Weekend MARC Trains From Baltimore To D.C. Break Ridership Records
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The MARC trains from Baltimore's Penn Station to Washington's Union Station continue to see more riders on the weekends. This comes after a few months of extended Saturday and Sunday service.
Gigi Barnett explains it's going so well, the state says it wants more passengers to ride.
A robust Penn Station on the weekend. It's what train passengers wanted. Well, they got it back in December. More MARC trains now go to and from Washington, D.C. on Saturday and Sunday.
Now the Maryland Transit Administration, or MTA for short, plans to add more cars to its trains.
"I think it's awesome that they're doing it, that they're allowing more trains, because it allows for more different times for people to get on the MARC trains," said Rae Daniel.
"It's very convenient. Better than driving," Deepa Patel said.
Last weekend, passengers broke ridership records. More than 6,500 took a one-way or round-trip ride to D.C.'s Union Station. That's the most ever on a weekend--so far.
Month after month, more riders keep buying tickets since the service started back in December. Now with more cars, the MTA is expecting that number to shoot up.
"These additional cars mean that we will be able to accommodate 653 passengers per train, as opposed to the 389 passengers that we were accommodating before," said Paulette Austrich, MTA spokesperson.
As spring approaches, the additions come at the right time. That's according to Baltimore's tourism board, Visit Baltimore.
Tom Noonan runs the agency. He believes the additional cars will bring a boost to Charm City businesses.
"The reality is, if you're living in D.C. right now and you decide you want to come to an O's game or maybe you want to come to the new casino when it opens, you'll come up here, spend money and leave it in the city of Baltimore," Noonan said. "The timing couldn't be better than right now."
MARC weekend service offers 15 round-trips between Baltimore and D.C. A one-way ticket is the same as it is on the weekdays -- $7.
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