Julia Marsh

Either Vice President Joe Biden or his wife Jill are responsible for the occasional “security hold” delays out of Union Station, said MTA MARC Train Director John Hovatter.

I noticed the “security hold” delays over the past week or so. They have never called them that before when they even bothered to mention them. Reports from numerous MARC passengers indicate that it’s usually accompanied by barricades on the platforms and government vehicles driving right in to the platforms at Union Station. This has been going on off and on at least since Biden’s election as VP in November 2008. The “security hold” delay announcement for MTA just showed up in the past week or two.

I can safely say this since I was a daily MARC passenger from Martin Airport to Union Station every morning from July 2008-July 2009 and then rode back to either BWI or Martin most afternoons on the way home. I still am an occasional MARC passenger but I’m usually lucky enough to leave after morning rush hour and get out of DC before the afternoon rush when possible. I have been subscribed to the MARC (and every other MTA service) email alerts for every single line for sometime now in an effort to provide coverage on this site when major delays (even the ones MTA refers to as minor) pop up.

Maybe this “security hold” reason given for MARC delays is being thrown in for Biden-caused delays to get people ready for the new security checkpoints MARC says they’re implementing starting today? Some call it security theater at this point for MARC to only start these in late 2009.

I have blogged before about passengers emailing about Biden causing their commute to be lengthened by delays during the middle of afternoon rush hour before and I’d heard it firsthand from people waiting on platforms before. In most of those cases a generic delay was given if any delay at all was given. Of course, not giving an explanation for delays is almost SOP at some points with MARC in my past experience.

I have some objections to these delays. The first is security related. I don’t know that the Secret Service cares too much for normal travel by train for the VP or his family. Railroads are on a fixed path which means they can be defended easier but they can also be attacked easier. Those of you who were riding MARC before and after the inauguration earlier this year will remember that many of the parking lots of MARC stations were closed off following Friday service the weekend before the inauguration and that in those days all the big heavy trash cans were removed from the platforms to prevent any devices from being placed in them.

The reason for these security measures: the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect were taking a train excursion from Philadelphia to Washington (with a stop for a speech in Baltimore that ended up being a snub of Mayor Sheila Dixon) on the Saturday before the inaugural. Those lots are all open and the trash cans are all there when Biden takes the train to Wilmington now. MTA’s “security hold” emails could be used as a tip-off for someone planning something farther up the line.

Marsh, of Stuck on MARC, actually likes Biden riding Amtrak because she says, “It’s pretty cool and true to Biden’s blue collar creds that the second couple still uses public transportation.”

I guess Marsh forgets when Biden said earlier this year he would keep his family off public transportation, including subways and commercial airliners, because of the swine flu threat. Biden or his family taking Amtrak at this point is either pure political posturing or pigheadedness.

As I’ve noted, there are likely security concerns for this mode of travel. More importantly, when Biden or his wife decide they want to hop the Northeast Regional home in the middle of the afternoon rush hour they are inconveniencing all of the MARC and Amtrak passengers whose time I contend is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than that of the Bidens.

These very same passengers are being saddled with the security costs and transportation costs of the Bidens and their security arrangements. If the Bidens get their own reserved car, then they are adding to environmental concerns. Riding in their own private car also shows how patrician train travel is for them, rather than the plebeian exercise Julia Marsh would like to make it. Besides, Amtrak is losing $32 a passenger already.

It is good that it is finally confirmed now that Biden and his family are indeed the causes for what used to be unknown delays or delays that were simply assumed to be because of him.