MARC email, 12/1:

Proposed Brunswick Line schedule change online for review & comment http://tinyurl.com/marc-brunswick

The Brunswick Line schedule has not seen a significant revision since the Frederick Branch opened in 2001. In the intervening years, ridership on the Brunswick Line has increased significantly, especially at Brunswick, Point of Rocks, Germantown and Gaithersburg. The current schedule does not reflect the time needed to load passengers at stations.

In revising the schedule, we have worked closely with CSX Transportation, the owner of the Brunswick Line, to ensure that the proposed changes are feasible and represent current operational conditions. CSX and MARC management rode Brunswick Line trains for several days earlier this year and meticulously documented the run time between stations and dwell time at each station. This information was incorporated into the proposed schedule.

Full information on the proposed schedule change is available at http://tinyurl.com/marc-brunswick . This page contains background information, a copy of the schedule, and list of Meet the MARC Management and Town Hall events that will be held over the next six weeks. After reviewing the information, we encourage Brunswick Line passengers to take an online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8VGDLYL .

Thank you for riding the MARC Train Service.

Sure this all makes sense for sake of optimum operations.

Not sure why deadheading is a problem or why it is being addressed as it is. How about running counter-flow trains in revenue service? We know this practice once existed before the horrific 1996 crash between the westbound Capitol Limited and an inbound MARC train in a snowstorm, but it seems they resolved the issue by simply cancelling the counter-flow trains.

MARC email, 12/5:

MARC "Service Alert" - 1/24/2012 (late post):

Update on Brunswick Line schedule change process

A message to MARC Brunswick Line passengers—

Thank you for participating in our public outreach effort regarding the proposed Brunswick Line schedule change. We received over 1,100 comments from passengers on our effort to improve performance on the Brunswick Line through our on-line survey, E-mails, and paper feedback forms. We have one more Town Hall meeting scheduled for January 24th in Brunswick.

Based on the feedback we have received there will be NO schedule changes on the Brunswick Line on January 30th.

Working with CSX and the feedback received from you, MARC will craft a revised schedule.

We plan to present the revised proposal in late March or early April. MARC will then hold additional Town Hall meetings (locations, dates, and times to be announced). Our goal is to implement the new schedule in May.

We will continue to keep you informed on this process and will notify our customers when the second draft is available. Thank you for your patronage of the MARC Train Service.

And that's a good thing, that Maryland MTA listened to the commuters' gripes over the proposed change, and totally scrapped it. At least in Maryland there are no threatened weekend cuts, because there is no MARC service on weekends anyhow. Hopefully in Boston and Pittsburgh they are taking notes from the customer complaints and common sense will prevail.

Note: Click here for advisory with embedded links.



MARC Brunswick Line Schedule Change Proposal

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - 11:00am

On December 1, 2011, the MARC Train Service released a proposed schedule change for the Brunswick Line. Over the next seven weeks, we held an extensive public outreach effort, including eight “Meet the Management” events at MARC stations, three “Town Hall” meetings with senior MTA officials, and made a web survey available for passengers to provide feedback

After compiling the suggestions and concerns from our passengers, we worked with CSX to make revisions to the proposal. We are re-releasing the proposal with numerous revisions.
•Click here to download a copy of the second draft of the Brunswick Line schedule change proposal.
•A summary document detailing the changes as well as some Frequently Asked Questions is also available.
•This document provides a side-by-side comparision between the Brunswick Line schedule currently in effect and the proposed second draft.
•Finally, this table compares the number of trains stopping at each station on the Brunswick Line.

Please note that, once again, this is a DRAFT document. There is no target date for implementation--we want to first gather further feedback from our customers.

As we did with the first draft, an online survey is available for passengers to provide comments. Please take a few moments to complete this brief survey. We will also be holding three "Town Hall" meetings in the month of May:
•May 19, Charles Town, Old Charles Town Public Library, 200 East Washington Street, 1:00-4:00pm
•May 22, Rockville, Council Office Building, Ground Level Auditorium, 100 Maryland Avenue, 5:30-8:30pm
•May 23, Frederick, Frederick County Government Complex, Winchester Hall, 12 East Church Street, 6:00-9:00pm.

In addition, MARC staff will be present at Brunswick Line stations during the evening rush hour between May 1 and May 17 to distribute schedules. E-alerts will be sent when these are scheduled.

Thank you for your patronage of the MARC Train Service.