The Blue Ridge was a daily Amtrak passenger train that operated between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland (Martinsburg, West Virginia after 1976). Service began in 1973; it was merged into the MARC Brunswick Line commuter rail service in 1986.

The Blue Ridge was introduced on May 7, 1973, as a replacement for the Potomac Special. It was curtailed from the Potomac Special terminus of Parkersburg, West Virginia to Cumberland, and retimed to better serve commuters.^[1] In December 1975, the Blue Ridge became the first train outside the Northeast Corridor to receive new Amfleet coaches.^[1] The Blue Ridge was truncated to Martinsburg on October 31, 1976 upon the introduction of the Washington–Cincinnati, Ohio Shenandoah.^[2][1] Weekend service was dropped on October 1, 1981 amid cuts to Amtrak services.^[3]

In 1986, Amtrak transferred the Blue Ridge to the Maryland Mass Transit Administration (now the Maryland Transit Administration), who incorporated it into the MARC Brunswick Line.^[4] As part of the transfer, Amtrak agreed to subsidize the train for five years.^[5] MARC continued to use the name during the late 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

• Reynolds, Kirk; Oroszi, Dave (2000). Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Osceola, WI: MBI. ISBN 0760307466. OCLC 42764520.
• Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.

Media related to Blue Ridge (train) at Wikimedia Commons

• 1973 timetable
• 1976 timetable
• 1986 timetable