Number of weekday roundtrips increases from 11 to 14 on Keystone Corridor. Top speed rises from 90 mph to 110 mph.
By Tim Mekeel
Published Oct 30, 2006 14:02
The improved service was made possible by a six-year, $145 million upgrade of the 104-mile Harrisburg-Philadelphia line.
Changes include raising the number of weekday roundtrips from 11 to 14, and the number of Sunday roundtrips from six to seven, said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black.
Saturday roundtrips are unchanged at six, he said.
All of the trains will stop in Lancaster.
Besides providing more trips, Amtrak also will be providing quicker trips.
With the track improvements, trains on the Keystone run will go as fast as 110 mph, compared to the previous top speed of 90 mph.
The higher speed will trim the Lancaster-to-Philadelphia run by 16 minutes, to one hour. The Lancaster-to-Harrisburg run, which had been as long as 45 minutes, will be five-to-10 minutes shorter.
Fares will be unchanged. However, due to the additional service and faster speeds, Amtrak has altered the departure times of its existing trains by as much as 20 minutes.
To achieve the greater speeds, Amtrak will use only electric locomotives on the Keystone run, ending 15 years of primarily diesel-powered service.
Amtrak launched the new service with a reception in Harrisburg, featuring the Harrisburg High School band and remarks by Amtrak CEO Alexander Kummant and PennDOT Deputy Secretary Karen Rae.
Kummant, in a prepared statement, called the Keystone project “a prime model of how Amtrak and state governments can work together to develop successful corridor service.
“Pennsylvania has become a leader in recognizing a need for increased rail service and working to make it a reality,” he said.
To mark the start of the new service, a special high-speed Keystone train — carrying Amtrak, PennDOT and local officials, as well as the media — was to leave Harrisburg at 10:35 a.m., stop in Elizabethtown, Lancaster and Paoli, and arrive in Philadelphia at 12:05 p.m., where it was to be welcomed by another reception.
To make the faster speeds possible, Amtrak (with funding from PennDOT and the Federal Transit Administration) made a host of improvements to the line.
The work included: installing 200 miles of continuous welded rail, which provides for a smoother ride; installing 216,000 concrete ties, 48,000 wooden ties and 52 new switches; new track bed; and upgrading signal and electrification systems.
