Still more Thursday rail news:
— A resolution in Delaware’s General Assembly would direction the state’s Department of Transportation to work with neighboring states and railroads to fill a 20-mile gap in commuter rail service between Newark, Del., and Perryville, Md. Delaware Public Media reports the resolution seek to have Maryland’s MARC and Pennsylvania’s SEPTA meet in Newark to close the gap, currently served only by Amtrak. Maryland’s legislature has already passed a law requiring negotiations with Delaware and railroads to extend MARC service to Newark [see “News Wire Third Section for Friday, March 20”]. The resolution is hold with Delaware’s legislature postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
— The National Transportation Safety Board says a subgrade fill failure of the track structure led to a 2018 derailment of a CSX train that sent eight cars off a bridge and onto a Norfolk Southern line below. The report issued earlier this month dealt with a May 19, 2018, accident in Alexandria, Va., that led to disruption of Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express service [see “Clean-up continues of CSX DC derailment,” Trains News Wire, May 21, 2018].
— Durand, Mich., has cancelled its annual Railroad Days Festival, scheduled for May 14-17. The cancellation was announced in a brief message on the event’s Facebook page: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Railroad Days 2020 has been canceled! We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” It was to have been the 44th annual Railroad Days.
I don’t see how the MD-DE gap is “currently served only by Amtrak.” Amtrak doesn’t stop between Aberdeen MD and Newark DE. (and very few Amtrak trains stop at Newark DE. BTW the “ark” in Newark DE is pronounced like Noah’s boat). MARC Perryville is North of Aberdeen.
Newark DE is less congested than Wilmington. MARC could possibly use the U of Delaware Star Campus (former Chrysler plant) as a yard.
Perhaps the best known “sub-grade fill failure” is the bottomless sink hole on the old Pennsy between Trenton and Pctn. Jct. For more than a century the Pennsy and Amtrak have dumped rock into it. Many years ago talking with a conductor, who stated that the only solution floated (pun intended) was to drive pilings. Wonder if anyone knows that happened?
Tom, that gap may disappear too as I vaguely remember seeing something about bringing some New Haven Line trains into Penn Station.
If SEPTA and MARC close the gap in Delaware, that would leave only the sections between Wickford Jct, RI and New London, CT (44 miles) and new Rochelle, CT and New York Penn (20 miles?) as the only gaps in commuter rail on the Corridor.
IMHO, it would make more sense to interface at either Baltimore or Wilmington. What MD resident working in Wilmington, or DE resident working in or near Baltimore, would want to change trains at Newark? Septa and NJT have a perfect interface at Trenton.