West Virginia Travel Surcharge

[skm]

Good Morning:

Could some explain the reasoning behind the "West Virginia Travel Surcharge?" I stumbled upon this while looking at the Martinsburg timetable.

Thanks!

[Amtrak7]

West Virginia doesn't pay for MARC service - riders have to bear the cost. I wonder how many people commute from WV, though?

[skm]

I came across the following article from 2008

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=display ... rmat=print

Proposed MARC service cuts would affect W.Va. Eastern Panhandle

'Last month, the combined average daily boardings from Martinsburg, Duffields, W.Va., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., on the Brunswick Line was 544 people, up from 504 in September 2006, according to MTA data. The average daily ridership for the entire Brunswick Line for the 2007-08 fiscal year was 7,094."

[ThirdRail7]

It looks like the surcharge will continue for now.

MARC line left out of state budget
March 18, 2014
By John McVey

Please allow a brief "fair use" quote:

http://www.journal-news.net/page/conten ... l?nav=5006" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MARTINSBURG - No money was allocated to the Commuter Rail Access Fund in the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, state Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, confirmed Monday.

"It's a shame because what's lost is it didn't help the relationship between West Virginia and Maryland," Snyder said in a telephone interview.

During last year's legislative session, Snyder was able to get the Commuter Rail Access Act passed, which mandated an operations agreement be reached between West Virginia and Maryland for the MARC commuter rail service in West Virginia.

MARC operates several commuter trains between Martinsburg's Caperton Train station and Union Station in Washington, D.C., with stops at Duffields and Harpers Ferry Mondays through Fridays.

The act also established the Commuter Rail Access Fund, which would go toward West Virginia paying for a share of operating the service in the state.

Now, West Virginia contributes nothing financially to the operation of the rail service. The state maintains the stations at Duffields and Harpers Ferry. The Caperton Train Station is owned and operated by the City of Martinsburg.

About 400 commuters catch the trains daily in West Virginia. A surchage is placed on tickets sold in West Virginia to help offset the cost of running the trains into West Virginia.

Officials with the Maryland Transit Administration, which operates the MARC commuter lines, have told Snyder that if West Virginia contributes $500,000 to the operation of the trains into West Virginia, the surcharge would be eliminated.