Max Smith, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Starting Monday, MARC Brunswick Line passengers will have to adjust their routines.
Schedule changes — the first major modification in the Brunswick Line in 10 years — mean most trains will arrive or depart at different times than in the past.
Here are some of the MARC changes:
- The first train to leave Brunswick will depart at 4:50 a.m.;
- The first train to leave Frederick will depart at 5 a.m.
In those two cases, that’s 10 minutes earlier than the previous schedules. But Trains 870 and 890 are scheduled to arrive in D.C. just a few minutes earlier, due to added stops along the way.
The final trains of the morning will arrive in D.C. a bit later than under the previous schedule.
Several trains throughout the morning have had stops added or removed.
In the afternoon, many trains scheduled to leave Union Station before 5 p.m. will leave earlier than under the previous schedule. The 5:15 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. trains are scheduled to leave at the same time they have in the past, while trains later in the evening will now depart 10- to 20 minutes later.
One of the biggest afternoon changes is the elimination of express service to Point of Rocks on Train 877, what used to be the 4:55 p.m. departure from Washington. The train that used to stop only at Silver Spring and Rockville before reaching Point of Rocks, will now leave at 4:45 p.m. and make local stops. Under the new schedule, that train no longer continues beyond Point of Rocks to Brunswick, Harpers Ferry, W.Va., Duffields, W.Va. or Martinsburg, W.Va.
For people who use the trains to commute to and from West Virginia, or tend to get home late, the new schedule notes the final train of the night is now scheduled to leave at 7:25 p.m., arriving in Brunswick at 8:50 p.m. where it will meet connecting bus service to Harpers Ferry and beyond.
MARC says it has adjusted this schedule in response to passenger feedback on the original proposals.
There may be some tweaks made in a few months if needed.
Related Content:
Follow Max and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
