WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA RAIL COMMUTER FEASIBILITY STUDY

A restructured commuter rail service, embracing three important routes in the Washington metropolitan area, could be operated on weekdays under conditions requiring only a very modest level of support payments after service is well underway. The estimated expenses of operation, annualized would be on the order of $2.74 million while revenues are estimated at $2.37 million. The acquisition of rehabilitated main line rail equipment would set the capital needs at approximately nine million dollars. A new concept for operation is suggested which, from an experimental standpoint, would be a first in the nation. Commuter trains and crews running on the B&O Brunswick line and the RF&P Quantico line would be "interlined." They would proceed from their terminal at one end of the two-route commuter zone to the other and then turn back. This mode of operation would substantially reduce capital outlays for equipment, and at the same time, provide excellent cross-metropolitan area schedules for an expanded rider base by linking Washington's central business district and the southwest employment centers with such suburban employment complexes as Crystal City, Virginia and Rockville, Maryland. The Baltimore area rider origins, which represent about half of the total ridership, should be consolidated into an improved Penn Central Baltimore-Washington service. The First Street tunnel should be electrified in order to provide a through service link for Penn Central. Operation of electrified trains by Penn Central would be less expensive than the use of diesel or turbine propelled trains.

• Corporate Authors:

  Englund (CR)

  Transportation Consultant
  ,   United States 
• Publication Date: 1971-5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuter service
• Geographic Terms: Washington Metropolitan Area
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00044212
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Urban Mass Transportation Administration
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 15 1974 12:00AM