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MARC Penn Line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail line
System	MARC Commuter Rail
Locale	Washington D.C. and Maryland suburbs east; Baltimore, MD and suburbs northeast
Termini	Washington D.C. Union Station Perryville, MD
Stations	13
Daily ridership	20,419 [1]
Operation
Owner	Amtrak (tracks)
Operator(s)	Amtrak/Maryland Transit Administration
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend Perryville Susquehanna River Aberdeen Bush River Edgewood Gunpowder River Martin State Airport Penn Station West Baltimore Halethorpe BWI Airport Odenton Bowie State Seabrook New Carrollton Camden Line Brunswick Line Union Station

The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail line running from Union Station, Washington D.C. to Perryville, Maryland via Penn Station, Baltimore, Maryland on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It is MARC's busiest and only electric line. Currently the line is the fastest commuter rail line in the country, with trains running at speeds of up to 125mph.^[2] The service is operated under contract by Amtrak which supplies employees to operate trains, and maintains the right-of-way and MARC's electric locomotives and passenger cars. The line is administered by MARC, a service of the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). The Penn Line is the successor to commuter services provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Penn Central, and Conrail as long ago as the mid-1800s. In 1983 Maryland, along with a number of other Northeastern states, took control of its commuter railroads and the "MARC" (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) service name was established.^[3]

Rolling stock

See: MARC Train Equipment

Electric MARC HHP-8 4913 departing Union Station

The Penn Line uses diesel and electric locomotives for powering trains. Most electric trains are 7-9 cars long (usually made up of all or mostly Kawasaki bilevels). Rush hour diesel trains are usually 6 cars long and all bilevel. During the day shorter 3-5 car single level diesel trains from the Brunswick and Camden lines are used on the Penn Line. All trains are operated in push-pull configuration (with cab-car end towards Union Station). All stations BWI Airport to Union Station have high-level platforms, and all stations from Perryville to Halethorpe, with the exception of Penn Station, have low-level platforms (Halethorpe is slated to be rebuilt with a high platform). This precludes the use of MARC's ex-Metra low-level boarding gallery cars on the Penn Line.

Service

The majority of Penn Line trains run between Union Station and Penn Station with 11 trains running between Union Station and Perryville (6 Northbound, 5 Southbound). Unlike MARC's other two lines, the Penn Line operates all day and well into the night. Service is currently operated on weekdays only, although limited weekend service was supposed in summer 2008, but has been put on hold due to negotiations with Amtrak and the state's current fiscal problems.

Amtrak's Acela Express, Northeast Regional, and long distance trains share the tracks with the Penn Line and share stations with MARC at Aberdeen, Penn Station, BWI Rail Station, New Carrollton, and Union Station. Currently, MARC passengers with monthly and weekly tickets can ride most Amtrak Northeast Regional trains on weekends and select Amtrak Northeast Regional trains during the week. Amtrak 151 also makes stops at Perryville and Edgewood MARC stations. Connections are also available to the Washington Metro Orange Line at New Carrollton, and to MTA Light Rail at Penn Station.

The MTA is planning to extend the Penn Line to Newark, DE to connect with the SEPTA R2, and to also extend the line past Union Station into Northern Virginia.^[4] The planned Purple Line which will connect all three MARC lines will connect with the Penn Line at New Carrollton.

Station stops

The following station stops are made by Penn Line trains; not all trains make all stops.

References

External links

• MTA MARC Penn Line