Baltimore light rail complaint/suggestion

Last Friday night I was down in Baltimore for part of the day (at Lexington Market and Inner Harbor, though I also rode the light rail to Penn Station, partly to get updated light rail, subway, and MARC information, partly to ride into Penn Station on a train for the first time) and I also went to the Orioles game that night. After the game, as always, the light rail train was packed to the gills with people (not quite as packed as the 7 Train in NYC can be after a Mets game, but still very full). Despite completing the double-tracking project, the Maryland Transit Administration, in their infinite wisdom, still have not added extra trains into operation before or after Orioles (or presumably Ravens) games. It's not like it's not doable; the headways in the evening on the main branch between Timonium and Linthicum are 15 minutes, but during "peak" (as in working peak) periods, the headways are 10 minutes. Also, we're not talking about that many extra runs; you can start running extra trains in the 7th inning and stop running extra trains 45-60 minutes after the game.

I realize Baltimore's light rail isn't the MTA-NYC subway system or the SEPTA Broad Street Line (the latter of which has express service from South Philly after events at the Stadium Complex), but when you typically have 2-car trains (albeit with very long cars), running every 15 minutes after a game isn't cutting it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought about this idea.

P.S. I personally think Baltimore/Maryland needs to have its own rail transit message board. That board could include not only the MTA subway and light rail, but also the MARC trains (which are operated by MTA-MD anyway). I realize that would create a problem for VRE-related posts, but perhaps those threads could be posted here, posted on its own forum, or perhaps best of all posted on a combined WMATA/VRE board. I also realize the Baltimore rail transit forum idea was discussed fairly recently in this thread, but I just wanted to note there's another vote for creating a separate forum for Baltimore or Maryland (MTA-MD)-oriented services.

CHIP72 wrote:P.S. I personally think Baltimore/Maryland needs to have its own rail transit message board. That board could include not only the MTA subway and light rail, but also the MARC trains (which are operated by MTA-MD anyway). I realize that would create a problem for VRE-related posts, but perhaps those threads could be posted here, posted on its own forum, or perhaps best of all posted on a combined WMATA/VRE board. I also realize the Baltimore rail transit forum idea was discussed fairly recently in this thread, but I just wanted to note there's another vote for creating a separate forum for Baltimore or Maryland (MTA-MD)-oriented services.

It could happen! All you have to do is email one of the administrators (the guys who run the whole thing, not just a forum mod) and run the idea by them. They periodically add/remove railroad-specific forums, so they might be open to adding one for the WMATA system.

The light rail runs into problems as it moves north of Camden yards and south of Mt. Royal.

Outside of that area, there are periodic switches allowing trains to move to the other tracks, also, there are few grade crossings and alot of room between them.

In between Camden Yards and Mt. Royal, the tracks are in the road and there are no switches. Also, trains cross the roads nearly every block, limiting the amount of trains you can have at one point.

Since for the most part, trains dont pre-empt traffic, the trains could end up stuck in the road or moving very slowly.

Lastly, speaking as a 2 year Baltimore resident, many of my friends (who are native) feel a great stigma against riding the light rail, and are willing to pay the outragious parking fees because it proves they are better off than the bus and train riders. Silly mentality I know.

If ridership continues to increase, they may add trains. There also may be equipment issues. They just spent a ton of money double tracking and are now looking to spend a ton more on the Red Line. This line has the unique feature in that it must be built in tunnels under parts of Baltimore and the tunnel will have to be build under the CSX Howard St Tunnel at one point.

gprimr1 wrote:In between Camden Yards and Mt. Royal, the tracks are in the road and there are no switches. Also, trains cross the roads nearly every block, limiting the amount of trains you can have at one point.

Since for the most part, trains don’t pre-empt traffic, the trains could end up stuck in the road or moving very slowly.

In another forum I post in, the Baltimore Central Light Rail is some times referred to as the White Snail because of the surface running on Howard Street and the less then optimum frequency of service during peak commuting hours.

Supposedly the traffic-light pre-emption project on Howard St. is active and "moving along." As some say, we are now in the 14th year of a one-year project.

As for service frequency, after all the expense and disruption of the double-tracking project, service on the outer extremities of the system (ie, BWI, Cromwell, and Hunt Valley) is now half what is was with the old partially single-track system. So much for building extra capacity to handle increased service.

"BaltOhio"
Supposedly the traffic-light pre-emption project on Howard St. is active and "moving along." As some say, we are now in the 14th year of a one-year project.

As for service frequency, after all the expense and disruption of the double-tracking project, service on the outer extremities of the system (ie, BWI, Cromwell, and Hunt Valley) is now half what is was with the old partially single-track system. So much for building extra capacity to handle increased service.

It is my understanding that the Baltimore City Department of Public Works has no intention of ever activating the traffic signal pre-emption system along Howard Street.

The Maryland State Highway Administration installed a similar traffic signal pre-emption system along Ricthie Highway MD-2 between Annapolis and Glen Burnie for the MTA busses that operate on that road. It’s still in place and unused.

The Baltimore Central Light Rail along with the Baltimore Metro and the transit busses that operate under the MTA name in around Baltimore and MARC are operated by the Maryland Transit Administration, a state agency, not a Metropolitan Transit or Transportation Authority. What you have here is those that control turf control traffic signal pre-emption systems.

I sometimes debate with myself about benefits of the decisions made by the state of Maryland when they decided to build the light rail line in the late 1980's/early 1990's. The on-street running on Howard in downtown Baltimore is a real pain in the butt, and north of downtown the line really isn't all that helpful because it doesn't run in or adjacent to built-up neighborhoods, making it a lot more inconvenient to use for Baltimore area residents who live near the line. The light rail also has an inconvenient link to Penn Station and is not well-connected to the Baltimore Metro Subway, both of which I think are major drawbacks. On the other hand, by doing the project "on the cheap" (largely utilizing existing rail right-of-way, at least north of downtown), it allowed the system to be implemented more quickly and lot more cheaply in the first place. (If I'm not mistaken, the light rail was pushed strongly by former MD governor William Donald Schaefer, particularly as a means to get to the then-new Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The light rail opened in spring 1992, shortly after OPACY opened.) Doing something underground in the downtown area in the same alignment would have also been difficult in the Howard Street area because of the existing freight tunnel in essentially the same location (which is a significant freight bottleneck even without passenger rail traffic, plus there are those regulations about running light rail on freight rail lines).

Notwithstanding some of the positives about the light rail, which allowed it to get started, I wish the MTA had done things a little differently with their Baltimore light rail line, namely 1) no on-street running in downtown Baltimore, 2) a more convenient connection to Penn Station (have the main line run directly to Penn Station if possible), and 3) have an alignment that made the line more convenient for residents/workers in the Baltimore area.

You are quit correct that William Donald Schaefer was the driving force behind the building of the light rail line. One of the reasons why the initial segment of the line was built on cheap is no federal grant moneys were used. Capitol funding came from the toll revenue from the toll facilities of the Maryland Transportation Authority. In my opinion complete Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System should have been built instead of the light rail line.

The decision to build the stadiums at there present locations came well after the initial segment of the light rail opened. One of the optional locations for the baseball stadium that was rejected was located in Lansdowne just inside the Baltimore Beltway off Baltimore Boulevard.

Were it not for Schaefer, there would have been no light rail system or, for that matter, any form of rail rapid transit beyond the previously existing subway. Schaefer wanted something quick, relatively cheap,and dramatic, and using the former Northern Central/PRR line was the only alternative. Building along or close to the major north-south corridor -- York Rd. -- would have been a lengthy, prohibitively expensive job, involving either subway or elevated construction. The tradeoff, of course, was to bypass the residential and commercial areas south of Timonium, and this will always be a problem. Ironically, however, those suburban communities convenient to the line -- notably Ruxton, Riderwood, and "old" Lutherville -- fought the line and even now refuse to have stations located in their area. I say "ironically" because all these communities were originally developed as railroad commuting suburbs and depended on the railroad.

The system's southern section is better located, thanks to its use of a former suburban/interurban railway (the Annapolis Short Line/WB&A/Baltimore & Annapolis) that developed muchof that area. But in this case the MTA has chosen to give the area the worst service.

Oriole Park (another Schaefer project) and the light rail line were developed at the same time, and per Scaefer's marching orders, the light rail line opened in time for the Orioles' first game at the new stadium. The football stadium did come later.


Part of the present problem is that the current state administration seems basically uninterested in real transit improvements. Republicans, after all, don't ride mass transit.

can the MTA simply add a third car during/after events to the consists?

Three-car trains were once the norm for special events and certain rush-hour trips. Apparently the practice has since been dropped, but I have no idea why.

My opinion is that it's a shame not to have signal preemption, and a disgrace to have signal preemption and not use it. Are the posts in this thread true, that money's been spent, or at least appropriated, for signal preemption that seems probably not to be used when it's installed?