(The following appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on June 22, 2010.)
BALTIMORE — Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman released this statement today about Monday night’s two-hour stranding of MARC Train 538 without air conditioning on the Penn Line tracks south of New Carrollton:
“Yesterday evening, MARC Train 538 lost power soon after leaving Washington Union Station, resulting in loss of air conditioning and uncomfortable conditions for passengers who waited about two hours for a resolution.
“On behalf of Amtrak, I extend my most sincere apologies to the passengers of Train 538 for having to withstand unacceptable conditions and inconveniences during this service disruption. We fell short of providing the service we strive to deliver.
“In conjunction with the Maryland Transit Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration we are conducting a thorough investigation of the incident. In addition, we are also evaluating our procedures to identify opportunities to improve our response in similar situations.
“We take this matter very seriously and take responsibility for this failure. We will identify the cause or causes of yesterday’s disruption, and we will take corrective action. We value our MARC passengers and we will take steps to improve the service.
“Again, I offer my apologies to all of our MARC passengers, as well as to the people of Maryland, for having fallen short of the service you should expect from us. We should do better and we will do better.”