Penn Line

The Maryland Transit Administration will launch a new schedule Monday on its Penn Line, adding eight trains to the timetable in an effort to alleviate overcrowding and improve on-time performance on the Amtrak-operated line. The new schedule, which has been planned for more than a year, is intended to relieve some of the strain on MARC's locomotive fleet by using smaller train sets running at more frequent intervals. MTA spokesman Terry Owens said MARC officials have been meeting with riders at Penn Line stations since Feb. 28 and have received a generally favorable reaction to the changes.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, traffic was slow on I-795 southbound near I-695, due to an accident. Accidents were blocking traffic on Baltimore National Pike near Ingleside Avenue in Catonsville, I-95 southbound near I-695 in Baltimore County, Route 30 and Maple Grove Road in Manchester, and Putty Hill Avenue at Pleasant Plains Road in Towson. Some streets around Pimlico Race Course are closed or converted to one-way traffic in preparation for Preakness events this weekend. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning patrons of the MARC Penn Line trains to expect delays due to a "system-wide signal failure.

MARC trains running on the Penn Line were delayed Monday morning, Maryland Transit Administration officials said. One southbound train experienced mechanical problems, along with downed overhead electrical wires, according to the MTA website and spokesman Terry Owens. MTA officials turned around train 417 at West Baltimore and it departed at 8:10 a.m., Owens said. The first train to leave Penn Station departed at 8:13 a.m., he added. "Unfortunately this morning, the train stopped at an interlocking, which caused delays both north and southbound," Owens said.

As of 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on U.S. 50 westbound at Ritchie Highway, due to an accident involving five vehicles. Accidents were slowing traffic on I-95 southbound near O'Donnell Street in Baltimore City, the inner loop of I-695 at I-83 in Baltimore County, the outer loop of I-695 near Edmondson Avenue in Baltimore County, and Belair Road at Putty Hill Avenue in Baltimore County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning patrons of the Central Maryland light rail system that it is experiencing service delays between Hunt Valley and the Cromwell and BWI Thurgood Marshall airport stops.

MARC service on the Penn Line between Washington and Baltimore is expected to resume in time for this morning's commuter rush, a Maryland Transit Administration spokeswoman said yesterday evening. Service on the rail commuter line had been halted since Thursday evening when three empty CSX Corp. coal cars derailed between Bowie and Landover, damaging power lines and the tracks. Officials have said Thursday's heavy rains could have been a factor in the derailment. The derailment had thousands of Friday commuters scrambling for other means of transportation.

Two trains on the southbound MARC Penn Line from Baltimore to Washington will have designated "quiet cars" starting Monday to meet the demands of commuters who want a train ride free of cell phones and loud conversations, the Maryland Transportation Administration said yesterday. Riders on such cars will be asked to turn off their cell phones, set their pagers to vibrate and mute the volume on their laptop computers. The MTA also asks that passengers keep their conversations to a minimum and that commuters traveling with children not ride in the quiet car. The experiment will last three months and could be expanded if it proves popular, officials said.

As a publication, it's about as riveting as watching mud dry, but commuters have reason to cherish the new MARC Commuter Notice.It's a weekly newsletter outlining the on-time record of all Maryland Rail Commuter trains on the Penn Line. The journal notes when trains are more than five minutes late and the reasons for the delay.That may not seem like much, but it's a happy event for long-suffering MARC commuters who have begun to wonder if anyone's listening to their complaints. Trains on the Penn Line -- from Perryville to Baltimore to Washington -- have MARC's worst on-time performance.

Delays, cancellations and crowding are a way of life aboard Maryland's MARC Penn Line, but crowding has been worse than usual the past three weeks as the Maryland Transit Administration has struggled to round up enough locomotives to pull its trains. The main problem is that six of MARC's 10 electric locomotives are out of commission - forcing the use of less powerful diesel engines that can pull fewer rail cars, said MTA spokeswoman Jawauna Greene. The underlying issue: MARC's entire locomotive fleet is decades old. Crowding aside, MARC's locomotive troubles have not caused any additional commuter train delays or cancellations, Greene says.

As of 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on U.S. 50 westbound at Ritchie Highway, due to an accident involving five vehicles. Accidents were slowing traffic on I-95 southbound near O'Donnell Street in Baltimore City, the inner loop of I-695 at I-83 in Baltimore County, the outer loop of I-695 near Edmondson Avenue in Baltimore County, and Belair Road at Putty Hill Avenue in Baltimore County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning patrons of the Central Maryland light rail system that it is experiencing service delays between Hunt Valley and the Cromwell and BWI Thurgood Marshall airport stops.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on I-70 westbound near Route 32 in Howard County, due to an accident. Traffic was slow on I-95 southbound near Route 222 in Perryville, due to road construction activity. An accident was blocking traffic on northbound Harford Road at Bagley Road in Fallston. A disabled vehicle was blocking traffic on southbound Route 97 at Route 32 in Anne Arundel County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning MARC train patrons to expect "major delays" on the Penn Line because a train is disabled at the Odenton station and crews are working to repair it. Other trains are taking on extra passengers, and the Washington Metro line is accepting MARC tickets.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on I-70 westbound near Route 32 in Howard County, due to an accident. Traffic was slow on I-95 southbound near Route 222 in Perryville, due to road construction activity. An accident was blocking traffic on northbound Harford Road at Bagley Road in Fallston. A disabled vehicle was blocking traffic on southbound Route 97 at Route 32 in Anne Arundel County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning MARC train patrons to expect "major delays" on the Penn Line because a train is disabled at the Odenton station and crews are working to repair it. Other trains are taking on extra passengers, and the Washington Metro line is accepting MARC tickets.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, traffic was slow around Malcolm Drive and Route 140 in Westminster, due to a disabled vehicle. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore transit systems. The Maryland Transit Administration has modified its MARC train service schedules Friday only, in anticipation of patrons leaving work early due to the New Year's holiday. On the Camden line, there will be a 2 p.m. departure from Union Station, making all stops to Camden Yards. The train that usually departs at 5:51 p.m. from Union Station will not operate.

As of 9 a.m., traffic was slow on the inner loop of I-695 near I-83, due to an accident involving two vehicles. Accidents were slowing traffic on I-95 southbound at Route 100 in Howard County, Route 10 northbound at Ordnance Road in Anne Arundel County, I-97 southbound near New Cut Road in Anne Arundel County, I-895 southbound near Moravia Road in Baltimore City and York Road at Warren Road in Baltimore County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning patrons to expect some minor delays in service on the light rail from Hunt Valley to the Cromwell and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport stops.

In recent years, summer has been a season of discontent for riders on Maryland's MARC commuter trains, as hot weather contributed to frequent engine breakdowns, track problems and power malfunctions that led to cascading delays. The misery on the rails reached its deepest point during the infamous "hell train" incident in which a Penn Line train was stranded on the tracks in sweltering heat for two hours in June 2010. But this year, MARC made significant gains in summer's on-time performance — especially on the Amtrak-operated Penn Line, Maryland Transit Administration records show.

MARC Penn Line trains are being held in Washington because of congestion caused by high water, according to a statement released by the Maryland Transit Administration at about 5 p.m. Trains affected include: Train 430, for departure from Washington at 4:20 p.m. and Train 532, for departure from Washington at 4:25 p.m. Train 428, scheduled to depart Washington at 4:10 p.m. left at 5:03 p.m. Camden Line Train 853, scheduled to depart Baltimore...

As of 9:30 a.m. Monday, traffic was slow on southbound I-95 near Mountain Road, due to debris in the road. Route 175 near I-95 in Aberdeen is slow due to an accident. An accident is causing traffic problems at Route 24 and Bel Air South Parkway. Signals are out at Route 140 and Royer Road; at Smith Avenue and Greenspring Avenue; at Northern Parkway and Coldspring Lane; at McCormick Road and Shawan Road; and at Belair Road and Reckord Road. Wires are down near New Battle Grove Road and North Point Boulevard in Dundalk.

In a sign of the merging of the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas, state officials approved a plan yesterday to add trains to the rail link between the two cities. The Board of Public Works voted to add three trips to the MARC Penn Line each weekday evening by mid-February. Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, who presented the plan to the board, said the first train will leave Washington's Union Station in the early evening rush hour to help alleviate some of the extreme crowding on the Penn Line.

Maryland has canceled the bidding on a contract to take over the operations of the MARC Camden and Brunswick lines from CSX, saying its bid solicitation had failed to generate sufficient competition for the work. "We were not happy with the competition or lack of competition," said state Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley. Swaim-Staley said the Maryland Transit Administration would revise its request for proposals in an effort to make it more attractive for bidders.