MARC Penn Line Schedule To Be Overhauled

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Maryland transit officials plan to overhaul the schedule of the heavily used MARC Penn Line in a bid to ease crowding and reduce stress on train engines. 

The Maryland Transit Administration announced Friday that it will run shorter trains during peak hours but run them more often. Officials believe the changes will add as many as 1,000 seats each rush hour. There will be two additional round-trip trains in the morning and two more in the afternoon. 

The new schedule will take effect March 14 and will be e-mailed Monday to MARC customers. The changes are part of the fallout from last summer's breakdown of a Baltimore-bound train that left up to 1,200 people stranded for two hours in sweltering heat. 

The Penn Line runs between Baltimore's Penn Station and Union Station in Washington, with some trains going farther north, to Perryville in Cecil County. 

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)