1978: A Passenger Train Begins Its Commuter Rail Service Between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

April 30, 1978

A special preview run took place for a passenger train that would serve a recently authorized commuter rail line between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. This train was named the Chesapeake. It was one of three trains, each with four cars, leased by the Maryland Department of Transportation for Amtrak to operate on the new line.

The Sunday demonstration run for the Chesapeake originated in Philadelphia but only traveled as far as the city of Bowie in Prince George’s County, Maryland, rather than all the way to Washington. The accompanying photo shows the Chesapeake during a stop that day in the town of Perryville in northeastern Maryland’s Cecil County. Among the passengers on board the train for this run was Blair Lee III, who served as acting governor of Maryland from 1977 to 1979.  

The following day, the Chesapeake began regular operations on that commuter route. The Washington Post subsequently highlighted how one word in particular was invoked by various parties to describe the experience of riding on this train. This newspaper reported, “The word ‘exciting’ was used separately by Amtrak and Maryland Department of Transportation officials, a United States senator from Maryland and passengers.” 

The aforementioned senator was Paul S. Sarbanes, who served in that lawmaking role from 1977 to 2007. “This is exciting,” Sarbanes said about his ride on the Chesapeake. “That was a happy bunch on the train.” Another person traveling on the Chesapeake that day was Baltimore resident Joseph H. Hyman, Jr., a route marketing analyst for Amtrak. He took the train home from his Washington office that day. “The entire Northwest Corridor changed today,” asserted Hyman. “It is exciting.”

This Amtrak-operated commuter line remained in service until 1983, with the Chesapeake being removed from those runs effective October 30 of that year. Commuter rail service on the portion of the route between Perryville and Washington is now provided by the Maryland Transit Administration’s MARC Penn Line. Over the years, many commuters  have used this line to get to and from the nation’s capital each week.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the passenger train named the Chesapeake, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_(train)