On Monday, a MARC Penn Line train, No. 538, broke down eight minutes from the New Carrollton Station after it left Union Station in Washington. For two hours, 900 passengers were stranded in the heat because the air conditioning also broke down. Outside temperatures on that day were 90 degrees, but the temperature inside the cars was 100 degrees. MARC conductors, which were Amtrak employees, did little to help the passengers.

Eventually, the passengers themselves had to take the situation in their own hands by leaving the car themselves. In the end, a passing train took 800 of the 900 passengers at 8:20 p.m. The remainder of the passengers were picked up at 9:40 p.m. A hour and a half commute took four to five hours because of a broken-down locomotive. This was inexcusable.

You read about the obligatory investigations, the apologies, and Gov. Martin O'Malley's photo-op/ride-along with passengers. But in the end, history will repeat itself: There will be no real change. MARC commuters have put up with situations like this, and despite the approaches that Amtrak and MARC have taken over the years to deal with this, little has changed. Little has changed for a reason: Maryland, like all the states in the union, put their resources into building more roads instead of devoting more resources to public transportation.

This gubernatorial election, public transportation can be a great issue that both candidates can focus on in addition to the jobs and economy talk we've been hearing. As a MARC passenger for four years, it's long overdue for MARC to improve it's service for the long haul. We don't need any more photo-ops or apologies. They mean nothing. We need service improvements and the political will to accomplish them. Otherwise Governor O'Malley might as well tell everyone who rides MARC and is fed up with the service breakdowns to get a car and drive, which is ironic because Mr. O'Malley is into making Maryland more green.

Ndubuisi Okeh, Belcamp