MARC Train

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MARC, prior to 1984 known as Maryland Rail Commuter Service, is a commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract with CSX Transportation and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).

1 Brunswick Line
2 Camden Line
3 Penn Line
4 Current Equipment
5 Connections to other rail and transportation services
6 February 1996 Brunswick Line Crash
7 Proposed March 2006 Station Closures
8 External links

[edit] Brunswick Line

The Brunswick Line is MARC's longest line, stretching between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, West Virginia. Brunswick Line trains operate over the CSX Metropolitan, Old Main Line, and Cumberland Subdivisions. Stops on the Brunswick Line are as follows:

Frederick Extension:

[edit] Camden Line

Image:CollegeParkMARCStation.jpg

The Camden Line runs between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland (Camden Station), operating over the CSX Capital Subdivision. Stops on the Camden Line are as follows:

[edit] Penn Line

The Penn Line runs between Washington, D.C. and Perryville, Maryland on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Stops on the Penn Line are as follows:

[edit] Current Equipment

Image:MARC52.jpg

Locomotives

Passenger Cars
- Kawasaki Bi-Level
- Pullman'Gallery' Bi-Level
- Nippon Sharyo/Sumitomo Single Level

Passenger Cab Cars
- Kawasaki Bi-Level
- Nippon Sharyo/Sumitomo Single Level

As the Penn Line is the only electrified MARC line, the AEM-7 and HHP-8 are restricted to only that line. The majority of the Kawasaki cars are operated on the Penn Line, and the Pullman cars are only operated on Brunswick Line trains to Martinsburg. All MARC trains are operated with a cab car, from which the engineer can control the train. The cab car is always at the head of trains travelling toward Washington D.C., and the locomotive is at the head of trains heading away from Washington.

[edit] Connections to other rail and transportation services

Several of MARC's stations are shared with or are short distances from other rail and transit services:

At Union Station, the Washington terminus of all three MARC lines, passengers can transfer to Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains, Virginia Railway Express commuter trains, or to the Washington Metro Red Line.
At Rockville and Silver Spring on the Brunswick Line, passengers can transfer to the Washington Metro Red Line.
At Greenbelt and College Park on the Camden Line, passengers can transfer to the Washington Metro Green Line.
At College Park on the Camden Line, passengers can transfer to Shuttle-UM, the bus service serving the area in and around the University of Maryland, College Park, which is located approximately one mile from the MARC station.
At New Carrollton on the Penn Line, passengers can transfer to the Washington Metro Orange Line, and to Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains.
At both Camden and Penn Stations, the Baltimore termini of the Camden and Penn Lines, passengers can transfer to the Baltimore Light Rail; at Penn Station, they can additionally transfer to Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains.

The BWI Rail station is close to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), though not actually in the terminal itself; a free shuttle bus carries passengers from the station to the terminal every 10 minutes between 5 AM and 1 AM and every 25 minutes between 1 AM and 5 AM.

[edit] February 1996 Brunswick Line Crash

On February 16, 1996, during the Friday-evening rush hour, a MARC bound for Union Station collided with an outgoing Amtrak train and erupted in flames on a snow-swept stretch of track in Silver Spring, Maryland. The crash left 11 people dead aboard the MARC train. Three died of injuries suffered in the impact, but the rest were killed by smoke and flames; the MARC engineer and two conductors were among the dead. The official investigation suggests that the accident might have been prevented if a human-factors analysis had been conducted when modifications to the track signaling system were made in 1985.

[edit] Proposed March 2006 Station Closures

In January 2006, four MARC stations were slated to be closed in early March, due to minimal patronage:

St. Denis (Camden line)
Jessup (Camden line)
Dickerson (Brunswick line)
Boyds (Brunswick line)

While the combined average daily ridership of these stations is a mere 41 passengers, a group of Maryland state senators co-authored an emergency bill that would force the stations to remain open. Maryland state transportation secretary Robert Flanagan decided to keep the stations open in anticipation of the bill's passing.

Source: WBALchannel.com: Four MARC Stations Spared