MARC Riders Advisory Council Meeting March 21, 2019 Hall of States Room 233 Summary minutes

I. Call meeting to order (Steve Chan, Chairman): Called to order at 4:32 PM II. Introductions (Steve Chan, Chairman): III. Washington Union Station Claytor Concourse Modernization Program Dan Sporik, PE: Program Manager - Major Stations, Amtrak A. When the current stations concourse was configured, each day there were 5 Brunswick Line trains, 4 Camden Line trains and only 2 Penn Line trains of 2 cars each. Passenger demand has grown significantly since then. B. Union Station is operating at (or above) capacity. 1. 37 million people per year. Almost 50% more than DCA, BWI, or IAD airports. 2. The station has complex traffic flow providing multi-modal access. C. The work is based on the 2012 Master Plan Vision which outlined 1. Near term improvements. a) Focus for today’s presentation. 2. Long term improvements. a) Public outreach in the future. D. Project goal is modernization and to alleviate passenger and train congestion. 1. Move the gate wall north to increase waiting capacity and provide more room for movement. 2. Move the restrooms to the east and west end with collocated men’s, women’s, and family facilities. 3. Moved the HVAC equipment from mechanical rooms (that occupy floor space) to the roof. (Already done.) 4. Move the Amtrak Police facility to a new space to the north west, which will permit opening the hallway that connects WMATA to the MARC tracks and increase track access. E. Seating 1. Some new seats have been installed. Some have USB charging. 2. Construction will install extra electrical conduit to permit flexibility of seating that provides charging power. F. Open space permits more sight lines should make navigation easier.

G. Work to be done outside the passenger waiting area. 1. Electrification of tracks 8 & 9, to permit use by Penn Line electrics, to be completed within next 8 months. Work being mostly done nights and weekend so as to not disrupt commuter traffic. 2. Platform for track 16 to be raised to 48”, work starting late this year, to permit high level boarding, which will decrease boarding/detraining time. 3. Reintroduce track 22 for revenue service. Currently there is no access to the track. This track has access to the tunnel to Virginia, it will be a 15” platform to permit VRE low platform access. 4. The above changes will reduce train congestion and significantly increase train traffic fluidity. 5. Move electrical substation 25A north across a parking lot. H. Questions: 1. Will the capacity of the WMATA escalators (north entrance) be expanded? It belongs to WMATA, so up to them. WMATA has a first street entrance improvement which is being done in coordination with the work described here. But specific plans for the escalators need to be discussed with WMATA. 2. Current boarding arrangement on MARC at rush hour is very congested. What will improve after this work? a) Increase gate letters from K or L to disperse passengers and reduce clumping. b) From WMATA, the first access will be to track 7, so less wandering through the station. c) Number of doors available for MARC boarding may vary during the day. 3. Can something be done about the garage supports that are sometimes so close to the track that some car entrances are unusable? a) Near term nothing can be done to move the columns or track. There is a long term track realignment plan which will consider garage support locations. b) The very long term plan is to move the garage under the tracks. However, there are also plans to build over all of the tracks. 4. Will the train schedules change as a result of the concourse work? Track capacity is generally not expected to be impacted so there is no expectation of schedule impacts. However, station traffic flow will be significantly impacted. IV. Review of February Minutes (Christopher Field, Secretary): A. No changes reported. V. Review of February performance data (DJ) Katherine Read is off.: A. Report attached.

B. Questions: 1. Positive Train Control (PTC) is a new entry for reasons for delay. What is that? a) Introduced 1 January when Brunswick and Camden lines went under full PTC. (The Penn line is not yet under full PTC.) b) PTC relies on GPS position sensing and cellular data connections (provided by Verizon and AT&T) for trains to report their position. c) There are three causes for PTC delay: Trouble initializing the system (can happen when signals are weak so may require multiple attempts); Trains stop communicating position information because of an onboard issue; Train loses cell network connection during operation. VI. Update on March 4 Penn Line schedule change and 2019 Penn Line Amtrak trackwork David Johnson (DJ), Rail Operations Manager: A. Since the schedule change, the morning has been great, about 98% OTP. Unfortunately, the evening has not been doing so well. B. With one track out of service, northbound trains can’t pass until Bowie. Therefore, no MARC train may depart Union Station between 25 minutes ahead of an Acela, which depart 10 minutes before the hour, until 5 minutes after the Regional, which usually depart 5 minutes after the Acela. Therefore, Penn Line train may depart Union Station only during the first 25 minutes of each hour, a15 minutes shorter window than before. C. The current schedule is set up for ideal service with no excess capacity. Therefore, any disruption escalates. D. Unscheduled track work between Bayview and Gun Powder River constrained operations north of Baltimore by reducing the permitted speed 50%. That work is now finished, which should improve Perryville on time performance. E. The work being done on north bound track 1 is significant. 1. After the work is complete the track speed rating will be raised from 110 to 135 MPH. 2. The work requires installing new rail, adjusting and smoothing curves and work on the overhead catenary. 3. This summer (June and July), the 22 miles of track 1 will be out of service from Bowie to West Baltimore. 4. MARC will be increasing train lengths on the Camden Line to provide alternative travel options in the hope that some riders will divert there. F. Train 634 to Martin Airport has been particularly late and very crowded. It arrives 17 minutes later than scheduled. 1. MARC is extending train length to the maximum 8 cars possible to reduce crowding. 2. MARC now using two charger locomotives capable of 125 with higher acceleration. In the hope it will keep the schedule better. mph 3. 536 now has electric locomotive for higher speed and acceleration. G. Questions/comments: 1. 536 now getting to West Baltimore 10 minutes late. There has been no communication from train crews as to why. a) Train before (634) has higher loads than previously, so it dwells longer at each station than expected. b) Because it stops at West Baltimore, it is traveling on Track A between Halethorpe and West Baltimore (80 MPH speed limit.) There are discussions to move it to Track 1 (125 MPH speed limit), but safety of passengers crossing track A is a concern that must be addressed. c) It now has an electric locomotive for higher acceleration. d) MARC expressed some frustration that Odenton bound passengers aren’t waiting to use train 536, an Odenton express. 2. Comment that 600 series trains (those originating or terminating at Martins Airport) must be diesel because there is no electric at Martins Airport. 3. There was a comment from MARC that if train 634 is 2 minutes late then train 536 becomes 8 minutes late because of track speed restrictions. VII. Old Business: A. Charm Pass and Commuter Direct/Smart Benefits live 1 March. MARC Highest Charm Pass compared to Baltimore bus, light rail, metro. Second highest if those services are lumped together. B. Got approval (3 weeks) for the new MARC Tracker transponder in the Charger locomotives to go live. Roll out plan in April with May fully functional. MARC Tracker will become more accurate because the information available internally will be better. C. Re-requested that the specific date of passenger counts be in the reports. D. Camden Station waiting room. Building open late August 2019. 1. Reports that people are walking on the Light Rail Tracks. Please don’t walk on the track. E. Halethorpe elevator still has issues. Steve Chan will send an email to MARC describing the problem. F. Odenton station locks access control has been recycled. Expect the station to be open when it should be open. G. The council has not yet written a letter to MARC to address a rider’s concern about the prohibition of electric bikes on the train. VIII. New Business: A. Sometimes platforms are overloaded when departing and arriving trains share a platform. Do the dispatchers know what tracks at Union Station are currently boarding when they assign arriving trains? Train directors are aware of which tracks are loading. They try to group like trains so Acela tend to be on the East, regional in the center. MARC on the west. B. Northbound track at Odenton has very little shelter from the rain. Any chance to get more shelter installed? Maybe. IX. Meeting adjourned at 6:02 PM Upcoming meetings (Third Thursday of each month 4:30 to 6:00) April 18 , 2019 Teleconference May 16, 2019 In person June 20, 2019 Teleconference

Reminder: E-mail rail car or station defects to Katherine Read – kread@mta.maryland.gov

Attendance: An “X” means present in the room. A “P” means present by phone. A “L” means late.

MRAC Amtrak CSX Atif Adam Andreas Wilson Marco Tura Brian Love X Howard Carter Matt Gross P Carrie Blough X Mike Tierney Nancy Roberts Charles Enders Justin Waldron X Cheryl Bates Harris Shaquana Stephens X Christopher Field X TC Williamson Jr. MTA Corrine Lopez Andrea Farmer X Dan Sutherland Weiser Bombardier David Johnson X J.C. Hendrickson Amika Anderson Dean Del Peschio X Joe Conny X Bill Egan X Josh Wolf X J.P. Carnes-Stine X Christopher Bostic Katherine Read Judah Prero P Debbie Foster-Tomaschefsky Kyle Nembhard X June Brandt Jeff Gaffney Matt Mitchell Katherine Hodges P Josh McCormack Paul Krysowaty Katina Dashiell X Lee Woodward Thomasina Swilling Kelly Kopeikin Matthew Sturgeon Tom Mackay P LaToya R. Griffin Sean McCarty Steve Chan X Debbie Foster (for Amika) Emily Worth X

Guests John Morris X Adam Eidean X

MARC Train Service On-Time Performance February 2019

Same Month Month Year to Date 2018 Brunswick Line Brunswick 95.54% 97.47% 98.32% Frederick 96.30% 97.83% 95.69% West Virginia 96.30% 96.97% 97.44% Total Brunswick 96.04% 97.42% 97.16% Camden Line Camden 93.40% 92.70% 98.03% BTS OTP 94.60% 94.87% 97.63% Penn Line Baltimore 93.46% 92.17% 92.93% Perryville 88.46% 85.17% 85.32% Amtrak OTP 91.83% 89.90% 90.49%

MARC SYSTEM TOTAL OTP 92.87% 91.77% 93.21% MARC On Time Performance Summary February 2019

Penn Line Weekday 91.11% Month 89.36% Year to Date 93.81% AM Southbound (Trains 401‐423) 90.52% PM Northbound (Trains 426‐448) 91.07% AM Northbound (Trains 400‐412) 88.81% PM Southbound (Trains 537‐449)

Trains below 89% (late more than twice, red‐bold lower than 79%): 400 (83% month, 84% YTD) 502 (83% month, 90% YTD) 410 (85% month, 81% YTD) 532 (75% month, 81% YTD) 423 (83% month, 82% YTD) 579 (66% month, 68% YTD) 426 (80% month, 83% YTD) 520 (85% month, 88% YTD) 439 (83% month, 90% YTD) 537 (80% month, 76% YTD) 453 (77% month, 90% YTD) 548 (77% month, 81% YTD) 452 (77% month, 90% YTD) 610 (75% month, 59% YTD)

100% for month: 408, 412, 415, 416, 418, 422, 427, 428, 431, 433, 445, 554

Penn Line Weekend 98.33% Month 95.00% Year to Date

Bombardier Transportation Services OTP (Brunswick and Camden Lines): 94.60% Month 94.87% Year to Date

Brunswick Line 96.04% Month 97.42% Year to Date 95.68% AM Eastbound 96.39% PM Westbound Trains below 89% (late more than twice, red‐bold lower than 79%): None

100% for month: 879, 880, 881, 883, 892, 893, 895

Camden Line 93.40% Month 92.70% Year to Date 95.61% AM Westbound 93.18% PM Eastbound

Trains below 89% (late more than twice, red‐bold lower than 79%): None

100% for month: 843, 849, 850, 855 MARC On Time Performance – Discussion February 2019

February saw improvements in on time performance on all three lines.

Penn Line weekday service was up, especially the respective rush hours (94% AM, 91% PM). It should also be noted that only one peak direction train was below 80% (532) and that the number of trains with less than 90%, which means late more than twice, was significantly down (January – 24 trains, February – 14 trains). The continued delays to Train 610 have been addressed in the March 4 schedule change and this train will experience improvement. Other adjustments have been made as well to address the issue of northbound trains taking delays between West Baltimore and Penn Station due to holding for Amtrak trains.

The Camden Line has seen significant improvement. We will continue to work with CSX to ensure that this good performance continues. If we take out the most significant delays (freight train interference due to freight train mechanical problem on February 19, bridge strike at Laurel on February 20 and the February 25 trespasser strike), OTP for the month would be 95.43%. It should also be noted that no trains were late more than twice and three peak period trains were 100%

Brunswick Line and Penn Line weekend experienced no significant issues.

MARC Train Service Breakdown by Delays and Minutes: February 2019

Brunswick Line Camden Line Penn Line Minutes Delays % By % By Minutes Delays % By % By Minutes Delays % By % By Minutes Delays Minutes Delays Minutes Delays ACCIDENT 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 117 1 19.1% 2.7% 233 1 9.2% 0.8% COMMUNICATION/SIGNALS 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 21 3 3.4% 8.1% 78 5 3.1% 3.9% CREW 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 8 1 1.3% 2.7% 33 4 1.3% 3.1% DISPATCHER/INTERFERENCE 131 6 31.5% 46.2% 352 26 57.3% 70.3% 858 70 33.8% 54.7% MECHANICAL-EQUIP. 65 1 15.6% 7.7% 10 1 1.6% 2.7% 246 6 9.7% 4.7% MECHANICAL-HUMAN ERR. 22 1 5.3% 7.7% 28 2 4.6% 5.4% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% PASSENGER 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 56 4 2.2% 3.1% POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL 65 3 15.6% 23.1% 10 1 1.6% 2.7% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% SECONDARY DELAY 95 1 22.8% 7.7% 68 2 11.1% 5.4% 730 23 28.7% 18.0% SECURITY 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 148 3 5.8% 2.3% TRACK/CATENARY 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 160 12 6.3% 9.4% WEATHER 38 1 9.1% 7.7% 0 0 0.0% 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0.0%

416 13 614 37 2542 128

00 MARC Train Cancellations and Terminations February 2019 Date Line Train Cause Synopsis of Situation

2/4/2019 P 634, 440 Track/Catenary Trains skipped Halethorpe station due to broken rail on the northbound station platform track. Stop was skipped to reduce delays to subsequent trains. Passengers accomodated on Trains 430, 438, and 642.

2/5/2019 P 532 Mechanical‐Equipment Terminated at Penn Station due to leased Amtrak electric locomotive failure. Passengers transferred to Train 536 2/5/2019 P 451 Passenger Terminated at New Carrollton due to death of passenger on board the train and emergency/police response. Passengers transferred to an Acela Express train. 2/5/2019 P 548 Secondary Delay Cancelled due to no equipment or crew available due to termination of Train 451 (above). Passengers accomodated on Train 452.

2/11/2019 P 401 Mechanical‐Equipment Terminated at New Carrollton due to leased Amtrak electric locomotive failure. Passengers transferred to Train 536 2/11/2019 P 400, 413 Secondary Delay Trains cancelled due to termination of Train 401 (above). Passengers accomodated on next departures. 2/11/2019 P Mult. Dispatcher/Interference Multiple trains delayed 15‐70 minutes due to mechanical problem with Train 401 (above).

2/14/2019 P 423 Mechanical‐Equipment Train cancelled due to diesel locomotive failure. Passengers accomodated on Train 525.

2/15/2019 B 890 Mechanical‐Equipment Train cancelled due to diesel locomotive failure. Passengers accomodated on Trains 872 and 892.

2/15/2019 B 891 Secondary Delay Train cancelled due to no equipment or crew available due to cancellation of Train 890. Passengers accomdated on Trains 873 and 875, with additional Frederick TransIT buses sent to Point of Rocks. 2/22/2019 P 439 Mechanical‐Equipment Cancelled due to leased Amtrak electric locomotive failure. Passengers transferred to Train 641. 2/22/2019 P 438 Secondary Delay Train cancelled due to termination of Train 439 (above). Passengers accomodated on Train 440 and Train 536 added a stop at BWI. MARC Train Cancellations and Terminations February 2019 Date Line Train Cause Synopsis of Situation

2/24/2019 P 694 Accident Train delayed four hours due to striking and killing a trespasser walking on the tracks between Bowie State and Odenton. Once law enforcement released the scene, a rescue train was operated into the area and passengers transferred to complete their trip.

2/25/2019 C 859 Accident Train terminated at Greenbelt due to striking a trespasser walking on the tracks between Laurel and Muirkirk. Trespasser was not fatally injured and train released to continue once police cleared the scene. 2/25/2019 C 858 Secondary Delay Train cancelled due to termination of Train 859 (above). Passengers accomodated on Train 860 and Penn Line. MARC Train Service Weekday Station Boardings Comparison Report February 2019 vs. February 2018

Penn Line North 2019 South 2019 Total 2019 North 2018 South 2018 Total 2018 Perryville 0 136 136 0 152 152 Aberdeen 0 178 178 0 227 227 Edgewood 0 260 260 0 230 230 Martin Airport 0 350 350 1 359 360 Penn 95 3,455 3,550 177 2,992 3,169 West Baltimore 1 697 698 11 827 838 Halethorpe 28 1,087 1,115 40 1,470 1,510 BWI 72 1,886 1,958 117 2,026 2,143 Odenton 143 2,177 2,320 138 2,129 2,267 Bowie 205 579 784 151 676 827 Seabrook 50 353 403 46 440 486 New Carrollton 558 459 1,017 520 557 1,077 Washington, Union Station 10,400 0 10,400 10,719 0 10,719 Totals 11,552 11,617 23,169 11,920 12,085 24,005

Camden Line East 2019 West 2019 Total 2019 East 2018 West 2018 Total 2018 Camden 0 355 355 0 380 380 St. Denis 0 11 11 0 13 13 Dorsey 13 568 581 19 567 586 Jessup 011 0 11 Savage 16 392 408 24 371 395 Laurel Race Track 011 0 22 Laurel 40 633 673 40 649 689 Muirkirk 38 355 393 20 440 460 Greenbelt 28 17 45 30 30 60 College Park 142 25 167 132 46 178 Riverdale 26 58 84 16 54 70 Washington, Union Station 2,406 0 2,406 2,189 0 2,189 Totals 2,709 2,416 5,125 2,470 2,553 5,023 Brunswick Line East 2019 West 2019 Total 2019 East 2018 West 2018 Total 2018 Washington, Union Station 0 3,001 3,001 0 3,229 3,229 Silver Spring 26 487 513 45 531 576 Kensington 196 16 212 217 14 231 Garrett Park 55 1 56 64 1 65 Rockville 211 266 477 248 265 513 Washington Grove 37 4 41 54 2 56 Gaithersburg 444 35 479 518 36 554 Metropolitan Grove 296 12 308 295 10 305 Germantown 951 14 965 960 14 974 Boyds 21 0 21 20 0 20 Barnesville 93 0 93 91 0 91 Dickerson 23 0 23 23 0 23 Point of Rocks 412 0 412 369 0 369 Monocacy 232 0 232 317 0 317 Frederick 83 0 83 114 0 114 Brunswick 516 1 517 515 1 516 Harpers Ferry 51 0 51 57 0 57 Duffields 91 0 91 103 0 103 Martinsburg, WV 127 0 127 84 0 84 Totals 3,865 3,837 7,702 4,094 4,103 8,197 MARC Train Service Penn Line Station Boardings Report Saturday, February 16, 2019

Station North South Total Line Percent System Percent Martin Airport 01818 0% 0% Penn 5 1,371 1,376 36% 36% West Baltimore 37376 2% 2% Halethorpe 21 87 108 3% 3% BWI 70 295 365 10% 10% Odenton 38 147 185 5% 5% Bowie 50 31 81 2% 2% Seabrook 000 0% 0% New Carrollton 112 39 151 4% 4% Washington, Union Station1,419 0 1,419 38% 38% Totals 1,718 2,061 3,779 100% 100%

MARC Train Service Penn Line Station Boardings Report Sunday, February 17, 2019

Station North South Total Line Percent System Percent Martin Airport 01818 1% 1% Penn 0 860 860 32% 32% West Baltimore 05858 2% 2% Halethorpe 15051 2% 2% BWI 8 192 200 7% 7% Odenton 98594 4% 4% Bowie 19 10 29 1% 1% Seabrook 000 0% 0% New Carrollton 90 5 95 4% 4% Washington, Union Station1,267 0 1,267 47% 47% Totals 1,394 1,278 2,672 100% 100%