Brunswick Line | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Owner | CSX Transportation (tracks, except Frederick Branch [1] ) | ||
Locale | Washington D.C. and northern Maryland suburbs; West Virginia | ||
Termini | |||
Stations | 19 | ||
Service | |||
Type | Commuter rail | ||
System | MARC Train | ||
Train number(s) | 870–895 | ||
Operator(s) | Alstom/Maryland Transit Administration | ||
Rolling stock | Siemens Charger, MPI MPXpress MP36PH-3C, Bombardier Multilevel | ||
Daily ridership | 7,497 (June 2017) [2] | ||
History | |||
Opened | 1873 | ||
Technical | |||
Line length | 74 mi (119 km) | ||
Number of tracks | 2-5 | ||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
Operating speed | 34 mph (55 km/h) (avg.) | ||
|
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 and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which date to the mid-19th century.
The B&O had long operated commuter trains between Washington and Martinsburg, and continued to do so after the start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Maryland began subsidizing the trains in 1974 and, in 1975, assumed full responsibility for the subsidy and equipment replacement. West Virginia followed suit soon after, guaranteeing service to its stations. [3]
In 1983, as part of a federal requirement for Conrail (which operated the Penn Line service) to end its operation of commuter railroads on behalf of states, the state government of Maryland took control of its commuter railroads, organizing them under the "MARC" (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) service name. [4] Trains on the Brunswick Line were operated under contract by CSX Transportation, successor to the B&O. Brunswick Line service was augmented in 1986 when Amtrak transferred its Washington–Martinsburg Blue Ridge to MARC after agreeing to subsidize the train for five years. [3]
In May 2010, MARC announced that it planned to find a new operator for the Brunswick and Camden Lines after CSX announced its desire to discontinue operation of commuter trains. [5] MARC selected Bombardier Transportation Services USA Corporation (BTS) (a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Transportation) to replace CSX, and BTS assumed operations and maintenance of the lines on June 29, 2013. CSX continues to dispatch the lines. [6]
Brunswick Line trains typically have four to six single- or bilevel passenger cars and one or two diesel locomotives. The trains operate in a push-pull configuration, with the cab car typically facing Washington.
Before they were replaced by new Bombardier Multilevel II cars, MARC's ex-Metra Pullman Gallery cars were used exclusively on the Brunswick Line, which is the only MARC line with all low-level platforms (except the Frederick Branch, which has a high-level platform at Monocacy station).
The Brunswick Line has service only on weekdays, [7] with nine trains in each direction during morning and evening rush hour, and an additional train outbound from Union Station on Fridays. Three of the nine trains in each direction serve the Frederick branch. Of the remainder, three inbound and three outbound serve Martinsburg, while the remainder originate or terminate at Brunswick. A bus runs between Frederick and Point of Rocks, meeting trains that do not serve the Frederick Branch. [7]
Union Station is the southern terminus of Amtrak's Floridian which shares much of the Brunswick Line's route; Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry, and Rockville are also served by the Floridian. Connections to the Washington Metro's Red Line are available at Rockville, Silver Spring, and Union Station.
The Brunswick Line serves the following stations. Not all trains stop at all stations.
The Capitol Limited is a temporarily discontinued daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running 764 miles (1,230 km) via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981. On November 10, 2024, Amtrak temporarily combined the Capitol Limited and Silver Star producing a Chicago-Washington–Miami route, the Floridian.
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC is roughly paralleled by Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency.
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from Spotsylvania, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run station in Bristow, Virginia. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 1,537,000, or about 6,700 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Maryland Area Rail Commuter (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 2023, the system had a ridership of 3,860,600, or about 14,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024, less than pre-COVID-19 pandemic weekday ridership of 40,000.
The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow "U," capped by its terminal stations at Shady Grove and Glenmont.
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 Floridian intercity trains.
West Baltimore station is a commuter rail station located in the western part Baltimore, Maryland, along the Northeast Corridor. It is served by MARC Penn Line trains. The station is positioned on an elevated grade at 400 Smallwood Street near parallel West Mulberry and West Franklin Streets extending off U.S. Route 40. Three large surface lots are available for commuters. The station only has staircases from street level and two low-level side platforms next to the outer tracks and is thus not accessible to people with some mobility disabilities, but MTA Maryland plans to renovate the station with accessible platforms and entrances.
Washington, D.C. has a number of different modes of transportation available for use. Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns, with only 28% of people employed in Washington, D.C. commuting from within the city, whereas 33.5% commute from the nearby Maryland suburbs, 22.7% from Northern Virginia, and the rest from Washington, D.C.'s outlying suburbs.
The Frederick Branch is a railroad line in Frederick County, Maryland. It was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1831, and is now owned by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The 3.4 mi (5.5 km) branch extends between Frederick Junction – a wye with the Old Main Line Subdivision of CSX Transportation on the west side of the Monocacy River – and its terminus at East Street in downtown Frederick, Maryland. The wye at Frederick Junction was the first example of its kind in the United States and is still in use today.
The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs for 39 mi (63 km) between Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Camden Station in Baltimore, Maryland, over the CSX Capital Subdivision and Baltimore Terminal Subdivision. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began running commuter service from Baltimore to Ellicott City over part of the current line's trackage on May 24, 1830, making this corridor one of the country's oldest rail routes still in operation. The line was extended to Washington on August 25, 1835. The Camden Line is the shortest MARC line. As of 2019, the Camden Line is a weekday-only service.
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.
Martinsburg station is a railway station in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States, served by MARC Brunswick Line commuter rail service and Amtrak Floridian 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, though a majority of trains remain diesel powered. 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 riders as the Brunswick and Camden lines combined.
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.
Dickerson is a passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line, situated between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, WV. The station was designed by E. Francis Baldwin and built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1891. It is the last station that Frederick-bound trains pass before branching onto the Frederick Branch. It is the least used station on the MARC Brunswick Line. The station sees 4 trains a day in and outbound, and 15 parking spaces available directly adjacent to the station.
Point of Rocks is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, WV, located at Point of Rocks, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The station was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1873, and designed by E. Francis Baldwin. It is situated at the junction of the B&O Old Main Line and the Metropolitan Branch. The Met Branch also opened in 1873 and became the principal route for passenger trains between Baltimore, Washington and points west.
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.
The Blue Ridge was a daily Amtrak passenger train that operated between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland. Service began in 1973; it was merged into the MARC Brunswick Line commuter rail service in 1986.
On February 16, 1996, a MARC commuter train collided with Amtrak's Capitol Limited passenger train in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, killing three crew and eight passengers on the MARC train; a further eleven passengers on the same train and fifteen passengers and crew on the Capitol Limited were injured. Total damage was estimated at $7.5 million.