MARC EXPRESS TO WASHINGTON 

“The State of Maryland could run a full MARC Express service to Union Station tomorrow with existing equipment on existing tracks, and utilizing existing capacity. And at 30 minutes door-to-door - essentially the same travel time as from Bethesda - you’d be doing nothing short of weaving West Baltimore directly into the downtown DC economy. It’s something regional economists have talked about for years, but elected and transportation leaders have never fully grasped the significance of.”

Question: Is the state running the above MARC express service now?

Answer: Yes. Only they’re just not stopping at the West Baltimore station; they’re driving right on through to Penn Station. Why? You’ll have to ask Governor Hogan and his MTA. Whatever the reason though, it needs to change. Running even a pilot express service (more on that below) would be transformational to what is arguably the most disinvested area of the entire State of Maryland.

Question: How many trips per workday are we talking about?

Answer: A MARC Express service would be introduced in two phases - first a pilot service immediately, and then a full service as ridership demands grow. A pilot service would be as simple as adding one more northbound train in the afternoon to the one that’s already running, and implementing two southbound trains during morning rush hour. A full service would ultimately consist of one train set each-way per hour, every workday, 6am-8pm.

Question: Why do you say running a MARC Express Service will be transformational?

Answer: The value proposition of developing commercial property and revitalizing neighborhoods this cheap, yet this close to DC, is simply too great. If you’re plugging West Baltimore directly into one of the most supercharged regional economic centers in the world - Washington DC - you’re leveraging some of the most powerful economic forces that exist. And after nearly a century of redlining and other government-directed disinvestment in West Baltimore, that’s the kind of “Marshall Plan” needed to finally move the needle and make this area soar.

Question: Why Should the Express Service Stop in West Baltimore in addition to Penn Station?

Answer: The short answer is that West Baltimore is always going to be 8-10 minutes closer to DC than Penn Station, even after the Douglass/B&P Tunnel is completed. So if you want to reach that magical number of “under 30 minutes to DC from Baltimore”, it’s never going to happen at Penn Station. It’s only going to happen from West Baltimore. Amtrak, the entity constructing the new B&P Tunnel, knows this fact, and that’s why on their Douglass/B&P tunnel website, they put this graphic (under the time-savings tab):

Meanwhile, Governor Hogan and his former transportation secretary, Gregg Slater, either don’t know this fact, or choose not to proffer it as part of their public statements and speeches. But whether they say it publicly or not, 30 minutes from Baltimore to Washington - less than half of the time it takes in a car(!) - is only possible from the MARC West Baltimore station.

Here’s Transportation Secretary Slater talking about how 30-minute MARC trip times will become possible after the tunnel is built - even though 30 minutes is already possible from the West Baltimore Station AND it won’t be possible from Penn Station even after tunnel construction is complete:

Question: Hold On… Do We Have to Wait Until the Tunnel Project is Complete to Get 30-minute trip times to DC?

Answer: Absolutely not. As mentioned before, MARC is already running 30-minute trains from Washington to West Baltimore, and there’s plenty of capacity now on the line for MARC to run even a full service. The following specific timetable windows were identified by a leading regional transportation research group as available now:

Question: What Would Express Service Mean to the BWI Area?

Answer: Transformation, plain and simple - just like in West Baltimore. The trip time is 23 minutes(!) to Union Station. That’s faster than from Bethesda to Union Station on the DC Metro system. The economic waves would be felt not just in the immediate ten-minute walkable TOD zone around the BWI Rail Station, but far beyond into Northern Anne Arundel County and even Howard County and the southern parts of Baltimore City. For a deeper dive, there’s a special section on BWI.

Question: Does MARC Need Any Special Equipment to Run the Service?

Answer: No. While new equipment is always welcome, MARC needs nothing new to run a full express service. For specifics, see our section Logistics Section (Section 3 - p.27) of the Roadmap Report.

Question: What about the station itself - are there any plans for improvements?

Answer: Yes! And HUB West Baltimore is pushing for those to be as thoughtful and comprehensive as possible, and include a marquis, multi-modal, architecturally-significant, neighborhood binding building that would anchor the new TOD zone. We’ve got a whole section on the station here.

Further Reading

• Read the Johns Hopkins University 21st Century Cities study: “Investing in High-Speed Rail to Washington, D.C. to Boost Baltimore’s Economy”