Stuck on MARC has more on this issue. Granted I don’t feel like I should even link to their blog anymore after her snotty little comment at the end of this post. A MARC blog that doesn’t even allow comments and who knows how little traffic they actually get over there and she has the nerve to say “You’re welcome” as if the confirmation of Biden delays would not be out if if weren’t for her. We had confirmation as ironclad as her before but since we never kiss up to MARC and toe the party line like she does (Michael Dresser is anti-MARC by comparison and he usually does a good job of calling it down the middle) we don’t have stationmasters emailing us right now.

I saw her work as building on our initial work actually, since before her blog even existed we were reporting on the fact that there were delays with law enforcement on the platform and how people waiting on trains were told by unnamed officials on the platform that it was Biden. This was way before MARC ever announced a “security hold” as a cause of delay.

I’m not trying to sound too nasty on this post, but we have linked to all the MARC blogs in the past going back to the time that I was a daily MARC commuter and posted things from my laptop/netbook on the train before anyone else was doing so. So then, when another new MARC blog comes along that we like, we started posting links to her posts and even added them to our blogroll, something we rarely do.

Maybe Stuck on MARC is trying to start a pissing contest to draw attention to their blog, but that ignores the old advice about getting more flies with honey if so. Even with this latest news, I am not removing the link on the sidebar yet.

To answer her snark about 10 minute delays being par for the course: When you add a 10 minute delay to a system already delayed by having mechanical problems, shortened trains, switch delays, etc., you end up with the domino effect that causes each train to be later and later getting to the terminus on the other end of the line. This results in those trains leaving the turnaround point even later.

MARC doesn’t have a great on-time record. The last time they actually reported it that I or another MARC blogger I talked to remember is back in late Summer of 2008 and then they just reported on how late it gets to the terminus and not to each stop.

As Michael Dresser had said multiple times before after our numerous MARC posts here that he linked to, the major problem MARC has is in communicating to their passengers. A few minor delays aren’t as big of a deal as how they react to them or how they were calling every long delay a “minor” one until this blog and Michael Dresser’s called them out on it.

I welcome comments or responses on this post and all posts here. Anyone needing to email us for comments or responses not in the post comments should send email to mail@insidecharmcity.com.

UPDATE: For a couple of people who thought this was a bit obtuse and couldn’t follow the situation. This post is a response to the snarky post at Stuck on MARC linked at the top. A post in the related links (that I’m linking to now here) is the original post where we gave full credit to Stuck on MARC for original reporting on this issue. No, you’re welcome Julia for all the links we’ve given you including the original one on this topic. Aside from MARC/Amtrak passenger inconvenience in that post I also mentioned legitimate security concerns.

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.

We received this report from Twitter user @erintangerine:

cranky bmore commuters waiting at union station for vp to get on amtrak so we can get home!

Can any other MARC or Amtrak commuters confirm the report?

If true, it would be pretty insensitive of Vice President Joe Biden to tie up the platform at Union Station in the middle of Friday afternoon rush hour. In addition to MARC commuters trying to get home to Baltimore and other places, Friday afternoon is usually a pretty busy time for Amtrak business as well. The station is usually jammed on a normal Friday afternoon.

I’m surprised he even still takes Amtrak since his election as VP. I would think it could be a security concern unless massive preparations like those for the pre-Inaugural train trip that then President-Elect Obama took along with Biden back in January.

UPDATE
MARC has started emailing delay messages for trains this afternoon. Unlike the usual emails, no reason is given:

5:29 PM
PENN:MARC 436 (WASH Dept 5:34pm) expected to depart Washington 15-20 minutes late.

WBAL.com

Governor O’Malley’s office says he has cleared his schedule on Tuesday so he can go to Philadelphia to join Vice President Biden for an event involving an announcement about the Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Governor O’Malley’s previously scheduled events for tomorrow are no longer scheduled.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and New Jersey Governor John Corzine are also scheduled to attend the event at Philadelphia City Hall.