(The Associated Press circulated the following article on December 3.)
LANCASTER, Pa. — Amtrak’s promise of faster and improved service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg so far appears to be neither.
Commuters say the trains are habitually late.
And PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick says the department — which ponied up half of the 145 (m) million dollar cost of upgrading the Keystone Corridor service, is “gravely disappointed” so far.
When service improvements were announced in September, Amtrak officials promised more trains — all of them electric — on the 104-mile route.
Travel time for express trips between Harrisburg and Philadelphia were supposed to shorten to 90 minutes, from approximately two hours.
Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero acknowledges that during the first week of the new service in early November, 50 percent of trains were late.
She says performance has improved in recent weeks, with more than 80 percent of trains on time last week.
The train stops between Harrisburg and Philadelphia are Middletown, Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, Lancaster, Parkesburg, Coatesville, Downingtown, Exton, Paoli and Ardmore.