Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Service type | Commuter rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Transferred to MTA Maryland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | West Virginia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Potomac Special | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First service | May 7, 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last service | 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Brunswick Line (MARC Train) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former operator(s) | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | Washington, D.C Cumberland, Maryland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 143 mi (230 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 3 hours, 5 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | Daily | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Train number(s) | 701–704 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On-board services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Unreserved coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track owner(s) | B&O Railroad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Blue Ridge was a daily Amtrak passenger train that operated between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland (Martinsburg, West Virginia after 1976). Service began in 1973; it was merged into the MARC Brunswick Line commuter rail service in 1986.
The Blue Ridge was introduced on May 7, 1973, as a replacement for the Potomac Special . It was curtailed from the Potomac Special terminus of Parkersburg, West Virginia to Cumberland, and retimed to better serve commuters. [1] In December 1975, the Blue Ridge became the first train outside the Northeast Corridor to receive new Amfleet coaches. [1] The Blue Ridge was truncated to Martinsburg on October 31, 1976 upon the introduction of the Washington– Cincinnati, Ohio Shenandoah . [2] [1] Weekend service was dropped on October 1, 1981 amid cuts to Amtrak services. [3]
In 1986, Amtrak transferred the Blue Ridge to the Maryland Mass Transit Administration (now the Maryland Transit Administration), who incorporated it into the MARC Brunswick Line. [4] As part of the transfer, Amtrak agreed to subsidize the train for five years. [5] MARC continued to use the name during the late 1980s.[ citation needed ]
MARC is a commuter rail system in the Washington–Baltimore area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 2,815,900, or about 12,500 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2023, less than pre-COVID-19 pandemic weekday ridership of 40,000.
Rockville station is an intermodal train station located in downtown Rockville, Maryland, United States. It is served by the Washington Metro Red Line, MARC Brunswick Line commuter trains, and Amtrak Capitol Limited intercity trains.
Transport in the U.S. state of West Virginia is handled by the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) which employs more than 6,000 in West Virginia.
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a branch to Frederick, Maryland. It primarily serves the northern and western suburbs of Washington. The line, MARC's second longest at 74 miles, is operated under contract to MARC by Alstom and runs on CSX-owned track, including the Metropolitan, Old Main Line, and Cumberland subdivisions. It is the successor to commuter services provided by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), which date to the mid-19th century.
The CSX Cumberland Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Brunswick, Maryland, west to Cumberland, Maryland, along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) main line. At its east end, the Cumberland Subdivision becomes the Metropolitan Subdivision; at its west end at Cumberland, Maryland it becomes the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision. It meets the Shenandoah Subdivision at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and the Lurgan Subdivision in Cherry Run, West Virginia.
Harpers Ferry station is a historic railway station in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It is currently served by Amtrak's Capitol Limited as well as MARC commuter service. Built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the station is part of the Harpers Ferry Historic District.
Martinsburg station is a railway station in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States, served by MARC Brunswick Line commuter rail service and Amtrak Capitol Limited intercity rail service. The station has one side platform serving a siding track of the CSX Cumberland Subdivision, with a footbridge crossing the siding and the two main tracks to provide access to the preserved Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops complex.
The Penn Line is a MARC passenger rail service operating between Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Perryville, Maryland, along the far southern leg of the Northeast Corridor; most trains terminate at Baltimore's Penn Station. It is MARC's only electrified line. With trains operating at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour (201 km/h), it is the fastest commuter rail line in the United States. The service is operated by Amtrak under contract to the Maryland Transit Administration. MARC sets the schedules, owns most of the stations, and controls fares, while Amtrak owns and maintains the right-of-way, supplies employees to operate trains, and maintains the rolling stock. It is the busiest of MARC's three lines, with twice as many trains and ridership as the Brunswick and Camden lines combined.
Perryville station is a passenger rail station on the Northeast Corridor in Perryville, Maryland. It is the northern terminus of the MARC Penn Line. The station has a single side platform serving the northern track of the four-track Northeast Corridor. The station building houses the Perryville Railroad Museum, which includes a model train layout and exhibits about the history of railroads in Perryville.
Gaithersburg station is a commuter rail station located on the Metropolitan Subdivision in downtown Gaithersburg, Maryland. It is served by the MARC Brunswick Line service; it was also served by Amtrak from 1971 to 1986. The former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station building and freight shed, designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin and built in 1884, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed. They are used as the Gaithersburg Community Museum.
Barnesville is an active commuter railroad train station in Barnesville, Montgomery County, Maryland. Located on Beallsville Road, Barnesville station services trains of MARC Train's Brunswick Line between Union Station in Washington D.C. and Martinsburg, West Virginia. Additional trains operate to Frederick, Maryland. Amtrak's Capitol Limited operates through the station, but does not make any stops. The next station west is Dickerson while the next station east is Boyds. Barnesville station contains two low-level side platforms, connected by a pathway across the tracks.
Brunswick is a passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia. The station house, located at 100 South Maple Street in Brunswick, Maryland, is a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depot that is a contributing property to the Brunswick Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 29, 1979. The station was designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin and opened in 1891 on Seventh Avenue. Several years later the building was moved to its current location. It is a wooden frame building with stone walls up to the window sills, and features Palladian windows in the roof dormers.
Duffields is a passenger rail station on MARC Train's Brunswick Line, in the community of Duffields, West Virginia. Since it is located in West Virginia, the station is maintained by the West Virginia State Rail Authority rather than by MARC itself. Between 1976 and 1981 this station was served by Amtrak's Shenandoah which traveled between Washington and Cincinnati.
The Bowie Railroad Buildings comprise three small frame structures at the former Bowie train station, located at the junction of what is now the Northeast Corridor and the Pope's Creek Subdivision in the town center of Bowie, Maryland. The complex includes a single-story freight depot, a two-story interlocking tower, and an open passenger shed. The station was served by passenger trains from 1872 until 1989, when it was replaced by Bowie State station nearby. The buildings were restored in 1992 as the Bowie Railroad Museum and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Silver Spring station is a former train station on the Metropolitan Subdivision in Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland. It was built in 1945 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on the foundation of a previous station, a Victorian-style brick structure built in 1878. It served intercity trains until 1986 and commuter rail until 2000. Today, it is owned and operated as a museum by Montgomery Preservation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
The West Virginian, later known as the Potomac Turbo and Potomac Special, was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington, D.C., and Parkersburg, West Virginia. This route was previously served by the Baltimore & Ohio's (B&O) train of the same name, and was the first of several services in the state of West Virginia established at the behest of US Representative Harley Orrin Staggers, the powerful chair of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. This patronage earned the train the derisive sobriquets "Harley's Hornet" and the "Staggers Special".
The Shenandoah was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington and Cincinnati from 1976 until 1981.
The Colonial was an Amtrak intercity passenger train that operated between Boston, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia, from 1976 to 1992. It was introduced on June 15, 1976, to replace the lightly-used Charlottesville-Newport News section of the James Whitcomb Riley. Certain trips were known as the Senator and Tidewater beginning in the late 1970s. The Richmond-New York City Virginian was added in 1984, with some trips called Potomac from 1985 to 1988.
Media related to Blue Ridge (train) at Wikimedia Commons