Weekend MARC

Does anyone feel a need for a skeleton MARC service on at least Saturday?

I think that if MARC ran 1 morning, 1 miday 1 evening and 1 night train (or combine those into a late evening) to DC and from DC, there would be a market. The trains could be very small but it would be nice to be able to take the train to DC on a Saturday.

The big question is, is there enough demand. Think of where riders are coming from and where they're going. First off, I would venture to say that most of MARC's ridership comes from park & ride locations, where people drive from home to the train. Secondly, they're going to downtowns where there is a surprising amount of parking available on weekends, plus there is free parking at both rapid transit systems (Balt. MTA and DC Metro) on weekends. Given that traffic is less on weekends, there is ample free parking most weekends at Metro and light rail stations, and one can often park in the city on a weekend, just how much ridership would a handful of MARC trains attract? I suspect that MTA has considered this equation already, certainly in regards to the Penn Line, and it hasn't come up favorably. Its probably all too easy to just drive to New Carrolton or Greenbelt (or whereever you choose) and hop the Metro versus waiting for MARC trains that might be hours apart.

gprimr1 wrote:Does anyone feel a need for a skeleton MARC service on at least Saturday?

I think that if MARC ran 1 morning, 1 miday 1 evening and 1 night train (or combine those into a late evening) to DC and from DC, there would be a market. The trains could be very small but it would be nice to be able to take the train to DC on a Saturday.

only the penn line has an opportunity for this, which i think they should take.

octr202 wrote:The big question is, is there enough demand. Think of where riders are coming from and where they're going. First off, I would venture to say that most of MARC's ridership comes from park & ride locations, where people drive from home to the train. Secondly, they're going to downtowns where there is a surprising amount of parking available on weekends, plus there is free parking at both rapid transit systems (Balt. MTA and DC Metro) on weekends. Given that traffic is less on weekends, there is ample free parking most weekends at Metro and light rail stations, and one can often park in the city on a weekend, just how much ridership would a handful of MARC trains attract? I suspect that MTA has considered this equation already, certainly in regards to the Penn Line, and it hasn't come up favorably. Its probably all too easy to just drive to New Carrolton or Greenbelt (or whereever you choose) and hop the Metro versus waiting for MARC trains that might be hours apart.

Speaking as a monthly rider, I can tell you that many of us would appreciate weekend service. As it's been related to me, the problem, I believe, is in $$$ more than anything. MTA would like to run a few trains, but that means more track time to lease from Amtrak on the Penn Line. As it stands now, monthly and weekly ticket holders can ride most Amtrak regional trains between their ticketed stations on weekends, so that helps.

The real problem is on the Camden and Brunswick lines, which are owned and operated by CSX. CSX, as most of us probably know, is less than enthusiastic about running commuter service on its tracks at all, and does so today only out of a political and historical obligation (they inherited the service from the B&O). They operate only what is necessary (no mid-day trains during the week, and only inbound/morning and outbound/afternoon trains on the Brunswick line), and from what I understand, unless there is some serious pressure to add more service, the situation won't change much.

The good news is that MTA is forming a passenger advisory council to help influence where the MARC goes in the future, so hopefully some added service can be implemented fairly soon.

I know that they charge for parking at Largo. It would be nice to see service on the Penn line at least on Saturday.

Service on the Penn line on the weekend would really help the BWI airport. I prefer to us it, but the drive has an enormous variance because traffic is terribly unpredictable. During the week you can take the train, nice and easy, but if either end of your trip is on a weekend you are stuck.

Weekend service on the Penn Line would do very well. It is the busiest commuter line in the country on weekdays that doesn't enjoy service on weekends as well. Besides BWI, there are also a lot of colleges in the DC and Baltimore areas. Many students would use the Penn Line to go home on Friday and return on Sunday just as they do on commuter trains between New York and Philly.

Nyterider wrote:Weekend service on the Penn Line would do very well. It is the busiest commuter line in the country on weekdays that doesn't enjoy service on weekends as well.

Thats like saying its the biggest of a group of the smallest commmuter lines.

Like the best bathroom at the Wachovia Spectrum...

(but i'd take a MARC Bi-Level Bathroom over them any day

No, if it's the busiest weekday-only commuter line, then logically, it should be next up to get weekend service. And it certainly ought to be possible, at least Amtrak is willing to rent space to MARC if they can find the dough, unlike CSX which wishes they would go away.

krtaylor wrote:No, if it's the busiest weekday-only commuter line, then logically, it should be next up to get weekend service. And it certainly ought to be possible, at least Amtrak is willing to rent space to MARC if they can find the dough, unlike CSX which wishes they would go away.

how about they give amtrak support to lower their weekend prices, or (if they don't already) allow weekly and monthly ticket holders to ride amtrak trains free of charge.

benltrain wrote: how about they give amtrak support to lower their weekend prices, or (if they don't already) allow weekly and monthly ticket holders to ride amtrak trains free of charge.

Actually, weekly and monthly ticket holders *can* ride certain regional Amtrak weekend and late night/early morning trains free of charge between the ticketed cities.

-Rafi

Yes, but not on the weekends, and only if they aren't full, so it's kind of unpredictable.

krtaylor wrote:Yes, but not on the weekends, and only if they aren't full, so it's kind of unpredictable.

Actually, yes. You can ride Amtrak on weekends between Perryville and Washington free of charge with a MARC monthly or weekly ticket. I've never seen a situation where they don't let you get on if it's "full," and frankly, the terms of the agreement mention nothing about that. You don't need to be ticketed for the Amtrak ride; you just step onto the train.

That's kind of beside the point, however, because most folks are looking for MARC trips on the weekend that don't require weekly or monthly ticketing.

-Rafi

That's interesting. The rules for VRE must be different, because I've heard and read that that's how it works there.

What a waste of equipment on the weekends?
If demand is low, all they have to do is run fewer and smaller trains. For off peak on the Camden line, it is a shame that they cannot supplement the routes with a few busses. Perhaps more people would use the existing Camden service if there was a way to get back.