The conductor of the southbound Amtrak train that leaves Aberdeen for Washington, DC at 8:38 a.m. (train #188) says we can expect that train to have a better on-time performance this summer. He says that an Acela train that used to cause a lot of the delays has been eliminated.
Anyone who tried to use that train to get to a job this winter and spring knows that it was late 90 percent of the time. And not just 3 minutes late - but typically 20 or 30 minutes late. That, of course, is unacceptable for commuters. Bosses usually like workers to show up on time. There's a big difference between pulling into Baltimore at 8:58 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Do the latter too often and you won't have a job to commute to any more!
So far, my experience has been that this train has improved, but is still not reliable. Wednesday, May 27, for example, it was more than 30 minutes late.
If Amtrak, MARC, and government officials want commuters to use public transportation to reduce gas usage, air pollution and road congestion, they're going to have to provide solutions that reliably address real work schedules. That's not happening yet. As it stands now, the latest train Cecil and Harford county commuters can take to make sure they arrive at work at a reasonable hour is Amtrak #151, which leaves Aberdeen at 6:58 a.m. That's right, even if you don't have to be at work in Baltimore until 9 a.m., the only train you can take to get to work on time leaves before 7 a.m. Then, in the heart of commute time, there's not another train going southbound for at least one hour and 40 minutes!!!
Let me repeat that because it it is so hard to believe "Maryland Area Regional Commute" trains would have such a commuter-unfriendly schedule. Although most jobs start around 8 or 9 in the morning, there's no southbound service between 6:58 a.m. and 8:38 a.m., and (and as we note above, that 8:38 actually ends up leaving at 9 a.m. or 9:15)! Sometimes I joke that the C in MARC doesn't stand for Commute, it stands for Crazyperson.
No wonder so many people drive!
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2 comments:
I will be taking the train next week (9/08) and I think it will be the last time that I use the Aberdeen Station. The reason is that last year a friend of mine and I went through the "tunnel" and there was approximately 5 inches of water that we had to wade through. It was disgusting.
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