It doesn't surprise me that MTA labeled yesterday's 3.5 hour MARC fiasco as a "Minor Disruption" on their website.

Seeing as on Sunday one northbound track was shut down because of a guardrail blocking it. Then two kids were found mortally injured on the tracks, and that subsequent investigation kept the "Service on Schedule" all day. According to MTA's website that is.

It doesn't surprise me that MTA labeled yesterdays 3.5 hour MARC fiasco as a "Minor Diruption" on their website in wake of recent events.

When on Sunday a guardrail blocking a track causes the light rail to single track, then two teens are mortally injured on the rails, and the website still says "Service on Schedule"; you wonder what would constitute a "Major Discruption".

In light of the recent fatal incidents involving the Washington Metro and the Baltimore Light Rail, you would think that Mass Transit operators would put safety at a premium, but I am not reassured after an incident this morning at the MARC Muirkirk station on the Camden Line.

I and several other passengers were walking from the parking lot towards the loading area to catch the Washington-bound MARC # 851, which has a scheduled departure time from Muirkirk of 8:52am. The loading area for Washington-bound trains at Muirkirk on the other side of the 2 sets of train tracks from the parking lot, but before we could get to the cross-walk to cross the tracks a freight train heading in the opposite direction (on the set of tracks closest to the parking lot) blew its whistle to alert us that it would be passing through (freight trains do not ordinarily pass through the station at this time, but as my MTA emails indicate, they were running behind this morning).

Now we could have chanced it and run across the cross-walk to get to the loading area for the MARC # 851, but we played it safe and instead waited on the parking lot side of the tracks while the freight train started passing through.

But then MARC # 851 arrived into station on the set of tracks on the other side of the passing freight train. While we waited for the freight train to finish passing through, MARC # 851 loaded the passengers already in the loading area and started to pull out of the station, although we were clearly visible waiting on the other side.

The freight train had by this time completely passed through, and MARC # 851, though rolling, was still in the station. It would have taken them no more than 1 minute to wait for us to board the train after we played it safe and waited for the freight train to pass through.

It's not as if we don't have to routinely wait 30-60 minutes amid the myriad delays that the MARC Camden line has experienced lately. I think that the train could have waited and allowed for us to board given the unusual appearance of the freight train at this time. Also, there are no more Washington-bound trains in the morning on the Camden line after the # 851, so I had to hop back in my car and drive the extra 17 miles it took me to get to work. So much for reducing congestion and fossil-fuel consumption.

I guess the lesson here is that if it's a choice between catching a train and playing it safe, MARC would have us take the chance of running into the path of a freight train.

COMMENT: This comment requires clarification before posting. The engineers on MARC trains are Amtrak employees. They do not work for the Maryland Transit Administration.

In addition, the tracks are owned by CSX.

So all the MARC office at MTA can do about such things is pass along the complaint to the companies that own the tracks.