Rail Service

BEIJING -- China has entered the high-speed-rail era. The signs are hard to miss. "Sixth national speed-up," proclaims a red banner the size of a billboard in the middle of the Beijing train station. "Harmonious, made-in-China" bullet trains. In the station in Tianjin, posters of smiling families in first-class seats line the walls, under the heading "Pursuit of Harmony." In a country where vacation season means two or three passengers for every seat, improvements to the rail system are heralded with great fanfare.

A light rail train driver and five passengers were taken to hospitals with minor injuries after the train and a tractor-trailer truck collided yesterday in Hunt Valley, authorities said. The train was derailed by the collision, leading to an interruption of service in the area. The truck driver was traveling south on Gilroy Road near Schilling Circle about 10:45 a.m. when he made a left turn to cross the tracks, according to Maj. Stanford Franklin, a Maryland Transit Administration police spokesman.

La Plata -- The Maryland Department of Transportation has allocated $25 million toward acquiring and refurbishing a Baltimore maintenance yard now owned by CSX Corp. - a move that eventually could help it expand and improve its often overcrowded MARC train services. The money was the largest single addition to the department's six-year Consolidated Transportation Program released yesterday in Charles County. The 2007-2012 draft update unveiled yesterday includes $79.7 million in new projects added to the $13 billion, six-year plan.

The Senate is set to approve a $1.4 billion appropriation for Amtrak. That's quite a bit better than the $900 million the Bush administration proposed spending. Whatever amount Congress ultimately approves is likely to keep the system limping along for another year. But Amtrak's federal subsidy may be just about the only thing associated with the railroad that's running on schedule these days. Ask anyone who rides Amtrak's long-distance routes. A person would almost have a better chance of scratching a winning instant lottery ticket than arriving on time on some of these trains.

The American Public Transportation Association reports that public transit use in America is growing fast. Last year, rail and bus systems provided 9.7 billion trips. That's 25.1 percent growth over the past decade, compared with 22.5 percent growth for highways. And within the public transit world, the fastest-growing mode is - drum roll, please - light rail. From New Jersey to Los Angeles, the various forms of light rail, from modern streetcars (like Baltimore's) to heritage trolleys, are reporting double-digit ridership increases.

Amtrak has revived a plan to open a boutique hotel inside Baltimore's historic Penn Station, which would be a first in an Amtrak-owned station. The passenger rail operator is negotiating with a developer to create a 72-room hotel on three levels at the station, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said yesterday. The national rail service is struggling with declining revenues and operating losses that are exceeding $1 billion annually and are projected to grow by 40 percent within four years, according to the Government Accountability Office.

As the double-tracking project on the northern half of the Maryland Transit Administration's light rail line continues above North Avenue to Hunt Valley, the installation of trackage, catenary poles, retaining walls, fences and landscaping is in evidence. Rail workers are out on the line six days a week working to meet a deadline that will see the resumption of service from North Avenue to Timonium by late summer, and on the remainder of the line by year's end. For transit advocates, the restoration of service with light rail cars in 1992 on what was once a segment of the old Pennsylvania Railroad's Northern Central Division was nothing less than a triumph.

The remnants of Hurricane Jeanne saturated Maryland today, closing several roads in Western Maryland, snarling rush-hour traffic for many and slowing rail service in Baltimore. Light rail service between the Warren Road and Hunt Valley stations was interrupted because of downed power lines at the Gilroy Station, said Richard Scher, a Maryland Transit Administration spokesman. MTA buses at the Warren Road station will provide transportation to each of the five stations up to Hunt Valley, Scher said.

A two-alarm fire damaged a brick warehouse in an industrial park along the Jones Falls yesterday afternoon, disrupting light rail service as city firefighters briefly closed the nearby Woodberry station, authorities said. No one was inside the three-story building in the 1700 block of Union Ave. when the fire occurred, police said. The cause, police said, appeared to be fumes from cans of paint coming into contact with a heat source in the building, which according to state records is owned by the Time Group realty firm.

As major arteries in Baltimore and across the state were scraped down to the blacktop yesterday, buses and trains began limited service by midafternoon. But officials warned that the region's transportation networks will take days to fully recover. The Maryland Transit Administration resumed service on parts of nine bus lines and a northern stretch of the light rail line yesterday. Officials expect more bus lines to be in service today on main roads and snow emergency routes. Maryland Rail Commuter trains are to begin running today after being shut down for two days.