Baltimore Riots No Major Delays to Light Rail or MARC.

[daveklepper]

  FW: Baltimore transit effect is minimal

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BALTIMORE – Amidst the protests, civil unrest, and rioting that erupted in Baltimore on the night of April 26 and the afternoon of April 27, almost no effects occurred to rail operations. The unrest, in reaction to the suspicious death in police custody of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray, first erupted in one neighborhood over the weekend and spread to widespread but small pockets of looting and arson on Monday night. The riots prompted city and state officials to declare a state of emergency and a week-long overnight curfew beginning Tuesday night, and send National Guard troops and police and equipment from other jurisdictions statewide to back up city police.

The most significant action was the closure of the Baltimore Metro's Mondawmin station, as well as the major bus route hub terminal atop it, shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday, as high school youths clashed violently with police outside Frederick Douglass High School and Mondawmin Mall, both in the immediate vicinity. The Metro station and bus hub would remain closed through Wednesday afternoon. Also closed to service at various times during the unrest were Penn-North, the next Metro station to the southeast, as rioters clashed with police and looted and torched stores immediately adjacent to the stop on Monday night and protested throughout the day Tuesday, and Upton-Avenue Market, further southeast on Pennsylvania Avenue. Metro trains between downtown and points northwest continued through the stations without stopping for the duration of the closures.

Mondawmin, Penn North, and Upton-Avenue Market Metro stations all remain closed as of noon Wednesday, with thru trains downtown being sent through nonstop.

The Central Light Rail Line received minor disruption to service on Sunday night as violence erupted outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards, adjacent to the light rail tracks, but otherwise received no disruption to service other than emergency track work on a stretch of track in the northern section of the city, which mandated single-track operation.

Citing the state of emergency that was declared by city and state officials, the B&O Railroad Museum, whose sprawling campus is located just west of downtown Baltimore, closed the museum on Tuesday later announced it would remain closed through Thursday. A second weekend of a popular “Day Out With Thomas” event has been postponed from the weekend of May 1-3 to the following weekend, May 8-10.

No damage or vandalism is reported to either the B&O Railroad Museum; the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, which operated normally on Sunday and is not scheduled to reopen until the following Sunday; the Irish Railroad Workers Museum; or the Baltimore Civil War Museum in the former President Street Station. A weekly volunteer work session at the Maryland Rail Heritage Library, located at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, is cancelled on Wednesday.

Service on freight and passenger rail operations – Amtrak, MARC, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern – continues uninterrupted without incident.

Amtrak and Baltimore police were on alert around Pennsylvania Station downtown, monitored the situation as it developed, and maintained an increased security presence through Tuesday, but no disruptions to passenger service resulted from the unrest.

[trackrat888]

Several Metro Subway Stations Temporarily Closed

Tuesday April 28th

 

We need Clint Eastwood Down there-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzLml7JdQDQ

As expected most of the system is up and running

Last Update: 12:00pm

Metro Subway is operating however Mondawmin, Upton, and Penn-North Stations are temporarily closed. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and appreciate your patience during this time.