Maryland Transit Administration’s new MARC Growth and Transformation Plan advances future rail initiatives
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) released its MARC Growth and Transformation Plan after completing a comprehensive analysis and community engagement.
The MTA says the plan marks a major milestone in advancing future rail initiatives and outlines five-year, 10-year, and unconstrained service scenarios. It also details service opportunities, projects needed to achieve each scenario, associated costs and next steps for Maryland’s passenger rail service. The full plan is available on MTA’s website.
The MARC Growth and Transportation Plan is being introduced when MARC ridership has grown in 2025. Since January, MTA notes MARC ridership has seen a significant surge, increasing by 58 percent overall. Each individual line has experienced substantial ridership growth, with the MARC Penn Line up by 52 percent, the Camden Line by 66 percent and the Brunswick Line by 85 percent. When comparing ridership from January through May 2025 to the same period in 2024, MTA says overall MARC ridership rose by 23 percent.
“Thanks to Maryland’s additional transportation revenues, MTA has funding to help move MARC Train forward on the track towards growth,” said Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld. “This plan serves as a roadmap for how MTA can advance MARC into the future and elevate the commuter rail system into a train for everyday life.”
The MARC Growth and Transportation Plan evaluated current service operations, identified opportunities for expanded service and gathered extensive public input to shape recommendations for improving mobility, connectivity and economic development. The plan proposes more accessible, frequent, all-day service, including on weekends. It envisions expanded weekday peak service hours, improved weekday off-peak and weekend service and service to new areas.
Once fully implemented, the MTA says the plan will better meet the growing needs of commuters, residents, visitors and businesses by offering competitive travel times, a wide range of trip purposes and a seamless network to other local transit services. The plan will balance service levels with market demand, as well as spur transit-oriented development and economic growth.
“Our riders have asked for more frequent and convenient service across the state,” said MTA Administrator Holly Arnold. “The MARC Growth and Transformation Plan represents an important step forward in a vision for a more connected and sustainable transportation network.”
The MARC Growth and Transformation Plan recommends a phased implementation to allow for attainment of key stakeholder agreements and identifying a funding plan. It provides a strategy to transform the commuter-focused system into a market-oriented service that meets the needs of all riders, while maximizing opportunities in a shared-ownership railroad environment.
As a result of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s investment in transportation, the agency says it is able to advance early enabling projects identified in the plan in addition to state-of-good-repair investments in MARC train service. These projects include $3 million towards the planning and design of a new station track at Silver Spring to support service increases at one of the busiest stops on the MARC Brunswick Line and $13.7 million for the continued planning and design of the Penn-Camden Connector in Baltimore.
