Photo by Sean_Marshall on Flickr.

MARC hopes to improve Penn Line service by running more frequent, shorter trains, MTA Chief of Staff Simon Taylor told the MARC Riders Advisory Council on Thursday.

Shorter trains, Taylor explained, will put less strain on the engine and be less likely to break down. More frequent trains will supply at least as many total seats and make train travel more convenient.

Taylor listed five goals for the schedule changes:

  1. Reduce engine strain. An engine pulling a heavy train with 8 cars and up to 1,500 people has little extra power for lights and climate control and is more likely to break down.
  2. Add capacity. There are too many standing-room-only trains and trains too full to pick up passengers at intermediate stops.
  3. Improve on-time performance. Frequent delays are caused by interference between MARC and Amtrak trains and by insufficient recovery time in the schedule for trains that arrive, turn around, and go back.
  4. Increase service to Odenton and Aberdeen, to help with BRAC changes at Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground.
  5. Reduce train storage at overcrowded Union Station by using MARC’s Martins maintenance facility.

If the Maryland Board of Public Works approves the changes, public meetings and meet-the-management events will follow. The new schedule would start on Monday, March 14.

Taylor expects to have copies of the new schedule available at next month’s MARC Riders Advisory Council meeting on Thursday, February 18, at 4:30 pm, in the Hall of the States, near Union Station. The meeting is open to the public.

The current MARC Penn Line schedule is available here.