Several Commuter Trains Canceled In MD As Freight Railcars Clog Tracks

MARYLAND — Marylanders will have fewer train options for the next two weeks thanks to freight rail congestion, officials said Monday.

The Maryland Area Rail Commuter, also known as the MARC, canceled four of its trains on the Camden Line every weekday through Sept. 30.

The Camden Line does not run on Saturdays and Sundays. The Penn and Brunswick lines will operate as normal during this period.

These are the Camden Line trains that were temporarily suspended:

• Train 841 (5 a.m. departure from Camden Yards to Washington)
• Train 840 (6:32 a.m. departure from Washington to Camden Yards)
• Train 857 (5:20 p.m. departure from Camden Yards to Washington)
• Train 858 (6:55 p.m. departure from Washington to Camden Yards)

MARC also announced these changes to alleviate some of the inconvenience:

• Train 843 (5:30 a.m. departure from Camden Yards to Washington) will add a stop at Greenbelt
• Train 852 (4:43 p.m. departure from Washington to Camden Yards) will resume operation

From north to south, the Camden Line stops at:

• Camden Station
• St. Denis
• Dorsey
• Jessup
• Savage
• Laurel Racetrack
• Laurel
• Muirkirk
• Greenbelt
• College Park
• Riverdale
• Washington Union Station

Click here to see the other rail, bus and parking accommodations available during the disruption. Riders can check service alerts on this website. The full MARC train schedule is posted at this link.

Train Issues In Maryland

The cancelations come as CSX Transportation, a rail shipping company, battles heavy freighter traffic on some of the tracks that it shares with the MARC train.

"CSX Transportation, which owns and dispatches the Camden Line, continues to experiencing severe freight train congestion, particularly between Dorsey and Camden Yards," MARC said on its website. "CSX management is actively working to address these congestion issues, but it will take time."

CSX made headlines last week when its labor union threatened to go on strike along with other rail workers across the country. Negotiators hammered out a deal to avoid a work stoppage less than 24 hours before a strike was set to stymie trains around the nation.

In Maryland, a strike would have canceled MARC trains starting last Friday on the Camden and Brunswick lines because of their reliance on CSX. Thanks to the negotiated agreement, the strike never happened.

Related: Railroad Strike Averted, MARC Train Will Run As Normal In MD