(The following story by Jere Downs appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on July 21.)
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Amtrak passengers from Philadelphia to Harrisburg could enjoy a high-speed, smoother ride by the fall of 2006, the result of a $145 million project announced yesterday by Amtrak president David L. Gunn and Gov. Rendell.
Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation each are to pay half the cost to smooth out the track between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, replace signals, upgrade seldom-used power lines, and reverse decades of neglect on the once-grand Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
A similar project derailed in 2001 amid Amtrak’s funding woes. Pending support in Congress, the project would reduce a two-hour trip to 105 minutes. Gunn said. Express trains would take 90 minutes.
Though Congress has not finalized Amtrak’s budget, Gunn said, “This time it is for real. I was embarrassed about the state of this line,” he said. “We had to get this fixed.”
The route connects Amtrak’s northeast corridor to some of the fastest-growing areas of Pennsylvania, running parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Route 30. Last year, the line carried about 700,000 riders.
This time, PennDot is pledging $100 million – more than its agreed-upon share of the cost – in an attempt to ensure that the project will be completed even if Congress’ funding does fall short.
“This will take traffic off the Schuylkill Expressway, and the Turnpike,” Rendell said.
The project likely will need PennDot’s extra support, judging by the bleak response last week as Amtrak requested $1.6 billion for fiscal 2005. A House Appropriations subcommittee approved $900 million, a figure Gunn says would force an Amtrak shutdown by February. In the current fiscal year, Amtrak’s budget amounts to $1.4 billion.
Rail advocates applauded the Keystone Corridor renewal plan.
“This is not pie-in-the-sky stuff,” Ross Capon, spokesman for the National Association of Railroad Passengers, a nonprofit based in Washington, said in an interview. “It is a practical project that is going to bring short-term results.”
The riders who pay $19 for a one-way, 104-mile trip between Philadelphia and Harrisburg can expect a calmer trip.
“Track is so disjointed you cannot read a book,” said Joseph Daversa, PennDot’s manager of the project until his retirement last month. “It feels like you are in a milk shake machine.”
A smoother ride would result from the $40 million replacement of 62 miles of jointed rail, which at points slows trains to 30 m.p.h. New, welded track would allow Amtrak trains to run up to 110 m.p.h.
Amtrak and PennDot envision hourly service during peak times and trains every two hours otherwise. There would be 14 trains daily, up from 10 now. About $42 million is to be spent to overhaul Amtrak engines and coaches.
Harking back to 1938, when the Pennsylvania Railroad first electrified the Keystone line, PennDot and Amtrak aim to spend $35 million to fully restore poles, overhead wires, and signals to run electrified service again. Diesel trains run now, forcing New York-bound riders to sit through a 20-minute delay for the switch to electrified engines at 30th Street Station. The rest of the money would go toward administration, station improvements and other expenses.
“We always felt it was a diamond in the rough,” said Rick Peltz, who negotiated the original agreement as a deputy PennDot secretary of transportation under former Gov. Tom Ridge.
Although Pennsylvania faces a budget crisis that threatens transit agencies and rail service around the state, most of the state share for the Keystone project has been secured, PennDot officials say. By law, about $56 million of Federal Transit Administration funds can be spent only on Keystone Corridor improvements.
As for the funding crisis that has plunged SEPTA into a $70 million deficit, Rendell promised help yesterday.
“In the fall, we need to develop some new form of funding,” Rendell said.
Riders on SEPTA’s R5 Regional Rail, the Main Line, will benefit from the restoration of two of four tracks between the Philadelphia Zoo and Paoli.
SEPTA has pledged $2 million for emergency tie replacement on that stretch.
“It will mean more in terms of reliability,” SEPTA assistant general manager Pat Nowakowski said yesterday.