Copyright 2000 The Baltimore Sun Company
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The Baltimore Sun
December 21, 2000 Thursday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 2B
LENGTH: 310 words
HEADLINE:
MARC, CSX make pact to improve Camden line;
$36 million
marked to relieve congestion
BYLINE: Marcia Myers
SOURCE: SUN STAFF
BODY:
A
new agreement between the Maryland Rail Commuter service and
CSX Transportation will provide $36 million in funds for
improvements to a service whose tracks have been troubled frequently by
congestion from freight trains and signal malfunctions.
Although officials said yesterday that MARC service has improved
significantly in recent months, the new contract creates incentives to help keep
it that way. In the year after CSX's takeover of part of the Conrail freight
system in June 1999, on-time service dipped as low as 56 percent on the Camden
line, according to Kathy Waters, manager and chief operating officer for MARC,
which is part of the state Mass Transit Administration.
The Camden line
runs between Baltimore and Washington.
Under the previous contract, the
state had no option for penalizing CSX for such service failures. The new
contract permits the state to collect financial penalties if service drops below
90 percent during a given month. It also will pay a bonus into a capital
investment fund when the trains perform above 95 percent.
Waters said
specific improvements have not been identified, but she expects attention will
be focused on relieving bottleneck areas between an area of the Camden line
between Camden Yards and the St. Dennis stop, and a midpoint on that line.
"We're also looking at improvements off of the main lines where MARC
operates and where freight congestion spills over into our operating area," she
said.
A long-term study also will be undertaken to identify priorities
for future investments, she added.
Of the $36 million,
$24 million will be paid out of federal funds, and the state
and CSX will each pay $6 million.
In addition to the
capital investments, the package provides $29 million for CSX
to operate the MARC service over the next 3 1/2 years.
LOAD-DATE: December 21, 2000
