Infrastructure funding could clear way for Pittsburgh to get added passenger rail service

Funding from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed last year will clear the way for Pittsburgh to receive more passenger rail service to Harrisburg and points east, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday.

Expanding passenger rail service eastward from Pittsburgh has been discussed for years.

“With this infusion of federal money, we are finally ready to actually move forward,” Wolf said during a news conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown.

Wolf said PennDOT and Norfolk Southern Railway will collaborate on infrastructure improvements to pave the way for an additional round trip on Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian line, which runs from Pittsburgh to New York City, through Greensburg and Latrobe, via Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Norfolk Southern owns the rail line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, called Keystone West.

A timeline for the infrastructure work hasn’t been set, but officials estimate construction could be completed within five years. It’s been decades since Pittsburgh received new passenger rail service.

An eastbound Pennsylvanian train departs Pittsburgh once daily, at 7:30 a.m., and a westbound Pennsylvanian train arrives in Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. daily.

According to a feasibility report about adding a round trip, one possible schedule would have eastbound trains departing Pittsburgh at 7 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. daily and westbound trains arriving in Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.

Norfolk Southern Regional Vice President Rudy Husband said the company is excited to work with the state on upgrading and modernizing the Keystone West line, noting that, in the past, disagreements between private rail and state governments have led to inaction on rail service expansion.

“For Norfolk Southern, we are viewing this project as a real paradigm changer in how passenger rail is either introduced or expanded on freight railroads,” Husband said.

Husband pointed to Norfolk Southern’s recent success working with the Virginia state government in expanding passenger rail service there and said he believes that success will be duplicated in Pennsylvania.

Officials said Norfolk Southern and PennDOT soon will finalize an operating agreement that will have the private railway complete construction work to free up eight choke points on the Keystone West line. The work would provide space and time for an additional round trip on Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian line, as well as more freight rail traffic. Husband said the company and the federal government expect freight traffic to double in the coming years.

The agreement between Norfolk Southern and PennDOT also would include upgrades to platforms and stations along the route.

PennDOT Deputy Secretary Jennie Louwerse said the department has set aside $350 million in funding to be ready to contribute to passenger rail expansion, and now the federal funding from the infrastructure bill will allow the state to leverage that money into greater investment that will make expansion possible.

Wolf praised the infrastructure law in helping to provide funding for the upgrades and the additional passenger rail service. The law allocated $66 billion to Amtrak, which the Amtrak CEO said last November would go toward rail projects, fleet acquisition, state grants and improvements across the Amtrak system.

Pittsburgh’s additional Amtrak service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg would be the first step in fulfilling part of Amtrak’s goals for Pennsylvania. Amtrak’s 2035 Vision Plan recommends 15 new round trips for train service in the Keystone State, including an additional train connecting Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Other recommendations include creating rail service connecting Scranton to New York City, Allentown to New York City, and Reading to Philadelphia. Amtrak also wants to add five additional round trips between Harrisburg and New York City via Philadelphia and one additional round trip between Cleveland and Buffalo via Erie.

Wolf said the planned improvements should increase the reliability of passenger trains arriving on time along the Pennsylvanian route.

The work will not increase train speeds between Western and Central Pennsylvania, Louwerse said, citing the state’s mountainous topography. Currently, Amtrak service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg takes about 5 hours and 20 minutes, with trains meandering through the Appalachians and navigating several winding sections such as the famous Altoona curve.