MARC Train
Encyclopedia
MARC , known prior to 1984 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 by CSX Transportation
and Amtrak
. MARC does not operate on weekends. Service is suspended or reduced on select holidays. With some equipment capable of reaching speeds of 125 mph, MARC is considered the fastest commuter railroad in the United States.
(19 trains), the Camden Line
(18 trains), and the Penn Line
(47 trains).
to Martinsburg, West Virginia
over the CSX Metropolitan, Old Main Line, and Cumberland Subdivision
s, all of which were former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
(B&O) lines.
and Baltimore, Maryland Camden Station over the CSX Capital Subdivision. The B&O began service along this route in 1835, making it the oldest passenger rail line in the U.S. still in operation.
and Perryville, Maryland
on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor
and is the fastest commuter rail line in North America, with trains of bi-level cars and electric locomotives operating at up to 125 mph. It was previously used by the Pennsylvania Railroad
(hence the name) and is the busiest line, carrying more passengers than the other two lines combined. All day on weekends and before 6am and after 10pm on weekdays most Amtrak Regional trains accept MARC monthly and weekly tickets at Amtrak/MARC stations, and some Amtrak trains carry MARC ticket holders boarding at Aberdeen
during the week.
Special Western Maryland service
Trains have made special weekend trips to and from Cumberland
. Past events have included trains for Western Maryland
residents to attend sporting events in the Baltimore/Washington Area, such as Baltimore Orioles
or Washington Redskins
games, or for Baltimore/Washington residents to attend Railfest in Cumberland and enjoy the scenic mountains and fall foliage of Western Maryland.
, and later, Penn Central, followed by Conrail.
The passenger trains eventually became unprofitable, and in 1974, the B&O Railroad approached the State of Maryland with an intention of discontinuing the service unless a subsidy could be provided. The Maryland Department of Transportation
(MDOT) agreed to provide a partial subsidy of the deficit in 1974, and in 1975 this evolved into an operating agreement with the B&O, where Maryland agreed to pay the total operating deficit for the trains and provide the rolling stock
.
In 1976 MDOT entered into a similar agreement with Conrail, which had ended up with responsibility for local passenger train operations in the Northeast Corridor after the bankruptcy of Penn Central and other Northeast railroads. In that same year, the State Railroad Administration was established by Executive Order of the Governor
, to oversee these railroad contracts, to procure the needed rolling stock, to apply for and manage federal funding for the commuter rail service, and to administer a state funded subsidy program for shortline
freight rail operations, primarily on the Eastern Shore
and in Western Maryland.
In 1982, Congress
relieved Conrail of the responsibility to operate local passenger rail service, and in 1983, the State entered into an operating agreement with Amtrak to continue this service (now referred to as the Penn Line). The same year Maryland, along with a number of other Northeastern states, took control of its commuter railroads and the "MARC" (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) service name was established. The State Railroad Administration conducted a marketing study, which resulted in the creation of the name and logo of MARC to use as a unifying tool for marketing the service where, at that time, train crews wore either B&O or Amtrak uniforms, and some of the rail cars in use were leased from New Jersey Transit
. So, while the name MARC was established in 1983, the service dates back well over 100 years. In 1992, the former State Railroad Administration was merged with the Mass Transit Administration. The Mass Transit Administration was later renamed to Maryland Transit Administration
which now oversees the operation of MARC Train Service.
and Brunswick
lines.
Controversy first arose when the French-owned and Montgomery County, Maryland
-based Keolis
(already operating Virginia Railway Express
trains) was the only bidder for the contract. Bidding was stopped in the fall of 2010 due to lack of competition. When bidding was reopened in 2011, at the behest of Leo Bretholz and other Holocaust survivors, Maryland passed a law requiring Keolis's majority owner, SNCF
, wholly owned by the French government, to fully disclose its role in transporting of Jews to concentration camps during World War II
, while SNCF was under control of the Nazi government. This disclosure is required to be done to the satisfaction of the Maryland state archivist before Keolis would be allowed to place a bid for MARC service.
Keolis and SNCF lawyers claim that the all documentation required by the law had been produced long before. This was also asserted by Don Phillips in the July 2011 issue of Trains Magazine. Phillips states that a full 914 page independent report and complete history of SNCF's role in the Holocaust, released in 1996, is currently being translated into English. Phillips cites from the publicly available English introduction to the report, noting that while some SNCF workers worked with the Nazis, acts of sabotage were frequent, and the Nazis shot 819 SNCF workers for refusing to carry out the rail orders of the government. An additional 1200 railway workers were themselves sent to concentration camps over SNCF rails. Phillips also notes that SNCF does business with the Israeli
rail system
and works without government prompting to educate the current generation about the war and Holocaust.
As of June, 2011, a year after MARC started looking for a replacement to CSX, the future of Keolis's ability to bid on the MARC contract remains up in the air with the new disclosure law in place. No other bidder has been found to replace CSX. On June 5th, 2011, the Washington Post ran an editorial critical of the disclosure law. The Post claims that SNCF has been working for years on digitizing its records, and the Maryland law may require items or formats counter to SNCF's current system and/or French law. The Post also reports some in the Maryland's Attorney General's Office office worry the law is not Constitutional, may risk retaliation towards Maryland firms overseas, and may risk federal funding for Maryland "by imposing arbitrary procurement demands on a single company."
As the Penn Line is the only electrified
line, the AEM-7 and HHP-8 are restricted to that line.
In spring 2008 MARC placed an order for 26 new MPI MP36PH-3C diesel locomotives, which will replace all 19 of the 70s-era GP40s. They were scheduled to begin arriving in November 2008, and are currently being delivered and tested. As of November 2010 20 of the 26 new locomotives have been delivered with 18 currently in service. All are in service as of March 2011.
The majority of the Kawasaki cars are operated on the Penn Line, and the Pullman cars are only operated on Brunswick Line
trains to Brunswick or Martinsburg due to their restriction to use at low-level platforms only. Like many other commuter rail systems in North America, all trains are operated with a cab car from which the engineer can control the train. The cab car is typically at the head of trains traveling toward Washington and the locomotive is at the head of trains heading away from Washington. In the early first decade of the 21st century a single unpowered EMD F cab unit, #7100 (ex-Baltimore & Ohio Railroad F7 #4553), occasionally substituted for a cab car. In addition to serving as a Non-Powered Control Unit , the unit is also outfitted with a head-end power generator to supply electricity to the train.
To cope with increasing ridership, the MTA announced in August 2008 the acquisition of 13 Kawasaki bi-level passenger cars from VRE
, originally scheduled to be placed in service by November 2008. The first units were placed in service in mid-January 2009 on the Brunswick line. The MTA has announced that all 13 cars will be placed in service on the Brunswick Line to replace the aging ex-Metra
gallery cars. The $22 million purchase is a 10% increase in fleet size from 122 passenger cars. However due to an increase in ridership, the ex-Metra cars have remained in service along the Brunswick Line and the ex-VRE cars operate across all 3 lines.
In 2011 MARC ordered 54 new bi-levels from Bombardier
to increase capacity. The cars were purchased using an un-exercised option from NJ Transit. The MARC order consists of 34 trailers and 15 cab cars. The cars will replace the MARC IIA single level cars and gallery cars, resulting in a net increase of 16 cars. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2013.
On February 16, 1996, during the Friday evening rush hour
, an eastbound 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 approach signal aspect of the Kensington color-position signal after making a flag stop
at Kensington Station. 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, F40PH #255, rupturing its fuel tank and igniting the fire that caused most of the casualties. The second unit was a GE Genesis
P40DC #811, a newer unit that has a fuel tank that is shielded in the center of the frame. 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 February 7, 2008 a train derailed at Union Station after it was hit by an Amtrak switcher
locomotive. The train was still unloading passengers at the time of impact, and seven people received minor head and neck injuries. The Amtrak locomotive was attempting to couple to the train and was reportedly moving too fast.
On June 21, 2010, northbound Amtrak-operated Penn Line train 538 broke down at 6:23 p.m. Temperatures inside the train reached 100 degrees due to malfunctioning air conditioning. After passengers called 911, 10 people were treated at the scene for heat-related problems. All passengers were cleared from the scene by 9:40pm. This incident prompted MDOT Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley to apologize to customers aboard Penn Line train 538 on June 27, 2010. When the Amtrak engineer operating this train overran a scheduled stop in Odenton, Amtrak CEO Joseph H. Boardman
apologized to riders the following morning. This set of incidents prompted Amtrak to draft an emergency response plan for broken down MARC trains.
process poised to bring new jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground
and Ft. Meade
, both of which are served by nearby stations, the state saw the need to expand service to accommodate growth. In September 2007, MTA Maryland unveiled an ambitious 30-year plan of system improvements. Though funding sources had not been established at that time, the plan represented the state's goals of increasing capacity and flexibility. Proposed improvements included:
While many of these proposals would require expensive capital improvement and years or decades to implement, the agency would like to put others into action as quickly as possible, suggesting that, for instance, Penn Line weekend service could have begun as early as 2008. However, budgetary issues have delayed any such expansions. In Spring 2009, to offset such budget shortfalls, ticket sales employees at non-Amtrak stations were replaced with Amtrak "Quick-Trak" touchscreen
ticket machines, and some train services have been eliminated or scaled back. For example, Train 871, the 1:45pm train on the Brunswick line, now operates only on Fridays. Ticket machines were also added to stations that were not previously staffed, such as Halethorpe
, Odenton, Camden and all multi-purpose stations are still staffed.
Regional rail
Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...
system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West...
. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration
Maryland Transit Administration
The Maryland Transit Administration is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. It is better known as MTA Maryland to avoid confusion with other cities' transit agencies who share the initials MTA. The MTA operates a...
(MTA), a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract by CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
. MARC does not operate on weekends. Service is suspended or reduced on select holidays. With some equipment capable of reaching speeds of 125 mph, MARC is considered the fastest commuter railroad in the United States.
Train lines
MARC operates 84 weekday trains on three separate lines: the Brunswick LineBrunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line consisting of a main line running from Washington D.C. to Martinsburg, West Virginia and a branch line from just south of Point-of-Rocks station to Frederick, Maryland. The service is operated under contract by CSX Transportation, but is administered...
(19 trains), the Camden Line
Camden Line
The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs between Union Station, Washington, D.C. and Camden Station, Baltimore, Maryland over the CSX Capital Subdivision. Service began along this route in 1835 as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , making it the oldest passenger rail line in...
(18 trains), and the Penn Line
Penn Line (MARC)
The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail line running from Union Station, Washington D.C. to Perryville, Maryland via Penn Station, Baltimore, Maryland on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It is MARC's busiest and only electric line. Currently the line is the fastest commuter rail line in the country, with...
(47 trains).
Brunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is the longest line, from Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
over the CSX Metropolitan, Old Main Line, and Cumberland Subdivision
Cumberland Subdivision
The Cumberland Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Weverton, Maryland west to near Cumberland, Maryland along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road main line...
s, all of which were former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
(B&O) lines.
Camden Line
The Camden Line runs between Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Baltimore, Maryland Camden Station over the CSX Capital Subdivision. The B&O began service along this route in 1835, making it the oldest passenger rail line in the U.S. still in operation.
Penn Line
The Penn Line runs between Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Perryville, Maryland
Perryville, Maryland
Perryville is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,672 at the 2000 census. The town is located off Interstate 95, on the north side of the mouth of the Susquehanna River.-History:...
on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
and is the fastest commuter rail line in North America, with trains of bi-level cars and electric locomotives operating at up to 125 mph. It was previously used by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(hence the name) and is the busiest line, carrying more passengers than the other two lines combined. All day on weekends and before 6am and after 10pm on weekdays most Amtrak Regional trains accept MARC monthly and weekly tickets at Amtrak/MARC stations, and some Amtrak trains carry MARC ticket holders boarding at Aberdeen
Aberdeen (Amtrak station)
Aberdeen Station is an Amtrak station in Aberdeen, Maryland on the Northeast Corridor and MARC Penn Line. It is served by Amtrak's Northeast Regional train.. The station was originally built by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad approximatley in 1900, and inherited by the...
during the week.
Special Western Maryland service
Trains have made special weekend trips to and from Cumberland
Cumberland (Amtrak station)
The Cumberland Amtrak station is a train station in Cumberland, Maryland, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system. It is also served by Bayrunner Shuttle that starts in Grantsville and ends at BWI Airport...
. Past events have included trains for Western Maryland
Western Maryland
Western Maryland is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that consists of Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties. The region is bounded by the Mason-Dixon line to the north, Preston County, West Virginia to the west, and the Potomac River to the south. There is dispute over the...
residents to attend sporting events in the Baltimore/Washington Area, such as Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
or Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
games, or for Baltimore/Washington residents to attend Railfest in Cumberland and enjoy the scenic mountains and fall foliage of Western Maryland.
History
The local rail passenger service now called MARC Train Service has actually operated since the 1830s on what is now known as the Camden Line, and since the mid-to-late 19th century on the Penn and Brunswick Lines. The service now operated by CSX was formerly the B&O local train service (Camden and Brunswick lines). The Penn Line service was the local train service of the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, and later, Penn Central, followed by Conrail.
The passenger trains eventually became unprofitable, and in 1974, the B&O Railroad approached the State of Maryland with an intention of discontinuing the service unless a subsidy could be provided. The Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Department of Transportation
The Maryland Department of Transportation is a government agency in the U.S. state of Maryland. MDOT is overseen by Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley, who replaced John Porcari in 2009 upon the latter's appointment as Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of...
(MDOT) agreed to provide a partial subsidy of the deficit in 1974, and in 1975 this evolved into an operating agreement with the B&O, where Maryland agreed to pay the total operating deficit for the trains and provide the rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
.
In 1976 MDOT entered into a similar agreement with Conrail, which had ended up with responsibility for local passenger train operations in the Northeast Corridor after the bankruptcy of Penn Central and other Northeast railroads. In that same year, the State Railroad Administration was established by Executive Order of the Governor
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
, to oversee these railroad contracts, to procure the needed rolling stock, to apply for and manage federal funding for the commuter rail service, and to administer a state funded subsidy program for shortline
ShortLine
Short Line is a brand name for three different Coach USA companies, Hudson Transit Lines, Hudson Transit Corporation, and Chenango Valley Bus Lines that provide local, commuter and intercity bus service in lower New York State, primarily along the Route 17 and Southern Tier corridor.-Service...
freight rail operations, primarily on the Eastern Shore
Eastern Shore of Maryland
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a territorial part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies predominately on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay and consists of nine counties. The origin of term Eastern Shore was derived to distinguish a territorial part of the State of Maryland from the Western...
and in Western Maryland.
In 1982, Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
relieved Conrail of the responsibility to operate local passenger rail service, and in 1983, the State entered into an operating agreement with Amtrak to continue this service (now referred to as the Penn Line). The same year Maryland, along with a number of other Northeastern states, took control of its commuter railroads and the "MARC" (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) service name was established. The State Railroad Administration conducted a marketing study, which resulted in the creation of the name and logo of MARC to use as a unifying tool for marketing the service where, at that time, train crews wore either B&O or Amtrak uniforms, and some of the rail cars in use were leased from New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
. So, while the name MARC was established in 1983, the service dates back well over 100 years. In 1992, the former State Railroad Administration was merged with the Mass Transit Administration. The Mass Transit Administration was later renamed to Maryland Transit Administration
Maryland Transit Administration
The Maryland Transit Administration is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. It is better known as MTA Maryland to avoid confusion with other cities' transit agencies who share the initials MTA. The MTA operates a...
which now oversees the operation of MARC Train Service.
Contract controversy
Beginning as early as June 2010, MARC began looking for a new operator to replace CSX Transportation for the CamdenCamden Line
The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs between Union Station, Washington, D.C. and Camden Station, Baltimore, Maryland over the CSX Capital Subdivision. Service began along this route in 1835 as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , making it the oldest passenger rail line in...
and Brunswick
Brunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line consisting of a main line running from Washington D.C. to Martinsburg, West Virginia and a branch line from just south of Point-of-Rocks station to Frederick, Maryland. The service is operated under contract by CSX Transportation, but is administered...
lines.
Controversy first arose when the French-owned and Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
-based Keolis
Keolis
Keolis is the largest private sector French transport group. It runs passenger railways, tramways, bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses, and airport services. The company, based in Paris, is majority owned by SNCF, the French state rail operator. AXA Private Equity and Caisse de dépôt et...
(already operating Virginia Railway Express
Virginia Railway Express
The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
trains) was the only bidder for the contract. Bidding was stopped in the fall of 2010 due to lack of competition. When bidding was reopened in 2011, at the behest of Leo Bretholz and other Holocaust survivors, Maryland passed a law requiring Keolis's majority owner, SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
, wholly owned by the French government, to fully disclose its role in transporting of Jews to concentration camps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, while SNCF was under control of the Nazi government. This disclosure is required to be done to the satisfaction of the Maryland state archivist before Keolis would be allowed to place a bid for MARC service.
Keolis and SNCF lawyers claim that the all documentation required by the law had been produced long before. This was also asserted by Don Phillips in the July 2011 issue of Trains Magazine. Phillips states that a full 914 page independent report and complete history of SNCF's role in the Holocaust, released in 1996, is currently being translated into English. Phillips cites from the publicly available English introduction to the report, noting that while some SNCF workers worked with the Nazis, acts of sabotage were frequent, and the Nazis shot 819 SNCF workers for refusing to carry out the rail orders of the government. An additional 1200 railway workers were themselves sent to concentration camps over SNCF rails. Phillips also notes that SNCF does business with the Israeli
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
rail system
Israel Railways
Israel Railways is the principal passenger railway operating company in Israel, and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban rail way passenger and freight traffic in the country. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from...
and works without government prompting to educate the current generation about the war and Holocaust.
As of June, 2011, a year after MARC started looking for a replacement to CSX, the future of Keolis's ability to bid on the MARC contract remains up in the air with the new disclosure law in place. No other bidder has been found to replace CSX. On June 5th, 2011, the Washington Post ran an editorial critical of the disclosure law. The Post claims that SNCF has been working for years on digitizing its records, and the Maryland law may require items or formats counter to SNCF's current system and/or French law. The Post also reports some in the Maryland's Attorney General's Office office worry the law is not Constitutional, may risk retaliation towards Maryland firms overseas, and may risk federal funding for Maryland "by imposing arbitrary procurement demands on a single company."
Equipment
Locomotives
| Maker | Model | Number in Service | Numbered | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMD/ASEA | AEM-7 | 4 | 4900–4903 | |
| Bombardier Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany.... -Alstom Alstom Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are... |
HHP-8 HHP-8 The Acela HHP-8 is a double-ended electric locomotive manufactured by a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom. HHP-8 stands for High HorsePower 8000... |
6 | 4910–4915 | |
| EMD | GP40WH-2 | 0 | 51–69 | 6 sent to MBTA MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States. It is operated under contract by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company a joint partnership of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier Transportation and Alternate... in Boston |
| EMD | GP39H-2 | 6 | 70–75 | |
| MPI Wabtec Wabtec Corporation is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999.... |
MP36PH-3C | 26 | 10–35 | Will Replace GP40s |
As the Penn Line is the only electrified
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
line, the AEM-7 and HHP-8 are restricted to that line.
In spring 2008 MARC placed an order for 26 new MPI MP36PH-3C diesel locomotives, which will replace all 19 of the 70s-era GP40s. They were scheduled to begin arriving in November 2008, and are currently being delivered and tested. As of November 2010 20 of the 26 new locomotives have been delivered with 18 currently in service. All are in service as of March 2011.
Passenger cars
- 60 SumitomoSumitomo CorporationSumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide trading company , and is a diversified corporation. Sumitomo is headquartered in the Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower Y in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan...
/Nippon SharyoNippon Sharyo, , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest abbreviation is Nissha "日車". It was a listed company on Nikkei 225 until 2004. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange...
MARC II single-level coaches and cab cars- 26 MARC IIA
- 34 MARC IIB
- 63 KawasakiKawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Companyis the rolling stock production division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since beginning operations in 1906, the company has produced more than 90,000 railroad vehicles.- Products :...
MARC III Bi-Level coaches and cab cars- 50 original MARC purchase
- 13 ex-VRE
- 12 PullmanPullman CompanyThe Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
Gallery Bi-Level coaches (ex-MetraMetraMetra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
)
The majority of the Kawasaki cars are operated on the Penn Line, and the Pullman cars are only operated on Brunswick Line
Brunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line consisting of a main line running from Washington D.C. to Martinsburg, West Virginia and a branch line from just south of Point-of-Rocks station to Frederick, Maryland. The service is operated under contract by CSX Transportation, but is administered...
trains to Brunswick or Martinsburg due to their restriction to use at low-level platforms only. Like many other commuter rail systems in North America, all trains are operated with a cab car from which the engineer can control the train. The cab car is typically at the head of trains traveling toward Washington and the locomotive is at the head of trains heading away from Washington. In the early first decade of the 21st century a single unpowered EMD F cab unit, #7100 (ex-Baltimore & Ohio Railroad F7 #4553), occasionally substituted for a cab car. In addition to serving as a Non-Powered Control Unit , the unit is also outfitted with a head-end power generator to supply electricity to the train.
To cope with increasing ridership, the MTA announced in August 2008 the acquisition of 13 Kawasaki bi-level passenger cars from VRE
Virginia Railway Express
The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
, originally scheduled to be placed in service by November 2008. The first units were placed in service in mid-January 2009 on the Brunswick line. The MTA has announced that all 13 cars will be placed in service on the Brunswick Line to replace the aging ex-Metra
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
gallery cars. The $22 million purchase is a 10% increase in fleet size from 122 passenger cars. However due to an increase in ridership, the ex-Metra cars have remained in service along the Brunswick Line and the ex-VRE cars operate across all 3 lines.
In 2011 MARC ordered 54 new bi-levels from Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
to increase capacity. The cars were purchased using an un-exercised option from NJ Transit. The MARC order consists of 34 trailers and 15 cab cars. The cars will replace the MARC IIA single level cars and gallery cars, resulting in a net increase of 16 cars. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2013.
Incidents
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
, an eastbound train headed to Washington Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
collided with the westbound Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
Capitol Limited headed to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
via Pittsburgh. The collision occurred at Georgetown Junction on a snow-swept stretch of track just west of Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
. 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 approach signal aspect of the Kensington color-position signal after making a flag stop
Request stop
In public transport, a request stop or flag stop describes a stopping point at which trains or buses stop only on an as-need or request basis; that is, only if there are passengers to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, infrequently used stopping points can be served efficiently.Trains save...
at Kensington Station. The MARC train was operating in push
Push-pull train
Push–pull is a mode of operation for locomotive-hauled trains allowing them to be driven from either end.A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via some form of remote control, such as multiple-unit train control, to a vehicle equipped with a control cab at the other...
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, F40PH #255, rupturing its fuel tank and igniting the fire that caused most of the casualties. The second unit was a GE Genesis
GE Genesis
GE Genesis is a series of passenger locomotives produced by GE Transportation Systems, a subsidiary of General Electric...
P40DC #811, a newer unit that has a fuel tank that is shielded in the center of the frame. The official investigation also suggests that the accident might have been prevented if a human-factors analysis
Human reliability
Human reliability is related to the field of human factors engineering and ergonomics, and refers to the reliability of humans in fields such as manufacturing, transportation, the military, or medicine...
had been conducted when modifications to the track signaling system were made in 1985.
On February 7, 2008 a train derailed at Union Station after it was hit by an Amtrak switcher
Switcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
locomotive. The train was still unloading passengers at the time of impact, and seven people received minor head and neck injuries. The Amtrak locomotive was attempting to couple to the train and was reportedly moving too fast.
On June 21, 2010, northbound Amtrak-operated Penn Line train 538 broke down at 6:23 p.m. Temperatures inside the train reached 100 degrees due to malfunctioning air conditioning. After passengers called 911, 10 people were treated at the scene for heat-related problems. All passengers were cleared from the scene by 9:40pm. This incident prompted MDOT Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley to apologize to customers aboard Penn Line train 538 on June 27, 2010. When the Amtrak engineer operating this train overran a scheduled stop in Odenton, Amtrak CEO Joseph H. Boardman
Joseph H. Boardman
Joseph H. Boardman is the president of Amtrak and formerly Administrator of the United States Federal Railroad Administration.He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 17, 2005 and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 28, 2005. He was the eleventh Federal Railroad...
apologized to riders the following morning. This set of incidents prompted Amtrak to draft an emergency response plan for broken down MARC trains.
Proposed service expansion
In the first decade of the 21st century ridership increased significantly, and the system neared capacity for its current configuration. With the area population growing and the BRACBase Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
process poised to bring new jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland, . Part of the facility is a census-designated place , which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.- History :...
and Ft. Meade
Fort George G. Meade
Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Courier Service...
, both of which are served by nearby stations, the state saw the need to expand service to accommodate growth. In September 2007, MTA Maryland unveiled an ambitious 30-year plan of system improvements. Though funding sources had not been established at that time, the plan represented the state's goals of increasing capacity and flexibility. Proposed improvements included:
- Acquisition of new equipment.
- Weekend service on the Penn Line.
- Increased mid-day service and reverse-commute service on the Camden and Brunswick Lines.
- Extension of service past Union Station to L'Enfant PlazaL'Enfant Plaza (Washington Metro)L'Enfant Plaza is a Washington Metro station in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
and Northern VirginiaNorthern VirginiaNorthern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
along tracks used by VREVirginia Railway ExpressThe Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
trains, thus relieving pressure on the Washington MetroWashington MetroThe Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
. - More daily trips east of Penn Station, including improved service to Aberdeen Proving Ground.
- Service beyond Perryville to Newark, DelawareNewark, DelawareNewark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...
or Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, DelawareWilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, providing a connection to SEPTA's regional rail servicesSEPTA Regional RailThe SEPTA Regional Rail system consists of commuter rail service on thirteen branches to over 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and its suburbs. Service on most lines runs from 5:30 AM to midnight...
similar to the SEPTA/New Jersey TransitNew Jersey TransitThe New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
connection for Philadelphia/New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
trips (SEPTA does not operate Regional Rail service south of Wilmington on weekday off-peak and Saturdays). - New or expanded tunnels along the Northeast Corridor in Baltimore.
- New stations in Baltimore, providing direct connections with the Metro Subway, and service to Johns Hopkins HospitalJohns Hopkins HospitalThe Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
and Bayview Medical CenterJohns Hopkins Bayview Medical CenterJohns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, formerly known as Francis Scott Key Medical Center, is a hospital and medical office center in East Baltimore.It is located along Eastern Avenue near Bayview Boulevard...
. - Rapid transit-like service through Baltimore.
While many of these proposals would require expensive capital improvement and years or decades to implement, the agency would like to put others into action as quickly as possible, suggesting that, for instance, Penn Line weekend service could have begun as early as 2008. However, budgetary issues have delayed any such expansions. In Spring 2009, to offset such budget shortfalls, ticket sales employees at non-Amtrak stations were replaced with Amtrak "Quick-Trak" touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
ticket machines, and some train services have been eliminated or scaled back. For example, Train 871, the 1:45pm train on the Brunswick line, now operates only on Fridays. Ticket machines were also added to stations that were not previously staffed, such as Halethorpe
Halethorpe (MARC station)
Halethorpe is a passenger rail station on the MARC Penn Line between Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Perryville, Maryland, United States. This station is also on the southern section of the Northeast Corridor; however, Amtrak does not stop at this station....
, Odenton, Camden and all multi-purpose stations are still staffed.