MARC, VRE Discuss Regional Rail Partnership

[davinp]

MARC and VRE are talking about working together, extending each service into the other’s state, giving riders more options and improving their commutes.

The plan would mean MARC and VRE trains wouldn’t have to turn around at Union Station, creating a true regional rail system that no longer looks at borders as stopping points.

MARC trains would stop at VRE's L'Enfant Plaza station in Washington D.C. But for that to happen we'd need increased track capacity

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[Arlington]

MARC and VRE are talking about working together, extending each service into the other’s state, giving riders more options and improving their commutes.

The plan would mean MARC and VRE trains wouldn’t have to turn around at Union Station, creating a true regional rail system that no longer looks at borders as stopping points.

MARC trains would stop at VRE's L'Enfant Plaza station in Washington D.C. But for that to happen we'd need increased track capacity

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 57971.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Understanding that "real" through-running requires a billion-dollar bridge, baby steps are important.

The baby step of getting MARC to L'Enfant would be well-worth it for Maryland (a one-seat ride) and WMATA (off-loading folks that crowd the Red Line and its transfer points) and DC. I have to believe those 3 can work together (with VRE) to get a new L'Enfant which is the most natural "commuter hub" for the metro area.

Maybe we could also see the baby step of VRE going to one of the future Purple Line connections--Silver Spring, College Park, or New Carrollton

[NH2060]

Once those steps are completed perhaps the time will come at some point in the future to simply merge the two and pool their resources? It won't exactly make any sense to have 2 separate non-Amtrak rail services serving the same stops on each side of Union Station on consistent basis for more than just a limited AM and PM peak setup.