More Amtrak problems for MARC
What is it with Amtrak and New Carrollton anyway?
On Wednesday morning Amtrak had a locomotive fire near the Prince George's County station, delaying MARC service by an hour or more. This afternoon, another Amtrak engine is disabled south of New Carrollton causing "major disruptions" on the Penn Line, according to the MTA.
Apparently the blockage is forcing northbound and southbound trains to share a single track to get around. To see a list of Penn Line trains affected, click below.
Penn: Washington Metro will be honoring MARC tickets this afternoon/evening, 29 Oct 2009.
Penn: Marc 433 will be arriving in Washington approx 20-25 minutes late due to single tracking.
Penn: Marc 426 will be arriving in New Carrollton approax 40 mins late.
Penn: Marc 428 will be departing Washington approx 30-40 mins late due the a security hold in Union Station.
Penn: Marc 530 will be departing Washiongton approx 30 minutes late.
Penn: Marc 450 (510pm WAS Dp) has been cancelled.
Meanwhile there's also trouble on the Camden Line. MTA says Marc 846 will be leave Washington 15-25 mins late due what it calls a "security hold" in Union Station.
Comments
...and what exactly is this "security hold"?
Posted by: Justin..... | October 29, 2009 8:29 PM
See? It makes perfect sense that MARC has a long term maintenance contract with AMTRAK.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | October 30, 2009 8:41 AM
It's been a rough week for MARC and MARC riders. I am fortunate to carpool with my husband, who is willing to pick me up or drop me off at whatever station I have to go to. Unfortunately that has been Greenbelt more often than it should have been the last, well, month? What is the deal, MARC? Reliable is not a word I'd use to describe the system.
Posted by: Summer | October 30, 2009 9:13 AM
As a Penn line rider who got stuck in both situations, I can't really blame MARC. There are only a few rail lines and as such there's not really much MARC. That said, Amtrack should take a long hard look at what these problems are and fix them ASAP since two major failures in a week is not a good thing
Posted by: Matt K | October 30, 2009 10:04 AM
Security hold just started showing up in the last week or so. Had somebody speculate in the comments that it was when Biden or some other VIP was going into or out of Union Station.
They may use that term when the new checkpoints delay trains too.
Posted by: Jeff Quinton | October 30, 2009 2:52 PM
I happened to take an earlier train home than usual yesterday and ended up being stuck just beyond the disabled train... it was a blessing in disguise because the rest of the trains behind us were stopped for a really long time.
I agree with everyone here. What is the deal? I feel like there should be some sort of parity between AMTRAK and MARC in these situations: when AMTRAK trains break, MARC should get track priority. When it's the other way around, they can have priority. Maybe it will cause them to be a little more quality-oriented.
Posted by: andrew | October 30, 2009 3:44 PM
maybe it's about time Amtrak change their locomotives and buy new one!
Posted by: flexispy | December 28, 2010 10:08 PM
it's about time AMTRAK address this issue by either buying new engines or buying new trains. This major disruptions is affecting not just the commuters but the train service record as well
Posted by: Internet Marketing Chicago | January 27, 2011 7:07 AM