(The following story by Michael Dresser appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on May 7, 2009.)
BALTIMORE, Md. — With an unusual dispensation from security-conscious CSX Transportation, Gov. Martin O’Malley was permitted to ride along in the gleaming new MARC locomotive that made a maiden trip from Locust Point to Camden Station on Wednesday.
But he had to temporarily give up his ever-present BlackBerry.
As the state transportation secretary, the head of Maryland Transit Administration and other dignitaries followed in a separate car, the governor rode shotgun on the 15-minute crawl from a CSX rail yard to a news conference where the $3.5 million, state-of-the-art diesel locomotive made its ceremonial debut.
The 140-ton locomotive – the first of 26 the state is acquiring to modernize its engine fleet – is scheduled to go into service on the MARC commuter train system in the next several weeks.
State officials are promising that the new locomotives – along with 13 new double-decker cars – will bring improvements in the capacity and reliability of the overcrowded MARC system, which has been beset in recent years with service interruptions and delays caused by broken-down locomotives.
At the news conference, O’Malley stressed the environmental benefits of the new locomotives, which use low-sulfur diesel fuel that creates less pollution than conventional fuel.
“This is essential to our … duty to grow in a more sustainable way,” the governor said.
State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said CSX was adamant that neither cell phone nor BlackBerry could accompany the governor in the cab. He said the strict rules are a result of a fatal train crash in California in which the operator was found to have been text-messaging while the train was in motion.
“They’re very serious about this stuff,” Porcari said.
O’Malley said the new locomotive would go into service in four to six weeks – revising the estimate MTA officials provided the day before of a startup around May 18.
MARC director John Horvatter joked about the apparent contradiction. “Whatever he says is true,” Horvatter said. “If we beat it, we’re golden.”
MTA spokeswoman Jawauna Greene called later to clarify, saying the new locomotives would be tested over the next 30 days on the Camden Line. After that, she said, they would be put into service on the Penn and Brunswick lines as well.
O’Malley and other officials said the new locomotives – as well as the new double-decker cars recently acquired from Virginia – should help relieve the persistent crowding on some MARC trains.
“We can see a light, that we’re actually going to put some more cars out there and relieve some of the standees,” Horvatter said.