Lessons MARC should learn from my most frustrating commute
TRANSIT By Jacob Johnson (Guest Contributor) January 15, 2019

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What MARC can be

To improve MARC’s service and experience, investors and decision-makers must make it a priority. The Greater Washington Partnership, a first-of-its-kind civic alliance and my employer, launched the region’s first CEO-led Blueprint for Regional Mobility, which calls for prioritizing commuter rail.

The Blueprint provides a strategy to unlock the region’s commuter rail potential by making key investments in the region’s rail infrastructure. It would remove bottlenecks and move towards an integrated MARC-VRE commuter rail system that allows Maryland residents one-seat rides to jobs in Northern Virginia and National Landing, and vice-versa.

MARC service is last in line behind Amtrak and freight rail trains, which limits its ability to run more frequent, more express, and more reliable service. To change our rail system’s trajectory moving forward, we must invest in track expansion. These investments would correct the following four major choke points that are currently holding MARC back:

1. Investment in B&P Tunnel: The Civil War-era tunnel restricts the number of trains and the speed of trains on the Penn Line. Preferred designs of a new tunnel have been finalized by the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) but neither Amtrak—the owner of the tunnels—nor the state have identified the funding needed for construction to begin.

2. Expansion of BWI station: This station serves 150 Amtrak and MARC trains per day, accommodating the travel needs of more than 30,000 consumers. Current track and platform alignment require lower speeds and limited flexibility to recover time lost. Amtrak and the state have received federal approval to increase the number of tracks from three to four, add a new platform, and reconstruct the existing station building. But limited progress has been made to move this project forward since 2016.

3. Track expansion at Union Station: Union Station is the nation’s second-busiest train station serving more than 8,000 train passengers during weekday peak hours and is the multimodal hub connecting rail to WMATA bus and rail service, VRE, MARC, tour bus operations, intercity bus, District streetcar, taxis, and bicycle facilities. Expanding track and platform capacity will increase the number of trains serving the station and enable more efficient train movements.

4. Doubling Long Bridge's capacity: Owned by CSX, Long Bridge’s two tracks restrict existing and planned growth of passenger rail and freight service to points south and west of the nation’s capital, and limit the ability for MARC trains to pass into Virginia. Already unable to meet current growth demands, Long Bridge is estimated to see a passenger and freight service growth of 150% over the next 20 years. CSX, the District, and Virginia are currently developing plans to expand its capacity.

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