(Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial, February 5, 2013)
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Of all the places where the train doesn’t stop much anymore, Western Pennsylvania has to be the most historically jarring. It’s home to the famous Horseshoe Curve and the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona. It’s where George Westinghouse revolutionized railroading with his development of the air brake in Wilmerding.
Yet the glories of the past have given way to a penurious present. Pittsburgh has only two remaining Amtrak routes and one of them — linking Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York — may be lost come October because state officials are balking at paying a $5.7 million annual subsidy for the Pittsburgh-Harrisburg segment.
Full story: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette