(The following story by Mike Faher appeared on The Tribune-Democrat website on October 21, 2009.)
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — For the past five years, only two passenger trains have stopped at Johnstown’s station each day.
And in Somerset County, Rockwood has been without passenger-rail service since 1971.
Both of those situations could change for the better if Amtrak follows through with plans detailed in a new report: Johnstown would get two additional daily stops, and Rockwood would get its own station.
But the proposals carry a high cost that would have to be covered by federal, state and local funding – possibly on an ongoing basis. So it is unclear whether either plan will come to fruition.
“It all boils down to money,” said Judy Pletcher, who owns several businesses near Amtrak’s line in Rockwood.
The study determined that two issues are “worthy of further consideration”: Whether it makes sense to allow the existing Capitol Limited Amtrak train to stop in Rockwood, and whether it is feasible to bolster the Pennsylvanian train service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
The latter question has local impact: Amtrak runs its Pennsylvanian trains once daily eastbound and westbound between the two cities, meaning Johnstown’s Walnut Street station sees only two stops.
Amtrak found steadily increasing ridership on the Pennsylvanian, citing annual growth of 7 percent from 2006-08. That figure is even higher west of Harrisburg, administrators said.
So the rail company is proposing two additional trains – one eastbound and one westbound – each day between Pittsburgh and New York City. Each of those trains would stop in Johnstown.
Also, Amtrak is interested in another additional train in each direction between Harrisburg and Altoona.
Amtrak estimates that adding both of those services – as well as a proposed bus connection between Altoona and State College – could attract 180,400 passengers annually and nearly $7.9 million in ticket revenue.
“Certainly this is something that is worth looking into further,” said Johnstown-based U.S. Rep. John Murtha.
“The stimulus bill provided $1.3 billion for Amtrak to improve the speed and capacity of existing rail service, in addition to $8 billion for high-speed rail projects,” Murtha said. “Congress and the White House are determined to revolutionize intercity transport, and rail service is going to play a lead role in these efforts.”
However, Amtrak also says the expanded service in western Pennsylvania would not be self-sustaining. The additional Pennsylvanian train, along with the new Harrisburg-to-Altoona route, is expected to lose more than $8 million yearly.
And that’s just for operations: Startup costs are another matter entirely, with an estimated $128 million for train equipment, $1.5 million for training, and an unspecified amount for station and track improvements.
“In light of these conclusions, Congress and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will need to determine whether passenger service should be increased,” the Amtrak report says.
State Rep. Bryan Barbin, D-Johnstown, said he knows the current Pennsylvanian service is not adequate.
“You can’t use it to commute for business purposes,” he said.
But he has not yet seen the Amtrak report and expressed some uncertainty about introducing large, ongoing subsidies for expanded service.
“Unless you can make it self-sufficient, you have to question it,” Barbin said.
Self-sufficiency may not be the issue for the proposed Rockwood stop.
Amtrak says a station in the Somerset County community could attract 2,100 riders yearly and $123,000 in additional annual revenue, compared with only $67,000 in costs per year.
Rockwood’s last passenger train rolled through 38 years ago as part of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Since 1981, Amtrak’s Capitol Limited – which runs between Washington, D.C. and Chicago – has passed through the borough each day without stopping.
Amtrak is proposing two Capitol Limited stops per day at an unstaffed station, noting that Rockwood “is a destination in itself because of its strategic location on the Great Allegheny Passage” – a heavily used hiking and biking trail.
Pletcher runs Rockwood Mill Shoppes & Opera House as well as two other neighboring businesses. She said trail users could make their way to the borough much more easily via train.
“I think it would have a big impact,” Pletcher said. “People could come from either Pittsburgh or D.C.”
Startup costs may be an issue, however: Amtrak says a newly constructed station is necessary – likely behind the Mill Shoppes – and would cost more than $2.2 million.
The Rockwood station is “operationally feasible” but needs “a source of federal, state, local or private funding,” the report says.
Pletcher noted that a prior passenger-rail effort earlier this decade – when a new station was expected to cost only $750,000 – never became reality.
“I really don’t know,” she said of the latest proposal’s feasibility. “We were so close seven years ago.”