Vacation is over

It's back to work and the daily commute after a week of vacation.  And frankly, it looks as if I chose the right week not to take the train, as the headline of this morning's newspaper -- Train commutes are off the rails -- was the lead in to a story of delays and stranded riders on both the MARC and VRE trains last week.  The most interesting bit information in the story came from a VRE spokesperson who stated that "About 45 percent of delays are well within our control. . ."  The comment begs the question then, why aren't things getting better?  The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.  According to MARC, increased ridership causes more delays.  Rather than add cars or trains to accommodate the increased riders, however, MARC seems to taking a different approach -- not making any improvements so people won't want to ride the train.  I believe the thinking is that if no one rides the train, MARC could keep to its schedule.  Now there's some logic for you.  I'm just glad this is a short week.