Sen. Arlen Specter is doing his best to keep plans for the CorridorOne commuter rail line alive.

Appearing at a press conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's senior senator said he is working to arrange for $11.2 million for the rail line from Lancaster to Harrisburg.

The show of support came a week after state Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler seemed to derail the project. Biehler, in a newspaper column, said it would be cheaper to buy every anticipated rail commuter a car, and pay for their gas, insurance and parking, than to fund the $10 million annual subsidy for the line.

Specter on Friday countered that the 37.4 mile rail line was "a no-brainer," said John Ward, president of the Modern Transit Partnership, the organization working to establish CorridorOne.

Specter said the rail line will promote economic development in the region, relieve highway congestion, improve air quality and reduce oil consumption of foreign oil, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported.

The start-up funding, which Specter, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has inserted in a funding bill, still needs the approval of the full Senate and House of Representatives and a signature from the president.

If the funding comes through, Ward said, "That's the last dollars we need to finish the design and construct CorridorOne between Lancaster and Harrisburg."

Initially, the Modern Transit Partnership has projected 900-1,000 single-ticket riders per day would take one of the 28 trips between Lancaster and Harrisburg. Those trains would run about every 30 minutes on weekdays, on Amtrak rails, between about 5:30-9:30 a.m. and 3-6:30 p.m.

There would also be limited hourly service on the weekends, said Ward.

Plans call for a second commuter line, CorridorTwo, to eventually serve Hershey and Lebanon. A third corridor would run to York.

But, Ward added, the trains will not be able to operate without state funding underwriting its costs.

Ward said he remains hopeful that a champion will come forward in the state legislature to insert CorridorOne funding into transit bills which may come before the General Assembly before the end of the year.

He said the state House of Representatives previously supported the project with only one dissenting vote.

Ward said there have also been previous shows of support from Biehler and Gov. Ed Rendell.

He acknowledged that Biehler threw him a curve when he came out against the rail project.

"No doubt about that," Ward said.

If funding is approved, the rail line could be operating in two years, he said.

"If it were to happen today, it would be the fall of 2009 that we would be running service," he said.

CONTACT US: bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022

Correction: This story misstated Sen. Arlen Specter's position on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is the panel's third most powerful Republican. The New Era regrets the error.