A top Maryland transit official will ride a MARC train Tuesday evening that broke down the night before, stranding more than 900 riders in a summer heat wave for as long as two hours.
Maryland Transit Administrator Ralign T. Wells said he planned to ride the 538 train to talk to its regular riders about what went wrong Monday evening.
The locomotive pulling the packed commuter train lost power near New Carrollton Monday evening, stopping the train automatically. The power and air conditioning also shut off, with the temperature inside rising to what Wells acknowledged were “uncomfortable levels.”
The problems were compounded when a rescue train could not pull the disabled trains back, unable to disengage the brakes. Then an empty train sent to help the riders could not fit all of them, leaving about 100 behind. Some had to wait more than two hours in the hot train.
“This circumstance was unacceptable, and on behalf of all MTA employees, I apologize for the inconvenience and discomfort you experienced,” Wells wrote in a message to riders.
He said MARC and Amtrak officials are looking into the incident. They are considering staging a back-up locomotive on the Penn Line and stocking trains with bottled water. They are also looking at ways to improve communication during such events.
