Passenger Trains > Maryland: OK's MARC operations into northern Virginia

Currently, Maryland's rail system ends at Washington DC Union Station. The commuter agency has now been authorized to begin negotiations with CSX, VRE, and other parties to extend operations through DC into northern Virginia.   This legislative approval was a precursor to actually beginning formal talks and discussions.

Messy details like costs, access, who operates how many trains, etc remain to be determined. The legislature is looking at two morning and two evening trains.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/03/19/maryland-approves-plan-expand-marc-commuter-trains-into-dc-virginia/

I used to drive to Greenbelt in Maryland and take Metrorail all the way across DC to Crystal City, Virginia. You can transfer at Greenbelt from the MARC Camden line. This MARC extension into Virginia has been talked about for a while. There are certainly a myriad of details such as platform heights that need to be worked out as you mentioned. I don't have a WaPo subscription, but found a good article at https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2020/03/19/maryland-lawmakers-back-marc-to-hq2-but-there-are.html .

IMHO. To make MARC viable as major transportation option, it needs to expand east and west from its current Baltimore-Washington corridor major routes into populated regions of Howard County, etc. Otherwise, there could potentially be a lot of driving to and from MARC stations and any extension into Northern Virginia may well be underutilized. 

Jrudnicki Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used to drive to Greenbelt in Maryland and take
> Metrorail all the way across DC to Crystal City,
> Virginia. You can transfer at Greenbelt from the
> MARC Camden line. This MARC extension into
> Virginia has been talked about for a while. There
> are certainly a myriad of details such as platform
> heights that need to be worked out as you
> mentioned. I don't have a WaPo subscription, but
> found a good article
> at https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/20
> 20/03/19/maryland-lawmakers-back-marc-to-hq2-but-t
> here-are.html .
>
> IMHO. To make MARC viable as major transportation
> option, it needs to expand east and west from its
> current Baltimore-Washington corridor major routes
> into populated regions of Howard County, etc.
> Otherwise, there could potentially be a lot of
> driving to and from MARC stations and any
> extension into Northern Virginia may well be
> underutilized. 

I always wondered why they never tried to expand up the old WM line toward Hanover PA.  Lots of people live in PA and work in MD, and routes 30 and 140 and I795 are seriously backed up at rush hours.  With CSX only running a couple trains on that line there would not be the concern of freight train interference.

It's a tentative step, but a welcome one. We as a region need to start breaking down these artificial geographical barriers and the parochial attitudes that go along with them. One other step that's happened recently is that Virginia (in the guise of the newly-created Virginia Passenger Rail Authority) is taking over as the lead agency on the Long Bridge Project, even though the project lies mostly within the District of Columbia.

Yes, platform heights and equipment are an issue, but not an insurmountable one. 

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/20 08:16 by Dcmcrider.

There are lots of potential routes across the Maryland area (Maryland Area Regional Commuter), but speed and service frequency are significant obstacles. Crossing accidents are another area of concern and blaming the dead is not a viable solution. 

Examples in my area include running down the Route 29 median north of DC and utilizing some of the abandoned tracks into Columbia. Many of these potential passengers could go to Northern Virginia making that route more useful. 

There are starting to be enough battery, fuel cell, and hybrid power options to make this viable long term without expensive catenary everywhere. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/20 08:27 by Jrudnicki.

In my view, instead of additional routes, MARC needs (to say nothing of VRE) needs to first do a better job with the routes it has.

The Brunswick line needs reverse trips and weekend service. Yes, I know...CSX... There was an enormous investment made in the Frederick Branch, and it hosts three round-trips a day. It's a tremendously under-used asset.

VRE needs to become more than a Monday through Friday rush-hour conveyance into and out of DC. They're working on that, but it's going to be years before we see much progress. For those of us in the inner suburbs, VRE is pretty much useless.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA