Railroad Forums 

  • MARC/VRE run-through

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #1491390  by ThirdRail7
 
mtuandrew wrote: I hadn’t thought of a potential issue with MARC’s charter though (or with VRE’s charter, or with either one’s operating agreements),
That's why I get paid the big bucks. To remind everyone of the operational realities (challenges) of the situations. They may be easy to overcome or they may be insurmountable....but they often exist.


Um....where are my big bucks?
 #1491519  by mtuandrew
 
ThirdRail7 wrote:
mtuandrew wrote: I hadn’t thought of a potential issue with MARC’s charter though (or with VRE’s charter, or with either one’s operating agreements),
That's why I get paid the big bucks. To remind everyone of the operational realities (challenges) of the situations. They may be easy to overcome or they may be insurmountable....but they often exist.


Um....where are my big bucks?
I’ll help you look for them after I find my big bucks :P
 #1491545  by STrRedWolf
 
Assuming the non-Amtrak crews have operational limits, I can see one of two things concerning the crew:
  • VRE's crew (Keolis) run MARC equipment in Virginia all the way into Union Station, where they hand it to MARC crew (Bombardier/Amtrak, depending on line) to run it to Baltimore.
  • Amtrak runs MARC equipment along the entire route.
I think the latter would be a simpler contract to work through, as it's less people involved (three rail companies, two commuter rail agencies, and Amtrak vs all of that plus Keolis and Bombardier).
 #1491723  by dgvrengineer
 
You have to remember the farther a crew travels the less layover time they have. I believe FRA hours of service rules require a 4 hour minimum layover to qualify for a split shift. Otherwise, their 12 hours of service run without pause.
 #1492164  by mmi16
 
STrRedWolf wrote:
mtuandrew wrote:I understand weekend closures, Metro, and sometimes you have to devote three days to a project for which the best time is a holiday weekend. But seriously, today is miserable trying to commute home from DC.

https://www.wmata.com/service/status/de ... utdown.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...
Some customers traveling between Virginia and Downtown DC on Friday, November 9, may wish to consider VRE train service between Franconia-Springfield, Crystal City or King Street to L'Enfant Plaza or Union Station.
That's what gets me. Why couldn't they have struck a deal with MARC, VRE, Amtrak, and CSX to run a shuttle train between Alexandria/King Street and Union Station, with a stop at L'Enfant Plaza? MARC could spare the equipment (two 4-car+diesel set), VRE could run it, Amtrak would have to staff Alexandria over the weekend, and CSX would have to finagle it's train schedules to have a track clear for four days on top of VRE's Friday schedule (no VRE trains on weekend or Veterans Day). I know the obvious reason (money) but there had to been some other factors as well.
If you don't know - CSX is not going to do any finagling to benefit anybody but CSX.
 #1492171  by STrRedWolf
 
mmi16 wrote:
STrRedWolf wrote:I know the obvious reason (money) but there had to been some other factors as well.
If you don't know - CSX is not going to do any finagling to benefit anybody but CSX.
That falls under "obvious reasons (money)" -- CSX (well, any rail road company) wants it or wants more capacity to make it without having to spend it first.
 #1507300  by KTHW
 
Has no one ever considered using the remaining part of the Alexandria NS yard to holdover one or two VRE/MARC trains throughout the day. This way you could run shuttles between ALX and maybe Silver Spring where there’s three tracks for most of the way. Yes Long Bridge still has capacity constraints, but if someone put up the $$$, I could see CSX thinking it through.
 #1507385  by STrRedWolf
 
KTHW wrote:Has no one ever considered using the remaining part of the Alexandria NS yard to holdover one or two VRE/MARC trains throughout the day. This way you could run shuttles between ALX and maybe Silver Spring where there’s three tracks for most of the way. Yes Long Bridge still has capacity constraints, but if someone put up the $$$, I could see CSX thinking it through.
ALX to Silver Spring is a no-go due to Amtrak K-tower -- to get from where VRE pops out at Union Station (Tracks 22-24) to the single track onto CSX's QN interlock, you basically have to cross from one side to the other (track 1)... which means holding all other traffic, and that is busy! Greater Greater Washington went into details about that years back, and the reasons still stand.

Of course, if the cash is put up, CSX will be willing to go three-wide and let the stations have double platforms. It's a lot of cash, though!
 #1507446  by ExCon90
 
[quote="STrRedWolf"]ALX to Silver Spring is a no-go due to Amtrak K-tower -- to get from where VRE pops out at Union Station (Tracks 22-24) to the single track onto CSX's QN interlock, you basically have to cross from one side to the other (track 1)... which means holding all other traffic, and that is busy!/quote]

And isn't the whole interlocking limited to 15 mph?
 #1532100  by davinp
 
The legislation urges MDOT to “engage in good faith negotiations” and reach a written agreement on a pilot program to have MARC trains sharing the tracks with the Virginia Railway Express to serve L’Enfant Plaza, Crystal City and Alexandria.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... XofyPAHXjY
 #1532131  by charding
 
...this gives you an idea of how the business center-of-gravity in the DC area has shifted mightly to northern Virginia...this comes on the heals of Virginia’s rail initiative to include building a second bridge across the Potomac...and the impact that Jeff Bezos in general and Amazon specifically is having and will continue to have in the area...it's a new-day and we are just now beginning to feel in impact...wait until the Silver Line opens to Ashburn in Loudoun County and taps into that market...talk about impact...
 #1532157  by Sand Box John
 
chardingp
...this gives you an idea of how the business center-of-gravity in the DC area has shifted mightly to northern Virginia...this comes on the heals of Virginia’s rail initiative to include building a second bridge across the Potomac...and the impact that Jeff Bezos in general and Amazon specifically is having and will continue to have in the area...it's a new-day and we are just now beginning to feel in impact...wait until the Silver Line opens to Ashburn in Loudoun County and taps into that market...talk about impact...


The shift began long before Jeff Bezos, the proposed expansion of the capacity of the Long Bridge, the building of the Silver line, and the creation of VRE. Northern Virginia's growth began back in the 1970s and 80s when goverment contractors and corporate enterprises decided to setup shop within close proximity to the federal trough. When I worked as a rush courier in the 1980 a plurality of the packages that crossed the Potomac were between the federal agencies in DC and goverment contractors and corporate enterprises in Fairfax County. There was also a significant amount between Montgomery and Fairfax Counties as well.
 #1532244  by SRich
 
I see a possible merger in the future if VRE and MARC are going thru DC. station :wink:
 #1532257  by mtuandrew
 
SRich wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:58 am I see a possible merger in the future if VRE and MARC are going thru DC. station :wink:
I don’t :P for the next two decades at least, VRE is locked into low-floor equipment and relatively slow diesels that wouldn’t work well on the Northeast Corridor. Knowing the Virginia State Legislature’s priorities, it has its hands full with how to manage the hundreds of miles of right-of-way the state just bought. Their on-time percentage is pretty good, but until the new Long
Bridge is built VRE can’t guarantee that trains from Alexandria could consistently meet the MARC departure slots from Washington.

Give it a few decades until the Virginia Commonwealth Railway system is built out,
and we can revisit the issue.