Rail Service

An unidentified man was struck and killed Tuesday morning by a southbound MARC train in the Rosedale area. The accident occurred shortly after 7 a.m. just south of where the rail lines cross under I-695, Maryland Transit Administration officials said. The train stopped and the crew announced that a fatality had occurred, according to several passengers. Baltimore County police arrived at 7:18 a.m. and searched the area. They located the body near Schafers Lane and Northeast Creek Road, east of Pulaski Highway.

Amtrak will pay $466 million this year for 70 new locomotives to enhance the speed and reliability of rail service in the Northeast Corridor and invest $298 million on 130 new rail cars to serve the East Coast and Midwest. The new equipment will be a major upgrade for a system that now operates with locomotives that are 20 to 30 years old and some sleeper cars that are 60 years old, Amtrak President Joe Boardman said in announcing the federally subsidized passenger rail line's plans for 2012.

As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on southbound I-95 before the Fort McHenry Tunnel Toll Plaza, due to an accident involving two vehicles. Eastbound U.S. 50 at Oceanic Drive was congested due to a collision involving two vehicles. Route 32 at West Linden Church Road in Howard County was the scene of an accident involving three vehicles. Route 778 at Fairhaven Drive in Anne Arundel County was closed in both directions over a utility problem. Also in Anne Arundel, high water in the road was causing potential delays on Route 214 at Route 2. In Harford County, Route 152 at Old Joppa Road was closed in both directions due to a utility problem.

The Maryland Transit Administration warned MARC train patrons to expect delays to train service on the Penn, Brunswick and Camden lines on Wednesday following Tuesday's earthquake, as crews work to restore full service. According to the MTA website, the Brunswick Line was expected to have delays of up to 55 minutes due to several crews exceeding hours of service allowed by the Federal Railroad Administration. The Camden Line was expected to have trains running 20 minutes late. The MTA also said that light rail service has resumed between Timonium Station and Hunt Valley after it was temporary suspended and replaced by a shuttle bus service.

Light rail service remains shut down between the Timonium and Hunt Valley stops, the Maryland Transit Administration announced Thursday morning. Service between the two stops was first disrupted when a snow plow, attempting to clear the snow that fell on central Maryland between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, knocked down a light rail overhead wire, according to Baltimore County police. The Maryland Transit Administration is providing shuttle service on both the northbound and southbound routes between the two stops.

The wheels on the bus aren't the only things that go round and round. So does the debate over whether light rail or a kind of express bus service known as "bus rapid transit," or BRT, is a better fit for projects in Baltimore and Montgomery County. This summer, it's been former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his running mate, Mary Kane, who are leading the cheers for upscale bus service. The irony of Mr. Ehrlich embracing buses isn't lost on mass transit advocates who ruefully recall his preference for spending transportation dollars on highways during his four years in office.

I was not on the "hell train" that stalled outside Washington this week, but as one who has ridden the state-run transportation system since the day it took over from the old Baltimore Transit Co., I have a few tart observations. In those decades, I watched nearly all my peers abandon city public transit. The line that I began riding in 1959, which once had buses about every 15 minutes in the morning, has been slashed to seven morning trips a day. There is no weekend service. The on-time reliability of Baltimore's buses is shaky, although I have noticed some improvement in the past few months.

The Northeast may be home to the most successful passenger rail system in the U.S., but it pales in comparison to its brethren in Europe and Japan. With highways and airports in the region likely to have capacity issues and greenhouse gas emissions an alarming problem for a nation that is so car-dependent, the need to upgrade the Northeast corridor is clear enough. But before U.S. travelers can contemplate futuristic 300 mile per hour magnetic levitation trains or even the 150-200 mph trains found elsewhere, Amtrak and commuter rail systems between Maryland and Maine need something more basic: better reliability and capacity.

Senator Mathias helped build Maryland's infrastructure If the late Senator Charles McC. Mathias had been an American corporation, he'd be Microsoft, Google and Intel combined. His influence on Maryland's economy and society has been incalculable. His independence, fidelity to the Constitution, civil rights record and reputation as "the conscience of the Senate" made him unique in the annals of Congress, as many commentators have pointed out since his death on Jan. 24. But few realize the extraordinary influence Senator Mathias continues to exert on the wealth, prosperity and material well-being of the Free State's 5 million citizens.