Bikes on Some MARC Trains Seems Imminent

You may recall that the Maryland Transportation Authority has been seriously thinking about allowing standard bikes on some MARC trains, but asked advocates not to talk about the details.  Now MDOT is talking about the details.  In a statement cleared for release to the public, Michael Jackson described an October 9 show-and-tell with advocates at Frederick, Maryland, at the October 10 meeting of the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee:

Attendees included representatives from Bike Maryland, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, the Virginia Bicycle Federation and staff from MDOT as well as staff from MARC and their consultants. The meeting was held at their Frederick rail yard. Attendees were invited to bring bicycles to carry on-board a modified rail car with half of the seats removed. A bicycle rack and luggage rack had been installed. Invitees assessed the modifications and gave feedback to MARC staff.

MARC intends to outfit the car with enough racks to carry 25 bicycles and to identify the outside of the bike cars with prominent graphics. Service is expected to be limited initially to weekend service on the Penn line and begin by the end of the year.

Jim Titus represents Prince George's County on the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and is on the board of WABA. The comments here do not represent the official views of either organization.

Comments

[Michael H]

Did anyone breakdance at the meeting?

[jeffb]

This is very good news. I hope the experiment is a success and MARC expands the program to their other lines.

I'm car-free and live downtown. All my riding now is urban/commuting/task oriented on streets and urban trails.

I miss riding in the country outside of the suburban sprawl. This service will provide me the means to get to places where I can recreationally ride.

[Jim Titus]

The MDOT statement does not say. One advocate, who asked not to be identified, reported that boarding the train with a bike was as simple as A,B,C.

[jeffb]

Will the bike car also have seats or are passengers supposed to secure their bike and move to another car to sit?

[Purple Eagle]

It would be great if they could allow bikes on the train to Harpers Ferry, which would allow people to ride the train one way and bike the C&O canal towpath the other direction. 60 miles in one day is much more achievable for most cyclists than 120.

[JimT]

@jeffb: If you can visualize MARC's older one-level cars with the 3 + 2 seating, they removed the 3-person benches and put bike racks on that side o the car. The 2-person benches remain.

The thinking last Spring was that after the initial weekend-only trial on the Penn Line, they might try putting the car on a Friday afternoon train on the Brunswick Line. They might be wise to put it on one of the few trains that terminate at Brunswick, unless West Virginia wants to defray the cost of the lost revenue to Brunswick. I suspect that few people will spend the night in Brunswick if taking the train to Harpers Ferry is an option.

[jeffb]

@JimT
Like Purple Eagle I think a means of getting on/off @ Harpers Ferry very appealing.

I don't understand why its better to terminate bike carriage at Brunswick? Can you explain further?

[JimT]

Maryland taxpayers pay for the operating subsidy of the train, so it would make economic sense for Maryland to capture some of the tourist revenue that results from the bike train, rather than send it to West Virginia.

As far as I know, however, MARC officials do not see it that way. Statements have suggested that they view MARC as a service to Maryland residents, not as a way to boost the state's tourist economy. So if they think more Maryland residents want to go to West Virginia, then they might be inclined to run the train to West Virginia. Then again, West Virginia currently pays the incremental operating subsidy of running commuter trains to Martinsburg.

This might be moot. At least in the beginning, they will only have one of these cars, and so the bicycle car will have to go on a train that comes back empty to Union Station on Friday night for use on the Saturday Penn Line train. I'm not sure which trains that would be. Some of the GGW commenters like Matt and Alan would know.