State [of MD] to close [part of] light rail line to add track

Baltimore Sun ^ | 1/30/04 | Stephen Kiehl

[foreverfree]

[beginning of article]

The state will shut down the light rail line south of Camden Yards for about seven months, severing the city's rail link with Baltimore-Washington International Airport and forcing some Orioles and Ravens fans to find different routes to the stadiums.

The shutdown from Feb. 28 until October will allow the Maryland Transit Administration to add a second track to portions of the line that have a single track. Single tracking has limited the frequency of trains and contributed to persistent low ridership.

[snip]

[foreverfree]

Light rail seems to be a favorite whipping boy on FR, so I thought I'd make this a thread topic.

foreverfree

[bcoffey]

Light rail seems to be a favorite whipping boy on FR

I believe they call it loot rail in Baltimore as it allows the inner city folks to ride out to rob the more affluent suburbs.

[PAR35]

I'm a fan of light rail when done correctly, but I had to laugh when I saw that they were planning to double the capacity of the line due to low ridership, and promote usage by shutting down the line for the best part of a year.

[breakem]

and nice touch to close a line, that runs by the Yard, during baseball season.

[Seajay]

The Rob-And-Ride ...

[PAR35]

There used to be MARC service from DC and Baltimore to the Yard and BWI. I wonder if that will be available.