(rshsdepot) Boyds, Dickerson, Jessup and St. Denis, MD

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's issue of The Gazette.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
Emergency bill would keep four MARC stations open
Friday, Feb. 3,  2006

by Melissa A. Chadwick
 
Staff Writer
 

Emergency legislation that would postpone for one year the March  closures of 
four MARC train stations was introduced in the General Assembly this  week.

The legislation must make rapid progress through committees and votes  in the 
Senate and the House if it is going to halt the March 6 closing dates of  the 
Boyds and Dickerson stations in Montgomery County on the Brunswick Line and  
the Jessup and St. Denis stations on the Camden Line out of Baltimore.
 
Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown is sponsoring the bill  
with 16 of his colleagues.
 
The emergency legislation not only postpones the closures until March 6,  
2007, but it also requires the Maryland Transit Administration to answer  
questions regarding the ramifications of the closures.
 
‘‘It is my hope that [state Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan  
will see that the legislature is going to take action and he’ll reconsider,”  
Garagiola said Tuesday.
 
Senate Bill 366, which will be fast tracked, instructs the MTA to provide  
the General Assembly and the governor answers to several questions including  
ones on the maintenance and capital costs for the four stations.
 
Specifically, the bill asks MTA for the projected ridership for the Boyds  
and Dickerson stations as a result of the projected growth in upper Montgomery  
and southern Frederick counties and an evaluation of potential increased bus  
services and parking lot expansions near the stations.
 
The bill also asks for a detailed description of the $300,000 passenger  
warning system needed for the Dickerson station and whether other less costly  
systems were considered.
 
‘‘I’m very hopeful and encouraged. Closing the stations just doesn’t make  
any sense. Route I-270 is Maryland’s longest parking lot, and people need more 
 options to get off 270, not fewer,” said Boyds resident Miriam Shoenbaum, an 
 organizer of Save Maryland Area Rail Transit.
 
MTA announced the closures in early January, citing low ridership and the  
high costs of keeping the stations open. Average daily ridership for Boyds is  
nine; for Dickerson it’s 12, MTA has said.
 
Flanagan has said he would consider reopening the stations if there is  
enough demand.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1295
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org