Idea for Marc/VRE weekend services.

Sand Box John wrote: This bring up an issue that may need to be addressed.

There is no forum dedicated to the Maryland Transit Administration rail transit facilities (Baltimore Metro, Central Light rail and future east west Red Line)

It might be necessary to change the title of the Washington MetroRail forum to Baltimore Washington Rail Transit so there would be a forum for discussion the of all things heavy rail rapid transit, light rail and streetcar in the two metropolitan areas.

The Marc/VRE forum would remain as it is.

I would put Washington first as DC is and will remain the dominant rail transit city of the two with the DC metro, multiple streetcar projects, and the Purple line. So rename the other forum Washington - Baltimore rail transit. Agree the MARC and VRE forum can continue to cover the two commuter / regional rail systems. Discussion about renaming the Washington MetroRail forum should be discussed there in a new thread. I brought up the Baltimore Red Line LRT here because it will be a significant transit project and there is no forum for it except the general catch all passenger rail forum.

realtype wrote:

Jersey_Mike wrote:Any word on if MARC will restore the cut late night weekday services?

They didn't really cut it, just "readjusted" it (citing low ridership). So basically, not anytime soon.

No, they did cut it. One round trip was eliminated, not moved and it was part of the budget related service cuts. The cut was made before the latest "readjustment" anyway.

Haven't posted here in a long time.
Which train are you talking about? I have a schedule from all the way back in Aug. 2010 (paper, or I'd post it) and it shows the last DC departure for Balto. at 10:30, and the last Balto. departure for DC at 9:05. Almost the same as now.
As for weekend service, it's about freakin time. It's sad to see MARC apparently giving up on 125mph running, but, it is what it is. Unless maybe they intend to secure some Amtrak cast off AEM-7 ACs? I'd rather have the weekend service, makes the DC/Balto. corridor seem like a real first-world city pair. When I was in Scotland in the early 1990s, for example, you could cheaply take a train back & forth between Glasgow and Edinburgh, during weekdays or weekends. And those are slightly more distant.

For a while MARC ran with an 11:30PM departure from Washington, DC. It was cut due to state transportation funding reductions during the financial crisis which probably happened in 2009. I actually remember being catching that train in 2008 after getting off a west coast flight at BWI and how much nicer that option was as opposed to the ::shudders:: light rail. The service only existed for a couple of years between the time when a strong economy was causing major congestion problems into DC and the financial meltdown which cratered both funding and traffic congestion.

The real advantage of the 11:30 departure is that you can actually attend night events in DC and not have to either drive or book out early to catch the last MARC run. Seeing an entire Nats game for example is not always possible if you're looking to be at Union by 10:30 or risk a cab ride back to Baltimore.

"afiggatt"

Question: I think a Purple Line thread can be put into the Washington Metrorail forum as the Purple Line will be a connecting line across 4 Metro stops. But where would a thread or discussion of the Baltimore Red Line go? Not part of MARC/VRE.

I think I have a solution to half of this question. There is a topic titled Washington Metro Purple line in the Washington MetroRail forum. Have the forum moderator Robert Paniagua lock the topic at the top of the forum like the three topics that are there, retitle the topic Purple line Light Rail and post all things related there.

As to things rail transit in the metropolitan Baltimore area the following idea would need the OK from the site administrator and the Washington MetroRail forum moderator. Create a subforum within the Washington MetroRail forum titled MTA Baltimore, all discussions related to the Baltimore Metro, Central Light Rail and future Red Line Light Rail would go there. Retitle the Washington MetroRail forum to Washington Baltimore Rail Transit, all discussions related to WMATA Metrorail. Purple line Light Rail, DC Streetcars and Columbia Pike Streetcars would go there.

Sand Box John wrote:"afiggatt"

Question: I think a Purple Line thread can be put into the Washington Metrorail forum as the Purple Line will be a connecting line across 4 Metro stops. But where would a thread or discussion of the Baltimore Red Line go? Not part of MARC/VRE.

I think I have a solution to half of this question. There is a topic titled Washington Metro Purple line in the Washington MetroRail forum. Have the forum moderator Robert Paniagua lock the topic at the top of the forum like the three topics that are there, retitle the topic Purple line Light Rail and post all things related there.

As to things rail transit in the metropolitan Baltimore area the following idea would need the OK from the site administrator and the Washington MetroRail forum moderator. Create a subforum within the Washington MetroRail forum titled MTA Baltimore, all discussions related to the Baltimore Metro, Central Light Rail and future Red Line Light Rail would go there. Retitle the Washington MetroRail forum to Washington Baltimore Rail Transit, all discussions related to WMATA Metrorail. Purple line Light Rail, DC Streetcars and Columbia Pike Streetcars would go there.

MARC and VRE are no longer small players. I think they add to their regions and can stand on their own. Perhaps MARC should separate from VRE and you establish tregional forums serving Baltimore and Washington.

Jersey_Mike wrote:For a while MARC ran with an 11:30PM departure from Washington, DC. It was cut due to state transportation funding reductions during the financial crisis which probably happened in 2009. I actually remember being catching that train in 2008 after getting off a west coast flight at BWI and how much nicer that option was as opposed to the ::shudders:: light rail. The service only existed for a couple of years between the time when a strong economy was causing major congestion problems into DC and the financial meltdown which cratered both funding and traffic congestion.

The real advantage of the 11:30 departure is that you can actually attend night events in DC and not have to either drive or book out early to catch the last MARC run. Seeing an entire Nats game for example is not always possible if you're looking to be at Union by 10:30 or risk a cab ride back to Baltimore.

You're totally right. MARC did "readjust" the late train times shortly after introducing them, but as you said a few months after that they cut late night service altogether. I was really hoping they would extend their operating times when they added all those Penn Line trains a few years ago, but it wasn't to be.

It's funny you mention your experience getting from BWI, since a similar thing happened to me. During winter 2008/2009 I missed my connection through Charlotte getting into BWI and had to take a later flight. The entire way back I was worrying about making that last train. I practically ran from the gate to the shuttle stop, and was really hoping it would hurry up since I don't know how I would be getting home (to Montgomery Co.) if I missed the last train (probably would have to wait 2+ hours for Amtrak). Fortunately I made it with 10 min left to spare. Of course today, I would have been screwed.

According to the schedules these were the departure times for last 3 trains out of WAS:

Schedule effective Feb 11, 2008 (when the late night service was introduced):
- 8:40pm
- 10:45pm
- 11:45pm

Schedule effective Sept 8, 2008 (when it was readjusted to decrease headways and due to low ridership):
- 8:40pm
- 10:05pm
- 11:00pm

Schedule effective Jan. 9 2009 (when service was cut because of budget constraints and is basically how it was prior to the new service, and how it is now):
- 7:30pm
- 9:00pm
- 10:30pm