New Time, New Train Schedule

MARC marked the time change by unveiling a new schedule.  The new schedule is the transit system's attempt to thwart the malfunctions and breakdowns that occurred during last summer's heat wave.  According to MARC officials, the new schedule means shorter trains running more often.   Those of us that ride the train from beginning to end are seeing little benefit from the move.  First, while the trains may be shorter, there aren't any more that run to Perryville, Aberdeen and Edgewood, the farthest stops from Washington, DC.  And, at least on the Southbound routes, these trains make every single stop so not only do they take longer to arrive at the final destination, fewer cars mean more people standing.  The Northbound trains are a bit better, at least for now.  I've actually been arriving home about five minutes earlier than under the old schedule.  The concern, however, is that with more trains operating when summer temperatures are on the rise, when one breaks down the end result could mean extra delays for all trains running after it.  It may take such an incident before MARC re-looks the schedule and attempts to revamp it yet again.