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Pittsburgh could roll with more Amtrak service


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#1 Sloan

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 06:48 PM

 

 

Brian O'Neill: Pittsburgh could roll with more Amtrak service

I suffer from locomotive envy.

It’s an uncommon affliction, exacerbated on a trip to the East Coast over the Easter holiday. There I choo-chooed around on New Jersey Transit, New York subways and the Long Island Railroad and never had to wait very long for the next train.

http://www.post-gaze...es/201604070014



#2 Sloan

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Posted 19 May 2016 - 08:01 PM

 

 

Brian O'Neill: Western Pa., still on wrong side of the tracks

It sounds like a simple idea: Add a second or even a third daily passenger train between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The demand is clearly there, so let’s do it.

The operating cost to the state for tripling the service on the 204-mile stretch would be $10 million to $13 million, according to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which might sound like a lot until you note that it costs about $8 million to build one mile of highway.

http://www.post-gaze...es/201605190039



#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 02 June 2016 - 01:00 AM

WTAJ-TV, Channel 10 in Altoona, PA, 6/1/16:

Huntingdon wants more federal dollars for Amtrak


Leaders from Huntingdon County are proposing more federal dollars for what they say is the only form of public transportation in the area.

The Amtrak passenger rail in Huntingdon only has one stop: a train going eastbound and another westbound.

With an increase in ridership, advocates want more federal dollars to add three total stops.

Story is here.

Other stations along the Keystone West Corridor, including Tyrone and Altoona, are said to have only one stop as well.

The two passages above illustrate why these reporters' careers will never get out of Altoona, PA. One stop? Don't you mean one train? Said to have only one stop? How about checking a timetable to see that there is only one TRAIN currently between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh?


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#4 Sloan

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Posted 02 June 2016 - 06:45 AM

I am going to a convention next year in Pittsburgh.  It sure would be nice to have a second train as a travel option so I wouldn't have to spend an extra night in order to catch the early morning Pennsylvanian.   ;)  Sloan



#5 Sloan

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 09:50 AM

Hearing tomorrow in Pittsburgh on possible second train to Pittsburgh.  Sorry for the late notice, but I just got this alert from the good folks at Keystone Association of Rail Passengers.   :)   Sloan

 

 

 

'We can get this done’: State, local officials to advocate for expanded train service to Johnstown

http://www.tribdem.c...tm_content=READ



#6 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 10:39 AM

My comments above about media having their careers stuck in Altoona, PA also apply to this one in Johnstown. He is freely using the word "lines" instead of "trains". There is only ONE line, and that is the Norfolk Southern owned tracks across the state. What is needed are more trains, or at least trains operating on more frequencies.

Now granted the people of Johnstown want a commuter type service that will take them into Pittsburgh in the morning and home eastward in the evening. For a while there was the short-lived Fort Pitt, which used the Pennsylvanian's equipment running east in the evening after the westbound Pennsylvanian arrived, and it ran west to Pittsburgh in the morning before the same equipment turned as the eastbound Pennsylvanian. That only lasted from the Spring of 1981 until early 1983, so not even two years. However it was a good idea that made optimum use of available equipment. For another through train to operate during the hours that Johnstown desires, it would have to leave New York the late evening before and run as an overnight train. Conversely, an eastbound evening train to Johnstown would then get to New York well past midnight.


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#7 Sloan

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 09:17 AM

 

 

First time to the legislative table: NS, Amtrak and PennDOT in Pittsburgh

 

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has released its testimony from a Aug. 23 hearing regarding increasing rail service to western Pennsylvania. “I think it’s one of the first times that Amtrak, PennDOT and Norfolk Southern were all at the same table answering questions from legislators on this issue,” says Lucinda Beattie, Vice President of Transportation for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, a business advocacy group focused on the revitalization of Pittsburgh.

http://m.railwayage....pittsburgh.html



#8 KevinKorell

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Posted 23 September 2016 - 05:56 PM

Philadelphia, PA Inquirer, 9/23/16:


Amtrak's slow ride to Pittsburgh: It's faster to drive

 

It's nearly 7½ hours on 350 miles of rail from Philadelphia to Pennsylvania's big city in the west. It's slower than an hour-and-15-minute flight or five-hour drive, and, at $47, comparable to the cost of tolls and gas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, which connects Pittsburgh with New York City for about 230,000 passengers a year, also leaves little room for flexibility.

Article



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#9 Sloan

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Posted 08 December 2016 - 08:38 PM

Bandwagon is rolling, gathering support for more trains to Pittsburgh. 

 

http://www.railwayag...nd-penndot.html



#10 Sam Damon

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Posted 13 December 2016 - 11:16 PM

Yes, it's fair to say Pittsburgh should have more Amtrak service.

 

Here are the rubs, in no particular order:

 

  • Norfolk Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Norfolk Southern (EPA regulations on coal have made them change their tune, though)
  • West of Pittsburgh would be nice, too
  • Rolling stock & locomotives
  • Long-term parking close to stations
  • Access to NYP

As I note, coal traffic on NS had gone down, so now they seem open for more Amtrak service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

 

Ideally, we would have morning, noon, and night service between Pittsburgh and NYC.  This may surprise people, but I have a gut feeling a train departing NYP about 12:30a to Pittsburgh, arriving in the AM, might well find a market.

 

However, rolling stock and locomotives would have to magically appear, along with the funding to run them.  PA residents have seen a massive increase in gasoline prices to bail out both SEPTA and PAT, both of which have serious needs.

 

(We note PRR Pittsburgh commuter service between Derry, PA, and Burgettstown, PA, went away in 1963.  Panhandle Line is now a bike trail.  AFAIK, only stations that might work after rehabbing would be Wilkinsburg, Greensburg (current Amtrak stop), and Latrobe (Amtrak flag stop).)

 

To the best of my knowledge, convenient long-term parking west of Harrisburg only exists at Pittsburgh and Greensburg.  It's an issue for longer trips.

 

Finally, while we might turn service west of Harrisburg into through trains to NYP, do the track slots exist when we need them.

 

Show me the money before talking up more intercity passenger rail service in western PA.  Not trying to be cynical here -- just realistic.






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