Light rail from Charles County, MD to Branch Ave?

From the Friday, Nov. 27th issue of the Maryland Independent, Charles County, Maryland's twice weekly newspaper, here's a report on the proposed light rail line. This proposal would have the light rail line paralleling the CSX Pope's Creek sub (Originally Baltimore & Potomac, completed in 1873, later Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington, PRR, PC & Conrail.) from White Plains, MD north through Prince George's County to an eventual connection with WAMTA's Green Line Branch Avenue station.

This proposal, along with others, has been in the discussion and study process seemingly since I relocated to this area in 1979.

http://www.somdnews.com/stories/1127200 ... 2190.shtml

Note: I believe the writer of this article meant that the light rail line was to parallel the Pope's Creek subdivision, not Pope's Creek, a tributary of the Potomac, as is stated in the article. Also, the meeting discussed in the article was held on Sep. 22nd of this year. I don't know why this is just now making it into print but as you may have surmised, things do move rather slowly here in southern Maryland, unless it's the traffic on Routes 5 & 301.

Map of the Pope's Creek sub:

http://www.traingod.railfan.net/map.html

Here is the article from the Washington Post:
Study to Weigh Feasibility Of White Plains Rail Line
By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 27, 2007

This matter has appeared in the media several times in the last decade. As I recall at least two media stories have been linked to in these forums.

WMATA's revised 1974 Area Regional System (ARS) map showed a line labeled future from the Branch Avenue station to Brandywine.

The first I heard of the light rail plan was in WMATA's 04 1999 Transit Service Expansion Plan.
Route 5/301, Branch Avenue Charles County, (LRT), 17.0 miles, $350 - 450 million (1999 dollars).
04 1999 WMATA Transit Service Expansion Plan Map

From Fiscal Year 2001 US DOT TEA-21 Maryland Route 5 Corridor (Waldorf Corridor Study) Maryland Route 5 Corridor (Waldorf Corridor Study)

Maryland Department of Transportation Southern Maryland Transportation Needs Assessment
The PDF reports at the above are roughly a year and a half old.