MTA says new MARC schedule going well so far
The Maryland Transit Administration says operations on the MARC Penn Line have gone well despite some "growing pains" since the commuter rail line made extensive changes to its schedule March 14.
The MTA said commuters are taking some time in adjusting to the changes, which have added two trains each during the morning an evening rush hours.
The MTA's records paint a more mixed picture, however, showing that MARC has had a mix of very good days and awful days since the change was made.
In a statement posted on its web site, the MTA said some its trains may appear to be "standing room only" in some cars despite the availability of seats in other cars. The agency said that after receiving complaints about its 4:20 p.m. train leaving Union Station, it found 39 riders standing in three cars but 55 seats available in another two cars.
The MTA said the most crowded train is No. 517, the 6:30 a.m. departure from Perryville, which reaches Penn Station at 7:15 a.m. The MTA urged riders to consider taking Train 415, which leaves Penn Station 10 minutes earlier.
MARC urged riders to keep in mind its new trains, including the 5 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. departures from Penn Station and the 4:10 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. trains from Washington's Union Station.
The MTA said it unable to honor passengers' requests for more cars on some Penn Line trains because it has neither the available cars nor the necessary storage space at Union Station. The agency said the schedule change has already permitted it to add 1,000 seats during rush hours.
The agency's online records of its on-time performance show a mixed performance on the Penn Line since the schedule changed a week ago Monday. Three days have been stellar -- wit 93-95 percent of the trains on time. Three others, including yesterday, have brought sub-par performances of from 77 percent to 80 percent.
Comments
I'm more concerned about how MARC is handling things on the bad days (like yesterday), than I am about the overcrowding. People will always tend to congregate in certain cars for various reasons.
I was keeping an eye on twitter during the afternoon delays on the Penn line. Apparently MARC still has problems resolving issues when delays occur. Among the things I noted in from yesterday's tweets: (https://twitter.com/#!/saved-search/Marcfail) People got information faster from tweets than from the MTA, express trains following local trains, a later train leaving NC before an earlier train was allowed to leave. I didn't see any response from MTA/MARC except for the standard delay announcements.
The extra trains seem to geometrically increase the cascade of delays that occurs when something happens (something I suspected since the new schedule was published). Shouldn't there be contingency plans in place to help guide management when a delay(s) occur? Should trains departing within minutes of each other make the same exact stops?
We've also never heard about whether or not the two recent 'tires on the tracks' incidents (one each on Camden and Penn lines) were random occurrences or something more malicious.
The extra seats are welcome, but given the spotty performances of the past week don't bode well for the hot summer months that lie ahead.
Posted by: Bill | March 22, 2011 2:35 PM
The 6:30 Perryville train isn't standing room until it gets to BWI Odenton. this train was always crowded, but then they had the brilliant idea to make that train shorter and add odenton to the trip. Odenton is a big stop, and anyone getting on this train there is likely to be standing. the crew has even made announcements that they were asking for additional cars to be put on the train due to the crowding. I like the schedule overall, but adding odenton to this train was ill advised.
Posted by: Marc Rider | March 22, 2011 3:22 PM
I wonder whether MTA keeps any statistics on the number of people whose plans are ruined because they mistakenly thought they could trust the automated telephone MARC schedule to have been updated. Ten days after the schedule change, the phone system is still not giving the correct schedule. This happens every time the schedule changes, and I have reported it to MTA after every schedule change during the last two and a half years. In September of 2008 the last train back to Baltimore from D.C. was eliminated, but because the phone schedule was not updated, I did not know that and got stuck in D.C. I guess this doesn't bother them.
Posted by: Jason | March 24, 2011 3:35 PM