HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state of Pennsylvania says it has reached a deal with Norfolk Southern on a previously announced plan to upgrade infrastructure between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, which would allow a second daily Amtrak train between those cities.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the $200 million deal will be finalized by the end of the year. After that, the improvements must be made before the additional passenger service begins, meaning the launch of the second train could still be three years away, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman Alexis Campbell.
The state said it was working on a deal with Norfolk Southern in February [see “Pennsylvania, Norfolk Southern announce pending agreement …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 18, 2022], but only now have the two sides finalized the framework. No details are available and a contract has not been signed, Campbell said. It was not immediately clear if the agreement announced Monday includes all the elements included in the earlier proposal [“Plan to allow second ‘Pennsylvanian’ includes 12 new or upgraded NS interlockings,” News Wire, March 9, 2022].
$200M to merely add back a second Amtrak train to a route that:
a) Now has better train control – NS finished the CTC installation between Altoona to Cresson
b) has fewer trains than when there were two Amtrak trains each way, every day.
Ridiculous.
Amtrak should run a test train for 2 weeks on their intended schedule and have a
supervisor sit with the NS dispatcher to insure no shenanigans. If they can achieve a respectable on time rate then we could find out if NS was full of BS.
Might save taxpayers $200 million, worth a look as I do not trust the railroads to give taxpayers a fair shake.
Don’t have to sit with dispatchers. The data is all there – every track circuit knocked down – every switch thrown – every authority given to Engineering for inspection. They just have to share it.
How did the PRR operate 8-10 passenger trains over this route. Mystified as
to giving NSC all that $$$ for a 2nd train,
Bill Grant
Cols. OH
William. Another problem that might mystify you is that you live in one of the most dynamic and growing cities in the Midwest ….. an important center of business, government, and higher education, but don’t have a passenger train.
PRR had 3 and 4 tracks the whole way, dispatchers in each Division and frequent manned interlockings.
Conrail managed the Broadway and Pennsylvanian while running more freight trains on the existing track and without having CTC from Altoona to Cresson.
What is NS’s problem that needs $200M?
Texas could have made a similar agreement with Union Pacific to make the “Sunset Limited” a daily train, being the longest segment on the Sunset Route. But then Texas is not Pennsylvania; and four other states must make similar agreements.
It sounds to me like once they implement the new train that the overall service service will be “almost” as good as it was before they discontinued the Broadway Limited.
Agree! They were running the Broadway on this route with more Conrail trains and no CTC over the mountain, so why all the $$$ just to get back to this point?
Maybe the second train could be extended to Cleveland, which currently has no daytime service.
A great idea. Hello, Ohio?
It would be nice if the improvements would cut at least a half hour off the trip between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
Indeed! Perhaps putting back some 6″ superelevation, for starters.
NS has learned how to milk the government teat from Virginia. Now they’ve applied those lessons to Pennsylvania
If NS were doing the job for their own benefit at their own cost, without Amtrak’s benefitting from it, it would be done in months rather than years. Who’s kidding whom?
Is there any way to audit NS’s computer modeling that justified this money? Sounds like they’re going to axe even more freights with this new operating plan…
It’ll be interesting to see what all NS wants in exchange for the extra train (besides what was reported earlier). It’s also interesting to see NS come to an agreement with PennDOT when they and CSX are fighting tooth and nail against Amtrak down in the Gulf. Maybe because Amtrak wasn’t involved in this case?
On the Gulf Coast, Amtrak wants to run two trains on a single track line before ANY improvements are made.
In Pennsylvania, the state is agreeing to pay for ALL the improvements before running an additional train on the double track main line.