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MARC's commuter train connecting West Virginia to DC may drop to only one round trip per day
MARC’s commuter train connecting West Virginia to DC may drop to only one round trip per day
TRANSIT By Alex Holt (Maryland Correspondent) October 22, 2019
This past August, the Maryland Transit Administration announced a plan to cut back all but two of the six trains which stop at the MARC Brunswick Line’s three West Virginia stations each day. The new schedule was slated to take effect on November 4 unless West Virginia pays the $3.4 million Maryland wants to continue the line’s current level of service, but that deadline has now been pushed back.
MTA Director of Media Relations Brittany Marshall confirmed that the current schedule has been extended at least to November 30 in order to provide more time for negotiations between the two states to continue.
The Brunswick Line carries a few hundred West Virginia residents, many of them commuters, into Maryland and DC and back each day, according to the MTA. Some commuters say the reduced service—a single train into DC at 5 am and a single train back to West Virginia departing at 4:25 pm—will hurt their ability to use the Brunswick Line to get to work.
The issue has also drawn concern from advocates who are worried about rising congestion on Maryland’s highways, as well as what the cuts say about both states’ transit priorities.
These are the stations that would be impacted by the Brunswick Line service cuts. Image by MDOT.
....
Alex Holt is a New York state native, Maryland transplant, and freelance writer. He lives in Mt. Washington in Baltimore and enjoys geeking out about all things transit, sports, politics, and comics, not necessarily in that order.
TRANSIT By Alex Holt (Maryland Correspondent) October 22, 2019
This past August, the Maryland Transit Administration announced a plan to cut back all but two of the six trains which stop at the MARC Brunswick Line’s three West Virginia stations each day. The new schedule was slated to take effect on November 4 unless West Virginia pays the $3.4 million Maryland wants to continue the line’s current level of service, but that deadline has now been pushed back.
MTA Director of Media Relations Brittany Marshall confirmed that the current schedule has been extended at least to November 30 in order to provide more time for negotiations between the two states to continue.
The Brunswick Line carries a few hundred West Virginia residents, many of them commuters, into Maryland and DC and back each day, according to the MTA. Some commuters say the reduced service—a single train into DC at 5 am and a single train back to West Virginia departing at 4:25 pm—will hurt their ability to use the Brunswick Line to get to work.
The issue has also drawn concern from advocates who are worried about rising congestion on Maryland’s highways, as well as what the cuts say about both states’ transit priorities.
These are the stations that would be impacted by the Brunswick Line service cuts. Image by MDOT.
....
Alex Holt is a New York state native, Maryland transplant, and freelance writer. He lives in Mt. Washington in Baltimore and enjoys geeking out about all things transit, sports, politics, and comics, not necessarily in that order.