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I'm talking about rail that travels throughout the metropolitan area, not just the city (i.e., MetroNorth, SEPTA, MARC, Tri-Rail, etc). If so, is ridership high?
In Boston we have what I would term regional rail to compliment rapid transit rail (ie the subway). I use the term regional rail rather than commuter rail because it is not simply used for commuting, and the schedule is not fixed to the rush hour. Many commuter rail systems only run in the morning and afternoon, without any opposite direction trains, mid-day service, etc. There are a few lines that actually have cities for both terminals (Providence-Boston, Worcester-Boston, Lowell-Boston) and they see commuter ridership in both directions. Boston is the only city served by multiple lines, though. And many of the lines that pass through significant swaths of urban territory behave more like rapid transit in that the stations are close to one another, serve mostly people who walk to the station, etc. Total daily ridership is about 140,000.
As of November 16th, service will begin on a new 40-mile commuter rail line providing access to downtown Minneapolis from communities to the northwest (Fridley, Coon Rapids, Anoka, Elk River, Big Lake). This is our first commuter line (we also only have one LRT line). Their website showing the route is as follows:
Nashville has the Music City Star which currently operates one line from downtown to the eastern suburbs. It's small but ambitious in its growth plans. It's also taxpayer friendly since it uses existing rail lines. Unfortunately the train surged in popularity during the gas crisis last year but has now fallen back to low ridership.
Chicago also has the South Shore Line that runs to the South Bend area, though that is a minor component relative to Metra.
With New York, most though not all of NJ Transit's rail ridership is associated with that city. The NJT Atlantic City Line actually runs into Philadelphia. Sort of like the South Shore Line in Chicago, the NJT Atlantic City Line is just a minor component of the Philadelphia commuter/regional rail system, most of which is served by SEPTA.
In the Northeast, some of the commuter/regional rail systems serving different cities connect with one another outside the central city. The most notable example is NJ Transit and SEPTA hooking up in Trenton. There is also some overlap between Metro-North and Shore Line East in coastal Connecticut.
In the area where I live (the DC area), there are two commuter rail operators, MARC (in Maryland) and VRE (in Virginia) providing service on a total of 5 lines. I consider these systems "immature" systems in that they have limited/no reverse commute, midday, or weekend service. The only one of the 5 lines that has regular reverse commute and midday service is the MARC Penn Line, which has those features in large part because it serves both Washington and Baltimore and also operates on the Northeast Corridor (very limited conflicts with freight rail traffic). Actually, two of the three Maryland commuter rail lines connect Washington and Baltimore.
It should be noted the Amtrak serves a commuter rail-like function in some locations, such the entire Boston to Washington corridor (and especially the New York-Philadelphia segment), the Philadelphia-Harrisburg corridor, a few corridors in California (both northern and southern California), and to a lesser degree the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor.
Yep, MARC Commuter rail--three lines with about 32,000 passengers a day (about midpack by nationwide standards). Ridership has been skyrocketing for the past few years, even after gas prices went back down. The major line (the DC-Baltimore-Perryville Penn Line which has more riders than the other 2 combined) is standing room only on most rush hour trains. Some interesting trivia about MARC:
-The Camden Line is the oldest continually operating passenger rail line in the country, and runs over the oldest rail bridge in the country. It was originally a B&O Line.
-The electrified Penn Line (which operates on Amtrak's Boston-NYC-DC Northeast Corridor) is the fastest commuter rail line in the country operating at speeds of up to 125mph.
MARC train at BWI Airport with electric locomotive:
Diesel MARC train at Camden station in Baltimore:
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5267959/0-Transportation-Train2FI295-main_Full.jpg (broken link)
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHIP72
...In the area where I live (the DC area), there are two commuter rail operators, MARC (in Maryland) and VRE (in Virginia) providing service on a total of 5 lines. I consider these systems "immature" systems in that they have limited/no reverse commute, midday, or weekend service...
There were actually were gonna start weekend service summer of 2008 on the Penn Line, but Amtrak (which the MTA contracts to operate MARC on that line) had employee issues with that and the recession and the subsquent state budget troubles happened. Remember though that unlike any other commuter rail service in the country, MARC caters mostly to federal employees who don't work on weekends or federal holidays. There's actually a few reverse flow trains on the Camden Line although that line has the worst service overall.
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