Blue Ridge (train)

Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge in December 1980
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Status	Transferred to MTA Maryland
Locale	West Virginia
Predecessor	Potomac Special
First service	May 7, 1973
Last service	1986
Successor	Brunswick Line (MARC Train)
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Start	Washington, D.C
Stops	5
End	Martinsburg, West Virginia
Distance travelled	74 mi (119.09 km)
Average journey time	1 hour 40 minutes
Service frequency	Weekday round-trip
Train number(s)	701,702
On-board services
Class(es)	Unreserved coach
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)	B&O Railroad
Route map 0 mi 0 km Washington DC/MD border 7 mi 11 km Silver Spring 16 mi 26 km Rockville 21 mi 34 km Gaithersburg 49 mi 79 km Brunswick MD/WV border 55 mi 89 km Harpers Ferry 74 mi 119 km Martinsburg Long-distance trains to Cumberland

Route map
0 mi 0 km Washington DC/MD border 7 mi 11 km Silver Spring 16 mi 26 km Rockville 21 mi 34 km Gaithersburg 49 mi 79 km Brunswick MD/WV border 55 mi 89 km Harpers Ferry 74 mi 119 km Martinsburg Long-distance trains to Cumberland

The Blue Ridge was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, West Virginia. The Blue Ridge began on May 7, 1973 as a truncated Potomac Special, which had run all the way to Parkersburg, West Virginia.

The Blue Ridge's initial western terminus was Cumberland, Maryland. Beginning in 1976 the Blue Ridge ran in tandem with the Shenandoah, which followed the Potomac Special's route to Parkersburg and continued to Cincinnati, Ohio. With the introduction of the Shenandoah the Blue Ridge began terminating at Martinsburg. The Blue Ridge received new Amfleet coaches in December 1975, the first train outside the Northeast Corridor to be so equipped.

In 1981 Amtrak replaced the Shenandoah with the Capitol Limited, which ran as far as Cumberland, Maryland but then continued northwest to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, eschewing the B&O line through West Virginia. In 1986 Amtrak transferred the Blue Ridge to the Maryland Mass Transit Administration (now the Maryland Transit Administration), which incorporated it into its existing MARC Train Brunswick Line. As part of the transfer Amtrak agreed to subsidize the train for a five-year period. MARC continued to use the name during the late 1980s.