I’ve been busy with my new job and rarely had time to post lately, but an incident tonight is bringing me back to make a post.

As many of you know, I took MARC to DC as part of a commute to Northern Virginia for about a year. After a few months in Baltimore, I recently returned to taking MARC everyday as part of my commute to downtown DC. So, I’m now adding another chapter to the past blogging about MARC here at Inside Charm City. In fact, I wrote most of this sitting on a MARC train as I commuted home.

For my first month or so back working in DC, I’ve had very few problems with MARC that affected me. There has been crowding on the morning train I normally take (the 513) at times by the time it gets to Halethorpe or BWI due to issues with a short consist (I think.) The S service was great the days I worked during the snow (Tuesday after the first round and Friday after Round 2.) The customer service on the 513 in the morning is great. The conductor actually keeps people out of the vestibules when it gets crowded. He actually apologizes for delays even when it’s an issue that is out of anyone’s control. I experienced one late night snafu when I took the 9:00 pm train out of DC home one night and it broke down at Seabrook that resulted in me getting home an hour later than scheduled after taking a MARC train south, an Amtrak train north, and another MARC train north again. Other than that, there were no major issues.

About the time I started commuting to DC everyday, MARC started prepping for a new policy at Union Station that caused a lot of discussion on local blogs. Off the top of my head, I recall Michael Dresser discussing it. DCist, Greater Greater Washington and probably Stuck on MARC all discussed it as well. It was an issue that needed addressing by the powers-that-be at Union Station. It related to the waiting situation at Union Station. They started requiring Penn Line passengers to board through Gate B and C and Camden/Brunswick passengers board through the main gate at A.

There was always a problem with people crowding onto the platforms when trains come in before they’re ready to be boarded. This clogs up the platform for all the Amtrak personnel working out there as well as making it hard for people to get to the station who are leaving the trains. Addressing the situation with some sort of policy was needed. The previous policy seemed to be for the MARC employee “Fred” (never got his last name) to make up some sort of lie like a fictional hazmat situation on an inbound train or the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers were inbound (I checked the schedule – they were in Canada that night) and the platform would be closed.

A lot of the comments on blogs centered around the problems the new gate arrangement would cause for Penn Line passengers who were Metro riders who exit the Metro station on the end closest to the train platform. The back hallway leads right to Gate A.

I honestly usually end up on the train that leaves at 7:40 lately. Last night, thanks to Metro, I was boarding the 6:40 and went right through Gate A to the Penn Line train at 6:39. Most trains usually board more than 10 minutes out from departure, so tonight when I got to the back hallway and saw my train I was a bit surprised to see the train hadn’t started boarding yet even though I could see it on the track and there was no one disembarking from that train still.

This is where the policy and rigid adherence to it in the face of common sense, coupled with a power-tripping  employee, results in problems. A MARC employee I had seen before (and he was being rude the times I saw him before) but never had the pleasure of actually interacting with was standing in the doors and running people out of the back hallway and into the main waiting area and reiterating the policy about B and C for Penn with A for Brunswick and Camden.

I went out to the main part of the station and a retractable rope line was covering the door to Gate B. The waiting area for B and C was as crowded as the dangerously overcrowded MARC trains have gotten in  the past and made the sardine can of a Red Line train on Metro that I had just exited from look spacious by comparison. The line out of Gate C was 3 or 4 wide and approaching the exit of the waiting area out across from Hudson News.

I went back over and milled around by the waiting area where people standing wait for trains outside Gate A usually. I was expecting the boarding call for the train to happen at anytime so I went back out to the hallway to see if the policy was still being so rigidly enforced. My new-found friend was still there and getting incredulous reactions from some passengers coming from the Metro down the back hallway as the train’s departure time drew closer.

I went over by the ticket machines and stood for a minute and as he was reiterating that you could go to Gate B and C if you were Penn Line. I am by no means a surly or loud person. In fact, most of my friends would probably say I am meek and mild-mannered. I didn’t raise my voice or use profanity. I called him “Sir” several times. I pointed out to this gentleman that I had just been at Gate B and it was closed with a rope across it. He was having none of it. He told me it was open when just a few minuters earlier I saw the barrier across it with my own eyes. When I tried to reiterate my point he argued it briefly before saying he wasn’t going to argue with me. I asked for his name twice before he gave it to me. He was wearing his Amtrak access badge but was not wearing it where his name could be seen, nor was he wearing a name tag. For the record for anyone reading this at MTA, he gave his name as David Johnson.

I went back out and lo and behold Gate B’s door was open by now after being closed a few minutes earlier. As I went through Johnson was standing inside and appeared to be smirking at me as I made a comment to no one in particular about the fire marshal and overcrowding.

There are two main problems with their attempted solution for a legitimate problem. They are making it problematic for Metro passengers to board Penn Line trains via the back hallway. I recall this being discussed on other sites when the plan was first announced. My other problem relates to fire and evacuation hazards in the enclosed waiting areas at Gate B and C.

In addition to the overcrowding inside, I’ve seen rope barricades blocking either door from the station. I’ve also noticed both in the mornings and evenings the use of bicycle rack style barricades across the outsides of the doors going from the waiting areas to the platform. One night these were still in place after the boarding announcement for that gate’s train was made.  This can’t be safe and I’m not sure the DC Fire Marshal would be too fond of an overcrowded area with exit routes in either direction blocked. I’ve noticed this for Amtrak trains as well.

This policy’s flaws along with the rudeness of MARC employee David Johnson have caused me to make a negative post about MARC after having mainly good things about the system in the past 2 months. The recurring theme of problems with MARC seems to center around communications problems, and I’d lump rude employees like David Johnson in that category after tonight.

I’m sure MARC employees deal with rude and surly customers all the time and I’m sure they become quite profane at times. However, treating me like the enemy because I dared to ask a question and didn’t back down when I reported seeing something firsthand is inexcusable.

MARC still needs to work on their communications issues with customers whether it be face-to-face, emails, or announcements on trains and platforms. They need to work out a better way of communicating and implementing their plan for boarding in the afternoons as well. Potentially dangerous situations related to overcrowding and blocked exits concern me the most. The issues with Metro passengers trying to board Penn Line trains is one that bears monitoring as well.