How Reliable is the MARC Train from Germantown to Union Station.......... (Baltimore: transfer to, buy)

[Quaker15]

How reliable is the MARC train from Germantown to Union Station?

[Quaker15]

No one in here has experience with the MARC train?

[Popquez87]

I've never done the MARC from Germantown to Union Station, but in general I've found it to be quite reliable. I usually use it to get to Baltimore or BWI from Union Station and found it usually arrives and leaves on time and the trip itself is quite pleasant. This is from using it roughly 5 times in the past three years. Maybe someone with more experience can give a more detailed account of their experience.

[tw71]

I take the MARC daily but I come from way out in Brunswick to the Rockville station and back each day. I've never taken it in to Union Station.

I can tell you that by and large, it's reliable and on time. Their employees seem to take their job pretty seriously, including being "clock watchers" and making sure every train leaves a station at the time it says on the schedule. (I guess to an extent, they have no choice though - as they share the tracks with CSX freight trains who own them, and the MARC has to run in the time windows they're given.)

You can buy a monthly pass for the MARC, or if you'll be using the metro as well - buy a TLC card for $111/month more. They give you unlimited use of metro buses and metrorail as well as the MARC train.

[Quaker15]

Originally Posted by tw71

You can buy a monthly pass for the MARC, or if you'll be using the metro as well - buy a TLC card for $111/month more. They give you unlimited use of metro buses and metrorail as well as the MARC train.

So the cost of a TLC card is the cost of your MARC train ride plus $111, which would only make sense if your Metro ride exceeds $111 per month, right?

Are there tons of free parking at the Germantown MARC station?

[Quaker15]

Originally Posted by Popquez87

I've never done the MARC from Germantown to Union Station, but in general I've found it to be quite reliable.

How many delays do you get a month or a year?

[tw71]

Well, yes... In my case though, I work in downtown Bethesda. So the MARC train can't really get me any closer than the Rockville station, where I can easily transfer to the red line metro and ride it in to Bethesda. When you add up the cost of metro fare between Rockville and Bethesda stations for the daily commute, you're probably looking at about $7/day ($3.50 fare each direction, give or take?).

So that would be $140/month, making the $111 cost of the TLC card a better value.

But don't forget the TLC is for unlimited usage, so if I decide I randomly want to run out at lunch time to Best Buy at the Tenleytown metro stop or meet someone at a restaurant at some other stop along the red line, I can do that too.

I don't ever really use the bus system, but the TLC card gives you free bus fare as well -- if that's of interest.

I've never dealt with the parking at the Germantown MARC station, but I believe it is one of the bigger lots.

Originally Posted by Quaker15

So the cost of a TLC card is the cost of your MARC train ride plus $111, which would only make sense if your Metro ride exceeds $111 per month, right?

Are there tons of free parking at the Germantown MARC station?

[Quaker15]

Anyone else?

[Quaker15]

I guess it is not widely used?

[kcmo]

I used to take it every day from Germantown to Silver Spring. I though it was great. It was almost always on time. I took it to Union Station a few times, it's only about ten more minutes from Silver Spring and I don't think there would be any problems. Typically if there are delays, they are caused by weather or a train hitting a pedestrian etc, but those are pretty rare incidents.

I no longer live in Germantown so I don't use MARC, but the person that sits next to me in the office uses it every day. He complains about delays once in a while, but they trains are still pretty dependable.

The good thing about Germantown to Union Station is you will have a lot more trains to choose from. All trains stop at Germantown I think so you can catch any MARC train even if it's going to WV etc. Also since you are catching it at Union Station, the PM trains will have seats. I had to stand often when I got on at Silver Spring, although seats would open up at Rockville. MARC is a great option if you are working near Union Station or can make a quick connection via the Red Line or bus. Driving down 270 is brutal and the Red Line into DC from Rockville takes a lot longer. Plus the MARC trains are just nicer than metro trains for longer commutes.