Photo by Christopher Poole

MARC will increase the passenger capacity of weekend trains running between D.C. and Baltimore after record-setting ridership numbers last weekend.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Penn Line saw 6,530 people traveling between Baltimore and D.C. last weekend, which is the most it’s ever seen in a given weekend thus far. Since launching weekend service between D.C. and Baltimore in December, 72,897 riders have taken the Penn Line on weekends.

By expanding weekend service, MARC will be deploying four and five-car trains in weekend circulation as opposed to just the three-car trains that have currently been operating on weekends. As opposed to the three-car trains, that have a capacity of 389 people, the four and five-car trains have a capacity of 521 people and 653 people, respectively. The higher-capacity trains will begin this weekend.

Although the capacity for weekend trains on the Penn Line between D.C. and Baltimore is increasing, it’s unclear if MARC will also increase the frequency of trips on weekends, given the steadily rising number of riders. DCist reached out to a MARC spokesperson and will update when we hear back.

Update: MTA spokeswoman Paulette Austrich tells DCist that while the capacity of weekend trains will increase, the schedule will remain the same and there are no immediate plans to schedule more trips on the weekends. Currently, MARC runs nine roundtrips between D.C. and Baltimore on Saturdays and six roundtrips on Sunday.