MARC TRAIN

'MARC', prior to 1984 known as 'Maryland Rail Commuter Service', is a Regional 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).

Contents

Train Lines

Brunswick

Camden

Penn

Current Equipment

Connections to other rail and transportation services

Crashes and Incidents

Western Maryland

External links

References

Train Lines

Brunswick

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:

★ Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

★ Silver Spring, Maryland (Metro Station)

★ Kensington, Maryland

★ Garrett Park, Maryland

★ Rockville, Maryland (Metro Station)

★ Washington Grove, Maryland

★ Gaithersburg, Maryland

★ Metropolitan Grove, Maryland

★ Germantown, Maryland

★ Boyds, Maryland^[1]

★ Barnesville, Maryland

★ Dickerson, Maryland
:Frederick Extension:
:
★ Monocacy, Maryland
:
★ Frederick, Maryland

★ Point of Rocks, Maryland

★ Brunswick, Maryland

★ Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

★ Duffields, West Virginia

★ Martinsburg, West Virginia

Camden

MARC II Single Level Nippon Sharyo Cab Car 7757 at Baltimore Camden Station.

A train of MARC III Kawasaki bi-levels at BWI Rail Station on the Penn Line headed towards Baltimore.

The Camden Line runs between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland (Camden Station), operating over the CSX Capital Subdivision. It began operation in 1830, making it the oldest passenger rail line in the U.S. Stops on the Camden Line are:

★ Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

★ Riverdale, Maryland

★ College Park, Maryland (Metro Station)

★ Greenbelt, Maryland (Metro Station)

★ Muirkirk, Maryland

★ Laurel, Maryland

★ Laurel Race Track

★ Savage, Maryland

★ Jessup, Maryland

★ Dorsey, Maryland

★ St. Denis, Maryland

★ Baltimore, Maryland (Camden Station)

Penn

The Penn Line runs between Washington, D.C. and Perryville, Maryland on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and is the fastest commuter rail line in North America, with trains operating at speeds of up to 125mph^[2]. It is the busiest MARC line, carrying more passengers than the other two lines combined. On weekends (all day) and weekdays (before 6am and after 10pm) most Amtrak Regional trains will accept MARC monthly and weekly tickets at Amtrak/MARC stations on the Penn Line; also some Amtrak trains carry all MARC ticket holders boarding at Aberdeen during the week. Stops on the Penn Line are:

★ Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

★ New Carrollton, Maryland (Metro/Amtrak Station)

★ Seabrook, Maryland

★ Bowie, Maryland (Bowie State University)

★ Odenton, Maryland

★ BWI Airport

★ Halethorpe, Maryland

★ West Baltimore, Maryland

★ Baltimore, Maryland (Baltimore Penn Station)

★ Martin State Airport

★ Edgewood, Maryland

★ Aberdeen, Maryland

★ Perryville, Maryland

Current Equipment

EMD GP40WH-2 No. 52 at Baltimore, Maryland July 2, 2004.

★ 'Locomotives'

★
★ EMD/ASEA AEM-7 (all four taken out of service in August for 18-month rehabilitation program)

★
★ Bombardier-Alstom HHP-8

★
★ EMD GP40WH-2

★
★ EMD GP39H-2

★ '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. A single unpowered EMD F cab unit, #7100 (ex-Baltimore & Ohio Railroad F7 #4553) occasionally substitutes for a passenger cab car.

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 Regional Service 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.

★ Bowie State Station along the Penn Line is located near the Huntington Railroad Museum.
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.

Crashes and Incidents

MARC Memorial on the grounds of the Brunswick train station.

On February 16, 1996, during the Friday-evening rush hour, an eastbound MARC train headed to Washington Union Station collided with the westbound Amtrak Capitol Limited headed to Chicago via Pittsburgh. The collision occurred at Georgetown Junction on a snow-swept stretch of track just west of Silver Spring, Maryland. The crash left 11 people dead aboard the MARC train. Three died of injuries suffered in the impact, with the rest succumbed to the ensuing smoke and flames; the MARC engineer and two conductors were among the dead.
The NTSB report concluded that the MARC crew apparently forgot the restricting signal aspect of the Kensington color-position signal after making a flag stop at Kensington Station. The engineer of the Capitol Limited also apparently increased speed rather than braking in an attempt to make the crossover. The MARC train was operating in push mode with the cab control car out front. The Amtrak locomotives were in the crossover at the time of the collision; the MARC cab control car collided with the lead Amtrak unit, an F40PH, rupturing its fuel tank and igniting the fire that caused most of the casualties. The second Amtrak unit was a GE Genesis P40DC, a newer unit which has a fuel tank that is shielded in the center of the frame, so a few seconds difference might have avoided the fire. The official investigation also 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.
On June 29 , 2007 around 5:15pm a woman was struck by an oncoming MARC Train headed to Martinsburg. This was located in the Rockville area. Because of this incident , it caused major delays on all other trains. Trains remained at Union Station and train 891 was stopped at the Silver Spring Station. It took about two and a half hours for the trains to resume service. According to a news report , this is believed to be a suicide (http://www.nbc4.com/news/13598374/detail.html).

Western Maryland

In the past, the MARC trains have made special weekend trips to and from Cumberland, Maryland. Past events have included trains for Western Maryland residents to attend sporting events in the Baltimore/Washington Area, such as Orioles or Redskin games. Or Events for Baltimore/Washington residents to attend the Railfest in Cumberland and enjoy the scenic mountains and fall folliage of Western Maryland.

External links

★ Maryland Transit Administration

★ MARC System Map

★
★ Brunswick line schedule

★
★ Camden line schedule

★
★ Penn Line schedule (includes BWI station)

★ MARC Current Train Status Using GPS Technology

★ MARC Railfan Site

★ MARC Photos

★ NTSB publications about 1996 accident

★ Complete Story of MARC Accident

★ Railfanning.org: MARC Profile

References

1. Station was to have been closed per early-2006 MARC plan that was ultimately canceled.
2. http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=398 Trains.com MARC article