While some of the lines and trains on MARC have not performed very well, the Penn Line continues to thrive. That has created an interesting problem for the folks at MTA. However, there isn?t an easy or quick solution. Added rail cars and staff are expensive, and scheduling changes are made difficult by the partners with whom MARC contracts for use of the tracks.
Doug writes: “Perhaps you can use your inquiry skills to find out some answers to things that have been developing on the MARC Train. I?ve been commuting via MARC from Elkridge to Union Station. I usually will go to BWI and take the 7:35 express (Penn Line 513) train to D.C., and take the 5:25 express (Penn Line 534) train back in the evening. But the seating situation is making it decidedly less appealing. I?m pretty dedicated, but I have seen other regulars who have given up because of the seating.
To get a seat in the evening (and that usually means the last seat), I need to be on the train by about 5:10 p.m. ? by 5:15, forget it. A seat used to be possible in the morning, but for the last month or so, a morning seat has been nonexistent. I remember from past surveys that these two trains are the busiest ones on the whole MARC system. MARC has to be losing out on farebox collections because these most crowded trains are often too crowded for the conductors to make their rounds to punch 10-trip tickets or collect from those with single trip tickets. Is anything in the works to help increase the capacity of these two trains? Are they looking at a similar express train schedule at another time that might alleviate some of this overcrowding?”
This is a tough situation, Doug. In some cases, MARC is being hurt by its own success. Those packed trains mean that there is a need and a desire by passengers to ride them. The problem as I understand it is that there are no immediate plans for expansion of either rail cars or schedules. It?s not just a simple issue of adding a couple of train cars and being done with it. There is the cost of assigning those rail cars in terms of maintenance and staffing. CSX or Amtrak would have to agree to any scheduling changes and, as we well know, that has always been a problem.
In addition, I?d be curious to know, although I doubt they?ll tell me, what MARC “writes off” on the number of tickets that don?t get collected or punched because the conductors can?t get through all the cars fast enough to process them. It would seem that some simple mathematics might play into some of the decision-making when it comes to increasing service. Oh yeah, add in the number of Doug?s former co-riders who are taking other options because they can?t rely on getting a seat.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com.
