In a setback to its ambitious effort to expand the MARC commuter train service, the Maryland Transit Administration has dropped plans to add weekend service to its Penn Line or midday runs to its Camden Line this summer.
MTA Administrator Paul J. Wiedefeld said last week that the agency has so far been unable to reach agreements with Amtrak or CSX, which own the two lines, on opening up slots in their schedules for the added service.
In September, Wiedefeld unveiled a sweeping 28-year plan to triple capacity on MARC, a system whose growing popularity has led to severe crowding. Among the early goals were adding weekend runs to the Monday-Friday Penn Line service and beefing up the Camden Line's midday schedule within nine months.
Now, nearly a year later, Wiedefeld acknowledged the difficulty of carving out additional capacity. Amtrak owns the Penn Line between Perryville and Washington, while CSX owns the Baltimore-Washington Camden Line and the Brunswick Line between Washington and Martinsburg, W.Va.
The MTA chief said the agency is continuing to talk with the two railroads about adding service and would not rule out the possibility of an expansion later this year.
The stalling of the expansion plan comes as MARC has been experiencing frequent delays and cancellations of trains as a result of broken-down locomotives.
Wiedefeld said one of the issues with Amtrak is that adding weekend runs would create a need for additional maintenance capacity and staffing. Amtrak maintains and operates MARC trains under contract with the MTA.
Tracy Connell, a spokeswoman for Amtrak, said there are no fundamental obstacles to weekend MARC service but that details have yet to be worked out.
"We continue to work closely with MARC, and we haven't encountered any major impediments," she said.
CSX, meanwhile, has had a hard time making room for MARC trains at midday, Wiedefeld said.
Bob Sullivan, a spokesman for the freight railroad, said CSX is holding "cooperative" and "cordial" talks with the MTA in hopes of finding a solution.
"It's not an easy problem to fix," Sullivan said. "The major issue we confront is honestly one of capacity and how do you provide additional service without degrading the service you already have."
"That's when they do a lot of the maintenance of their tracks," he said. Nevertheless, he added, the MTA would continue to push for adding trains to the Camden Line, which is now restricted to peak-hour service on weekdays.
