by mcgrath618
Source
Improving rail passenger service in Western Pennsylvania has been the subject of multiple studies since 2005. Advocacy groups in the Pittsburgh region have attempted to get additional frequencies of passenger train service in the corridor stretching from Pittsburgh to Latrobe and Greensburg, continuing on to Johnstown and Altoona. Their efforts have not yielded any tangible results.Thoughts? Considering the success of North Carolina’s State-run program, I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Levin.
At an August 2019 Pennsylvania House of Representatives Transportation Committee hearing, it became apparent that all the parties were talking past each other, and that with each passing study and each passing hearing, the level of frustration has only intensified. Yet, to me it was apparent that there were options that were either not being considered or being ignored, deliberately or inadvertently.
Because of my involvement with the Transportation Committee since 2015, attempting to educate it about railroad-related issues in Pennsylvania, I started on “a clean sheet of paper” to ferret out a realistic set of solutions. Surprisingly, the exercise took me from Pittsburgh back to Philadelphia to stake out an initial proposal to provide an incremental solution for the people in the western part of the state.
The solutions for improving rail passenger opportunities for the Pittsburgh region are dependent upon examining the Commonwealth’s financial obligations and commitments to Amtrak for service on the Harrisburg Line, which runs between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
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Therefore, the initial step in crafting a solution in the Pittsburgh region is to divorce Amtrak by having the USDOT cede the Harrisburg Line to the Commonwealth and let SEPTA provide the existing Keystone service. Under such a plan, Pennsylvania cuts out the “middleman”—Amtrak—and the Commonwealth’s taxpayers get far better value for every dollar they spend on passenger rail service. Pennsylvania taxpayers and passenger rail riders win. As for the existing Keystone service between Philadelphia and New York, Amtrak would continue to operate it as NEC Northeast Regional trains.