Wouldn’t it have made sense to send a message like this months ago instead of leaving customers to stew with no word other than occasional comments to Michael Dresser by their spokeswoman after another expected service date was a month or more overdue?

A Message from the MTA Administrator concerning the new MARC Locomotives:

As part of a program to increase the capacity and reliability of MARC Train service, the Maryland Transit Administration is purchasing 26 new diesel locomotives which will replace existing locomotives that are nearing the end of their service life. The new locomotives are more powerful than those they will replace and meet stringent new emissions requirements. While the first units were delivered to MTA several months ago, none has yet been put into service due to testing required to meet federal and MTA safety and performance standards. Given the level of interest among MARC riders, we thought it would be useful to provide information about this complex situation.

MARC equipment must comply with a variety of federal requirements before it can be put into service. This includes an analysis of hardware and software used to control or monitor safety functions to ensure it operates as it was intended. This analysis is called a “Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis” or FMECA. The FMECA identifies the consequences of failure of equipment, software or components on the function of an overall system, and classifies each potential failure according to its probability and severity.

At the same time, MARC equipment must comply with the MTA’s own safety standards. MTA’s safety plan requires that a hazard analysis be part of the design and manufacturing of the equipment, and the FMECA is one of those hazard analyses.

In its final testing of the new MARC locomotives the MTA concluded that additional documentation of the FMECA is required to comply with federal regulations. This documentation must be prepared by the manufacturer, and MTA and the manufacturer have agreed to an approach to this issue. Today the Board of Public Works approved a change to MTA’s contract with the manufacturer to conduct this additional analysis. The manufacturer has committed to expedite the work, and the schedule calls for the locomotives to be in service by the end of the year.

At the same time, we are seeking additional guidance from the federal agencies that regulate MARC Train operation. Should they respond in a manner that would allow us to expedite the process of getting the locomotives into service sooner, we will follow that direction.

MTA understands this process is frustrating to MARC riders waiting for more reliable service, However, given that the performance of these locomotives will impact MARC operations, safety and customer satisfaction for decades to come, it is critically important that we be assured this new equipment meet all federal and MTA standards.

We appreciate your patience and understanding. Best wishes, and thank you for riding MARC Train.

Paul J. Wiedefeld

Administrator