(The following story by Deborah Gates appeared on the Daily Times website on August 3.)
SALISBURY, Md. — The city-based independent ground transportation company that shuttles passengers between Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport has formed a partnership with Amtrak that links the isolated coastal region with rail service nationwide.
On Friday, John Presburg, chief executive officer of BayRunner Shuttle announced the Amtrak Thruway service that routes passengers between Amtrak trains at the BWI Airport Rail Station and five Eastern Shore destinations.
The link expands the service market for Amtrak and helps promote the Lower Shore with more transportation options, Presburg said.
“This is a seamless service; you buy a train ticket through Amtrak to include transportation on BayRunner Shuttle,” Presburg said. “Basically, it is an agreement that extends Amtrak’s route network where tracks don’t go. We’re at the point of being able to connect the entire Eastern Shore to the Amtrak system.”
The BayRunner partnership affords train ticket holders discounts and direct access to Amtrak’s Northeast Regional service, the railroad’s busiest with over 6.8 million passengers during the last fiscal year, the company said. Amtrak’s Acela Express service also is available at the BWI station, the railroad said.
Salisbury business leaders and elected officials were among supporters who flanked Presburg on Friday as a ribbon was cut at the Bayrunner headquarters on Riverside Drive to celebrate the Amtrak service.
Salisbury Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman called the service “exciting for the city,” adding that transportation access matters in a municipality.
The Eastern Shore also is mentioned on a banner at Penn Station in Manhattan advertising the Thruway service to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“Amtrak is really excited to get this started; a banner at Penn Station makes references to cities on the Eastern Shore where the service is available,” said Presburg, whose shuttle company celebrated three years in business in May.
Brad Bellacicco, executive director at the Salisbury Greater Chamber of Commerce, said business, economic development and tourism officials will keep watch on shuttle-train ridership — an indicator of the potential for “additional profitable transportation modes that could be offered to the area.”
Since starting the shuttle service to create a link for air travelers between Salisbury and BWI, BayRunner has grown from two transport vans to seven. Just Thursday, Presburg said he bought a new Nissan Quest minivan, “just new off the lot, giving passengers the best ride.”
This spring, Presburg opened routes between BWI and Ocean City and Ocean Pines to join Salisbury, Cambridge and Easton.
Amtrak Thruway service on the Eastern Shore launched last month in what Presburg called a “soft opening, saying he wanted to make sure we got the bugs out.” An estimated 100 passengers were on pilot trips, he said.
Amtrak plans to publicly announce on Monday the Shore service with 14 daily departures.
The service is user-friendly from ticketing to riding, and minus the hassle of driving to the closest passenger train stations in Wilmington and Baltimore, Presburg said.
“The difference is, you’re able to ride BayRunner and Amtrak at a reduced rate through to say, Boston,” he said. “Amtrak would sell you the ticket from Salisbury to Boston.”