(The following appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on June 23, 2010.)
BALTIMORE — Gov. Martin O’Malley is planning to venture into the lion’s den – so to speak.
The governor is planning to ride the MARC Penn Line and talk with rail commuters this morning – three days after a breakdown on the tracks left almost 1,000 commuters sweltering for two hours on a train without air-conditioning.
The governor is scheduled to meet with the media at 8 a.m. at the BWI Station before boarding a MARC train to New Carrollton. After boarding, he is planning to discuss the need for improvement in service with MARC passengers.
Aides said O’Malley considered recent interruptions in service provided by Amtrak, the state’s contractor on the Penn Line, “unacceptable.” Riders on Monday’s Train 538 were stranded outside the New Carrollton station Monday night in rail cars that lost power as temperatures inside soared. Passengers reported that conductors kept doors closed and failed to keep them informed as the repairs dragged on.
The chief executives of both Amtrak and the Maryland Transit Administration apologized to customers after the incident.