MARC/VRE Inauguration Day Service

Both MARC ,and now VRE, are planning to operate special service on Inauguration Day. Here's some information so far:

MARC will be operating on a totally different schedule and will be running frequent trains throughout the day instead of concentrated rush hour service. According to officials MARC is planning to run "everything we have." BWI Airport, Baltimore (Camden and Penn), Frederick, and of course Union Station will probably be extremely busy.

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) wasn't originally planning to operate that day, but decided it would'nt make sense not to.

More info:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sectio ... ryID=83085
http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Commute ... 11-23.html


Also, according to CommuterPage.com MARC will not be accepting regular MARC passes, which IMHO doesn't seem fair, although I don't usually get a monthly in Jan. anyway:

"MARC's plans for Inauguration Day (January 20, 2009) have not been finalized, but passes for that day will likely be special, reserved passes good for that day only. Regular MARC tickets and passes will not be honored."

Hmmm. Interesting. I figured this might be the one way to sneak into DC and see the inauguration...drive to Perryville and take Marc. If it's essentially a reserved service that day, that would kill that plan. I heard with the millions expected that hotels as far north as Delaware are getting reservations for people going to the inauguration...bus loads, I'd assume.

cpontani wrote:Hmmm. Interesting. I figured this might be the one way to sneak into DC and see the inauguration...drive to Perryville and take Marc. If it's essentially a reserved service that day, that would kill that plan. I heard with the millions expected that hotels as far north as Delaware are getting reservations for people going to the inauguration...bus loads, I'd assume.

You can probably reserve purchase reserve tickets at the station, or on the train...if there are any left. It would be nice if MARC temporarily extended service to Newark (already part of their long run plan), or even Wilmington for I-day. They'd could probably do it for 3 or 4 round trips, and I'm sure the DE government would be more than willing to "cooperate" (ie. pay).

I would think that if MARC is going to have reserved tickets on 1/20/09, you could buy them in advance.

I wonder what CSX thinks about MTA Maryland's plans on the Camden and especially Brunswick Lines; presumably the MTA has already begun coordinating with CSX on their plans that day. I also wonder how much rail traffic CSX typically has during the late morning, early afternoon, and evening on both lines on a typical Tuesday in January, especially on the Brunswick Line, and how time-sensitive (relatively speaking) that traffic is.

Mr. Zehner explained that initially when planning the budget VRE was not going to run
service on Inauguration Day. Since record numbers of people are expected to attend
this event, VRE has received informal permission from CSXT and Norfolk Southern
(NS) to run service on this day. CSXT, NS and Amtrak are concerned with some of the
security issues, especially rail traffic through the First Street Tunnel and L’Enfant
Station. VRE will attempt to modify its schedule to work around these issues.
Chairman Jenkins stated that it is important for VRE to be involved in this Inaugural
event. Record breaking crowds (estimated anywhere from 800,000 to 5 million) are
expected

So if the First Street Tunnel is a security issue, can you just truncate VRE trains at L'Enfant Plaza, and create a special schedule for Inauguration Day? I'd assume most people would be headed toward The Mall, and Union Station would be backtracking past the Capitol. I think it would be a good way to separate the MD and VA crowds.

cpontani wrote:So if the First Street Tunnel is a security issue, can you just truncate VRE trains at L'Enfant Plaza, and create a special schedule for Inauguration Day? I'd assume most people would be headed toward The Mall, and Union Station would be backtracking past the Capitol. I think it would be a good way to separate the MD and VA crowds.

Even on a regular workday VRE sees at least twice as many riders disembark at L'Enfant than Union Station. On Inauguration Day hardly anyone would probably get off at Union Station. Union station will definitely be packed with Amtrak and MARC crowds from the Northeast.

I think the security problem with L'Enfant is that it's too close to the mall. There was also a big issue earlier this year about CSX hazmats that use the line.

I don't find it unreasonable for the Feds to ask CSX to re-route hazmat shipments around that line for one day.

I can see a lot of people using L'Enfant Plaza, and from what I remember, it isn't all that big a station to begin with. The authroities down there should learn a lesson from Septa being overloaded on the day the Phillies had their World Series parade. I'd get everybody on the next available train, and have them change at Alexandria, if necessary, but that would never happen.

cpontani wrote:I don't find it unreasonable for the Feds to ask CSX to re-route hazmat shipments around that line for one day.

I can see a lot of people using L'Enfant Plaza, and from what I remember, it isn't all that big a station to begin with. The authroities down there should learn a lesson from Septa being overloaded on the day the Phillies had their World Series parade. I'd get everybody on the next available train, and have them change at Alexandria, if necessary, but that would never happen.

VRE runs mostly 6 car trains, except for two 8 car trains. The 8 car trains can seat about 1,100 people.

Okay here's the preliminary official MTA MARC Inauguration Day service e-mailed to me today:


"December 5, 2008 6:12 PM
INAUGURATION DAY SERVICE


Presidential Inauguration Day is January 20, 2009, and MTA is working with event planners to accommodate the large crowds expected to attend. MTA will operate special MARC Train and Commuter Bus service that day as well as the prior day which is Martin Luther King Day.

MARC Train :

Inauguration Day: Penn, Camden and Brunswick lines will operate between 5 AM and 9 AM and between 4 PM and 9 PM. MTA monthly and weekly passes, 10-trip tickets and previously purchased one-way tickets will not be accepted. All trains will be reserved and tickets must be purchased in advance. For the Penn Line, there will no service north of Penn Station.

Martin Luther King Day: Penn Line will operate on a regular schedule; Camden and Brunswick lines will operate on a limited schedule. Regular fares apply and passes will be accepted.


Commuter Bus :

Inauguration Day: Buses will operate to Metrorail stations between 4 AM and 9 AM and between 4 PM and 9 PM. MTA monthly and weekly passes and 10-trip tickets will not be accepted. Special tickets may be purchased from drivers.

Martin Luther King Day: Buses will operate to Metrorail stations between 5:30 AM and 10 AM and between 4 PM and 9 PM. MTA monthly and weekly passes and 10-trip tickets will not be accepted. Special tickets may be purchased from drivers.

Details about schedules and tickets will be available Friday, December 12 at http://www.mtamaryland.com. "

Well cpontani, looks like your're out of luck, no service to DE or even Perryville. I think MARC is running a ridiculously limited schedule under the circumstances. They should extend morning service to at least 10am, and definitely have afternoon service start by 1pm, or 2pm the latest. I know the MTA's broke but they would recapture a large proportion of operation costs on I-day, seeing that nearly every train will probably be packed. It looks like MLK day will have more than adequate service though.

One very important thing the MTA has to consider is that nobody would be crazy enough to drive to DC that day (it's already nearly impossible to find parking on a "normal" day). I estimate that at least 90% of visitors will be taking buses or trains, and 70-80% on trains alone, whether Metro, MARC, VRE, or Amtrak.

I did hear the bars in DC are going to be open pretty much 24 hours...5am last call, I think. Get down there early...

I still think daily riders are getting bummed here, they should not have to pay for a ticket down since they already bought a pass, I think at the least they could get it cheaper, b/c I'm sure some of those folks will be heading to the inaguration.

cpontani wrote:I did hear the bars in DC are going to be open pretty much 24 hours...5am last call, I think. Get down there early...

Yeah, but the DC police are whining about them not asking them first. Also, Metro says it won't/can't run a 24-hr service, so some might get stranded. Never a good thing, especially when you're plastered

realtype wrote:

cpontani wrote:I did hear the bars in DC are going to be open pretty much 24 hours...5am last call, I think. Get down there early...

Yeah, but the DC police are whining about them not asking them first. Also, Metro says it won't/can't run a 24-hr service, so some might get stranded. Never a good thing, especially when you're plastered

Oh boy being plastered in DC is never a good experience.

Kaback9 wrote:I still think daily riders are getting bummed here, they should not have to pay for a ticket down since they already bought a pass, I think at the least they could get it cheaper, b/c I'm sure some of those folks will be heading to the inaguration.

I think they should allow passholders to receive free reservations. The reservations should be needed to access the trains themselves, but passholders shouldn't have to pay anymore than they would otherwise.