Rail Line

THE DRIVE around Baltimore's Beltway and along Interstate 95 is a daily headache for many commuters who have no choice.Christy Griffith, 27, treasurer at Adams Express Co. in Baltimore, spends about 40 minutes driving her Mazda Miata to work each morning -- a reasonable travel time compared with many in the region.But as she navigates the congestion for the 24 miles between her Columbia home and downtown Baltimore office, she finds herself wishing there were another way. "If light rail would come through Columbia, I would take it."

I use public transportation to commute to work. The light rail line is about 2.5 miles from my home and less than one block from my job.The advantages of that system are that it saves money on parking and gives me time to read.The light rail's disadvantages include insufficient parking, poor bus connections and its ludicrous ticket purchasing system. Also, the trains can be slow, it's a long time between trains and the stations provide almost no protection from the elements.And I sometimes have the feeling the light rail line was built because the money to build it was available, not because anyone was trying to get people where they were going.

CONGRATULATIONS on your editorial on "Putting the 'mass' in mass transit" (Jan. 6). You were right on target on almost everything said.One important point you missed is the strong need for extending the central light rail system through Penn Station and down Guilford Avenue/South Street to serve the office areas that flank the east side of the central business district.Extending light rail to the eastern part of downtown would greatly increase the viability and utility of the line, because it does not serve where most people work.

SATURDAY night's NFL contest was a preseason game for the Baltimore Ravens, but it was the Super Bowl for the Mass Transit Administration. Unfortunately, the MTA fumbled the opportunity to show that it was ready for the big time.The transit system failed miserably at proving that buses and light rail could deliver fans to the stadium and back with the efficiency of a two-minute drill.Instead, many riders who reached light rail stops early missed the opening kickoff. With the heavy demand, one packed car after another passed them by at their stations.

IT'S HARD to imagine that a $200 billion federal transportation bill could leave out a vital project. This is a huge spending plan, after all, that had more than its share of pet projects, mostly in the states and districts of powerful legislators and their colleagues who toed the line. Maryland officials have praised the plan that evolved after an arduous process, but there are at least two reasons for concern.First, Congress is shirking an obvious responsibility by failing to pay the full cost of replacing the congested, dilapidated Woodrow Wilson Bridge that links Maryland and Virginia.

Problems of light rail were overemphasizedThe Feb. 15 article "The Antique Row bypass" accurately attributes the initial decline of An- tique Row to the closing of the major department stores on Howard Street. However, the negative effects of construction of the light rail line were overemphasized.While there has been a migration away from some areas of Baltimore, the construction of the light rail line has been a positive force.The Mass Transit Administration has worked in partnership with Baltimore and surrounding communities throughout the planning and construction to build light rail stops that are convenient to downtown.

NOW THAT THE CENTRAL Light Rail Line has reached Hunt Valley -- with BWI Airport and Penn Station openings just months away -- what comes next? Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer. The Glendening administration has no long-range plan to expand mass transit.The only thing on the horizon is a modest extension of the light-rail line's southern terminus into Glen Burnie and then Marley Station Mall. That scheme is only in the draft environmental-impact statement stage. Beyond it lies a giant void.

The long-awaited light rail extensions to Baltimore-Washington Airport and Penn Station open for business tomorrow, and officials hope they will provide a major boost to Baltimore-area mass transit.State transportation officials expect a smooth opening, despite problems that have beset the project for months. Engineers are working on a technical improvement that was expected to shorten light rail trips within Baltimore, where two lines will be operating for the first time.Also, because of a manufacturing delay, the system will not have extra cars in service.

As a traveling executive for a national building supplies company, Baltimore native Bill Hoshall says he's seen a lot of airports over the years.Yesterday, sitting in a lounge at the new international terminal at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, he felt a twinge of hometown pride."

Maryland has received a final $10.3 million grant to help pay for three extensions of the Timonium-to-Glen Burnie light rail line, federal officials said yesterday.The state plans to open 7.5 miles of rail to Hunt Valley in June, Pennsylvania Station in late summer and Baltimore-Washington International Airport in the fall. The BWI extension will take travelers into the airport terminal.The latest grant completes an $85 million federal contribution to the $106 million project.Pub Date: 4/03/97

Time to move ahead with light rail line Any time a worthy project comes along, there will be NIMBYs who oppose it, just as is now the case for the Red Line ("Canton organizing to oppose transit plan," April 26). But much of this opposition is based on ignorance. Some people don't want "trains" on Boston Street. But there is an enormous difference between a light rail vehicle and a 100-car coal train. People are also concerned about noise and vibration on the streets. Well, just stand at the corner of Howard and Lexington streets.

WASHINGTON -President Barack Obama promoted his plan for developing high-speed railways in America on Thursday, detailing how $13 billion in federal money would act as a "down payment" on creating speedier passenger train service. "High-speed rail is long overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways," Obama said. "There's no reason why we can't do this." The plan lists the long-planned rail corridor from Los Angeles to San Francisco as one that could receive funding, as well as a planned network featuring Chicago as the hub of a system reaching to Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis and St. Louis.

If you were paying attention on Election Day, you probably felt the jolt. The train has finally left the station. Actually, trains are beginning to leave the station all over the country. This month, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will inaugurate the Rail Runner, a new commuter line linking Albuquerque and Santa Fe. California voters just approved $10 billion to start building a high-speed rail line that will stretch from San Diego to Sacramento. In Colorado, transportation planners are talking seriously about a "front range" line that would connect Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins and other communities along the eastern edge of the Rockies.

Every prudent act of government, one of Britain's great political thinkers once wrote, is founded on compromise. No better example may be found than in Baltimore's proposed Red Line to extend transit from Woodlawn to Canton, and the form it might take. Should it be a rapid bus line with its own right-of-way or light rail? How much of it should be built on the surface and how much underground? The project's cost varies widely depending on those choices - from $545 million to $2.4 billion.

A leading business group is pushing a plan to build a light rail line between Woodlawn and East Baltimore that would include substantial tunneling to go underneath downtown and neighborhoods opposed to surface tracks. The Greater Baltimore Committee urged the Maryland Transit Administration yesterday to reject the alternative of building dedicated bus lanes for the proposed east-west Red Line through Baltimore. Instead, it supported a 14-mile light rail plan that would run in tunnels under central Baltimore, Fells Point and Cooks Lane in West Baltimore.

Lawmakers from the Washington suburbs, cheered by Gov. Martin O'Malley's promise to boost mass transit funding, rallied yesterday to support a new light rail line in the region. But opponents are warning that the plan would do little to relieve traffic congestion or protect the environment. Many Democrats from the region, who worry that more roads will only contribute to pollution and sprawl, pushed yesterday for the administration to fast-track the proposed Purple Line linking Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Baltimore's Central Light Rail Line is getting its second chance to win the hearts of commuters. The light rail will assume its full role in the region's transportation network tomorrow as the 14-year-old transit system operates for the first time as a two-track line for virtually all its route from Hunt Valley to Anne Arundel County. The Maryland Transit Administration is reopening the rail system's northern stretch, between Timonium and Hunt Valley, after a hiatus of 14 months. It had been closed to complete the final phase of a $154 million project to add a second track along 9.4 miles where there used to be one. The renovation will increase the system's capacity and eliminate the delays caused by single-track bottlenecks.

PORTLAND, ORE. -- From what she'd seen in Maryland, Wanda Wallace didn't have a high opinion of light rail. But the community leader from West Baltimore loved the transit line she found here. "They're leaps and bound ahead of us in terms of technology, in terms of signage, in terms of having a system that's user-friendly," she said. Wallace, representing the Allendale Community Association, was part of a delegation of Baltimore leaders who traveled to Oregon's largest city to learn how it developed its highly regarded MAX Light Rail service.

The state will shut down the light rail line south of Camden Yards for about seven months, severing the city's rail link with Baltimore-Washington International Airport and forcing some Orioles and Ravens fans to find different routes to the stadiums. The shutdown from Feb. 28 until October will allow the Maryland Transit Administration to add a second track to portions of the line that have a single track. Single tracking has limited the frequency of trains and contributed to persistent low ridership.

Starting tomorrow, light rail riders will face major disruptions in service as the state begins a $153 million project to add a second track to much of the transit line. The project will take 2 1/2 years and, when complete, mean faster and more reliable service. But in the meantime, riders will find it harder to get where they're going. Trains will run every 20 minutes instead of the usual 17 at stations outside downtown Baltimore. Trains will not run the entire light rail line, from Hunt Valley to Glen Burnie.