Who We Are

What We Want

Why Light Rail?

Rails & Trails

News & Events

Project Background

How You Can Help

1. 1910 - The B&O Railroad completed a branch line to Georgetown. "The Georgetown Branch" leaves the CSX main line at a junction in the North Woodside area of Silver Spring, arcing westward through Lyttonsville, Chevy Chase Lake and Bethesda and on southward to the federal heating plant in Georgetown.


2. 1970's - A graduate student at the University of Maryland writes a thesis proposing use of the Georgetown Branch right-of-way for a rail transit system to connect Silver Spring and Bethesda.


3. 1978 - The North Silver Spring Sector plan is amended to include a reference to the potential use of the Georgetown Branch right-of-way for transit.


4. 1985-86 - The CSX railroad files intent to abandon the Georgetown Branch right-of-way.


5. Nov. 1986 - The Montgomery County Council approves Georgetown Branch Master Plan Amendment designating the right-of-way "a public right-of-way intended to be used for public purposes such as conservation, recreation, transportation, and utilities. It is not to be used for a continuous roadway."


6. Dec. 1988 - Montgomery County purchases the Georgetown Branch for $10.5 million under the National Trails Act which has rail-banking as a major goal.


7. 1988-89 - The Georgetown Branch Corridor Study is completed, with DeLeuw Cather/Parsons Brinkerhoff serving as the primary consultant. A three-tiered task force worked with the County during this process: a Technical Advisory Committee, a Citizens Advisory Committee, and a Steering Committee.


8. Dec. 1989 - The County Council approves Georgetown Branch Master Plan Amendment. (see highlights of the Master Plan Amendment HERE ).


9. 1989-90 - Governor William Donald Schaefer offered $70 million to Montgomery County for construction of the Trolley line, but the project floundered when the state determined that the cost would exceed $100 million. During this period a new County Council and County Executive are elected.


10. 1990 and 1994 - For these two elections, opponents of the trolley (SMART-PAC) raised and distributed campaign contributions of $21,000 and $22,000 respectively. The project stalls.


11. 1994 - Maryland Mass Transit Administration (MTA) begins a Major Investment Study (MIS) for the Georgetown Branch Transitway/Trail in conjunction with a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). A public hearing is held with strong support for the light rail alternative.


12. 1995 - Newly elected County Executive Doug Duncan recommends that funds be diverted from the Georgetown Branch study to a study of a busway on U.S. 29. The Georgetown Branch DEIS documentation is issued but the project is put on the shelf without a Final Environmental Impact Study FEIS). The U.S. 29 busway proposal fizzles.


13. Dec. 1998 - A newly elected County Council votes in the first hour of their new term to request priority funding for the Georgetown Branch FEIS.