out aboard Train 407 on the southbound Penn Line between Halethorpe and BWI. Train 509 was brought up behind it to push it into Washington, Taylor said, but that required the use of a cable that was supposed to be on board. For some reason, Taylor said, neither train had that cable so the two trains were stuck there until a cable could be brought there.
Having the cable, Taylor said, is Amtrak's responsibilitty.
Before it was known that 407 and 509 were missing the cable, Taylor said, Train 411 whizzed by -- no doubt perturbing the stranded passengers, In any case, Taylor said, it was packed.
A little later, with the cable problem known, Train 513 came alongside the stalled trains. Taylor said all of the Train 407 passengers who wanted to were transferred to 513, along with some of those on 509.
Taylor said priority was given to those on 407 because they had been waiting longer and the air conditioning was not functioning on that train. He said that not all passengers who wanted to transfer from 509 could be accommodated.
Finally, a cable was brought to the scene and train 509 was able to push the 14 cars of it and 407 into Washington at a maximum speed of about 40 mph, Taylor said.
So by the time the drama ended, passengers on 509 had enjoyed a 3 1/2-hour trip to Washington. Passengers who transferred from 407 to 513 were delayed about an hour and a half, and those on 513 were about a half hour late.
And that's what can happen when once compressor blows. Taylor said the troubled locomotive was not one of the three much-ballyhooed new ones tha MTA recently acquired. Those, he said, are still undergoing additional safety testing. He said the one that broke doen was an electric locomotive, about seven years old.
There is some good news: Because there have been so few really hot days this summer, there have been few heat alerts on the Camden and Brunswick lines. When you ride MMARC, you have to take your good news where you can find it.
Comments
I was on train 509 this morning and the conductor didn't offer us (at least the people in my car) the option of getting off and getting on the 513.
COMMENT: According to Taylor, not everyone on 509 was given that option because 513 was full. It may be that your car was one of the unlucky ones. Or it may be bad information.
Posted by: Upset Marc Rider | July 8, 2009 5:52 PM
Also, the conductor's infrequent updates over the intercom were inaudible mumbles. It was like sitting at an old fast food drive thru speaker.
Posted by: Upset Marc Rider | July 8, 2009 6:02 PM
So, was my two-and-a-half-hour-delayed train this morning the one with the "Barbara Mikulski" locomotive?
One of the shiny new locomotives christened by our governor?
Guess not.
Posted by: David | July 8, 2009 8:18 PM
I don't know where Mr. Taylor got his facts but they are WRONG!
I was on train 411 and we DID NOT fly by the disabled train. In fact we were the train that dropped of the needed cable (this was announced by the conductor on our train), and then were further delayed by picking passengers at BWI and beyond, packing the train to well beyond over-capacity.
I guess the broken locomotive must be one of the Acela-type engines they on which spent a boatload of money and publicity, and if actually running, only improve travel time between DC and Perryville by only a few minutes. Long-needed station improvements where there are low platforms would have decreased travel time much more, but that's a news story to be investigated another day.
And they still have yet to answer when I train becomes dangerously crowded, and what procedures are in place to keep that from happening.
Posted by: Bill | July 8, 2009 9:58 PM
Thanks for running down the explanation. I think most MARC riders have heard some tired variation of this at least once before. It begs a big "SO WHAT?!"
For once, instead of excuses and apologies, I'd really like to see a spot-on analysis of the problem(s) and an action plan, with accountability measures, on avoiding recurrences. How LAME to blame the cable on Amtrak! MTA would have me believe that train crews shouldn't undertake an inspection of the train to ensure it has working equipment? Don't have a cable? We see them on or near the platform at Penn Sta. frequently.
That said, I will give MTA deserved credit for establishing a bus bridge when they did to help get "early" commuters home. Although I understand later travelers experienced scant time savings as rail service was restored, this was one area where it seemed the MTA had taken past lessons to heart and had its act together in offering an alternative mode of transportation to customers who had already purchased the trip.
Posted by: Pete | July 9, 2009 9:48 AM
Mr. Taylor's "explanation" smacks of adolescent excuses. Saying that Amtrak is to blame for not having a cable for a MARC train that breaks down is akin to a 17-year-old who leaves on the headlights on his seven-year-old car and then blames his parents for the dead battery if the parents didn't place jumper cables in the vehicle.
Enough already with excuses. Examine the problem swiftly, draw up a fully funded corrective action plan, hold INDIVIDUALS accountable and fix the broken system.
Are there FRA rules or regulations governing the operations of trains? Are there no check lists to run through before operating a train?
And if Amtrak really was the cause of the problem, why didn't Amtrak allow MARC ticket holders on Amtrak trains?
Posted by: Debbie | July 9, 2009 10:31 AM
You love the trains when they are working and you hate then when they're not. I started riding it when I gave up my Suburban 17 MPG when gas was $4. Soon I'm going to buy a smaller car and drive more often.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 9, 2009 10:33 AM
For the last two days I have been getting to DC from MD late due to the MARC train. Yesterday, the express train was later than the 10 minutes previously announced then the express became a local making additional stops. This morning there were no announcements made but the train came late and even after we boarded there were no explanations given. This affects work especially when you have someone over you that is unsympathetic to such issues. What is wrong with the system in which inspections aren't made the evening before or day before and corrected prior to the next business/travel day. This is so unfair especially when $175 is paid monthly for this type of service.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 9, 2009 10:55 AM
Mr. Taylor was incorrect when he wrote that all passengers on train 407 who wanted to were transferred to train 513. I was on train 407, and my fellow passengers and I started making our way slowly towards the rear of the train to get on the 513, but we did not make it very far. We did not have any option to leave the train until about 8:40am, when it crawled to BWI. By that time, several southbound Penn line trains had already passed, so the best option was to stay put on train 407.
Also, train 407's scheduled arrival time at Union Station is 7:09am. When it pulled in at 10:00am, that's essentially a three hour delay. All the focus seems to be on train 509, while it was train 407 that had the longer delay.
COMMENT: Getting bad info from MTA -- what a surprise!
Posted by: Matt | July 9, 2009 10:56 AM
I was on 509 (d'oh), and several things struck me...
1) We were not given the opportunity to get off and board another train.
2) 6 trains passed us by in the southbound direction, 4 MARCS and 2 AMTRAKS.
3) Our crew was as honest and straightforward as they could be, and one conductor - I think he goes by "Woody" - was especially good in at least offering apologies and timely reports.
4) It still doesn't hold a candle to "Ice Train Zebra", the broken down, powerless, wintertime morning MARC train from several years ago that featured ice crystals on the window interiors and 4-hour delays.
Posted by: Eric | July 9, 2009 12:03 PM