Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Ben Cardin rode a MARC train Thursday in reaction to a breakdown earlier this week that stranded hundreds of passengers for hours.
O'Malley and Cardin got on at a station near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and headed to New Carrollton.
MARC, Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating why a train broke down shortly after departing from Washington on Monday evening. Passengers were left without air conditioning in 90 degree temperatures. The governor said he knows mechanical breakdowns will happen but the response was "utterly unacceptable."
Although crews between Philadelphia and Baltimore communicated well with their engineers and technicians about troubleshooting the broken down train Monday night, the breakdown was in the communication with crews and passengers, O'Malley said.
Train traffic was also delayed Tuesday evening because of storms, and another train was stopped Wednesday evening for mechanical problems.
Before boarding Thursday morning, O'Malley and Cardin stood outside the station in 90-degree heat and spoke to passengers about problems they've faced trying to use MARC trains.
O'Malley said that two new diesel cars are being rolled out every month, but those additional cars don't seem to have helped MARC over the past three days of major delays.
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