Brunswick Line

Brunswick Line
The station depot at Boyds station along the Brunswick line, seen in July 2012 from the station parking lot.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MARC Train
Status	Active
Locale	Washington D.C. and northern Maryland suburbs; West Virginia
Termini	Washington Union Station Martinsburg, WV
Stations	19
Daily ridership	8,138[1]
Operation
Opened	1873
Owner	CSX Transportation (tracks)
Operator(s)	Bombardier Transportation/Maryland Transit Administration
Technical
Line length	74 mi (119 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Amtrak to Chicago Martinsburg Duffields Harpers Ferry West Virginia Maryland Potomac River South Mountain Tunnel Brunswick Catoctin Tunnel Point of Rocks Tunnel Point of Rocks Frederick Monocacy Monocacy River Dickerson Barnesville Boyds Germantown Metropolitan Grove Gaithersburg Washington Grove Rockville Garrett Park Kensington Silver Spring Maryland Washington, D.C. Penn & Camden Lines Union Station

The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a branch to Frederick, Maryland. The line, MARC's longest, is operated under contract to MARC by Bombardier Transportation and runs on CSX-owned track, including the Metropolitan, Old Main Line, and Cumberland Subdivisions. It is the successor to commuter services provided by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), which date to the mid-19th century.

History

Prior to MARC, the B&O operated commuter trains between Washington and Martinsburg, which continued even after the start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Maryland began subsidizing the trains in 1974 and, in 1975, assumed full responsibility for the subsidy and equipment replacement. West Virginia followed suit soon after, guaranteeing service to its stations.^[2]

In 1983, Maryland – along with a number of other Northeastern states – took control of its commuter railroads, organizing them under the "MARC" (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) service name.^[3] Trains on the Brunswick Line were operated under contract by CSX Transportation. Brunswick Line service was augmented in 1986 when Amtrak transferred its Washington–Martinsburg Blue Ridge to MARC after agreeing to subsidize the train for five years.^[2]

In May 2010, MARC announced that it planned to find a new operator for the Brunswick and Camden Lines after CSX announced its desire to discontinue operation of commuter trains.^[4] MARC selected Bombardier Transportation Services USA Corporation (BTS) (a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Transportation) to replace CSX, and BTS assumed operations and maintenance of the lines on June 29, 2013. CSX continues to dispatch the lines.^[5]

Rolling stock

Brunswick Line trains typically have 3–6 single or bilevel passenger cars and one or two diesel locomotives. The trains operate in a push-pull configuration, with the cab car typically facing Washington.

Prior to being replaced by new Bombardier Multilevel II cars, MARC's ex-Metra Pullman Gallery cars were used exclusively on the Brunswick Line, which is the only MARC line with all low-level platforms (excepting the Frederick Branch, which has high platforms at Monocacy station).

Service

The Brunswick Line only has service on weekdays,^[6] with 9 trains in each direction, and an additional train outbound from Union Station on Fridays. Three of the 9 trains in each direction serve the Frederick branch. Of the remainder, 3 inbound and 5 outbound serve Martinsburg, while the remainder originate or terminate at Brunswick. A bus runs between Frederick and Point of Rocks, meeting trains that do not serve the Frederick Branch.^[7]

Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry, Rockville, and Union Station are also served daily by the Amtrak Capitol Limited. Connections to the Washington Metro's Red Line are available at Rockville, Silver Spring, and Union stations.

Stations

The Brunswick Line serves the following stations. Not all trains stop at all stations.

References

Route map: