Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (Pittsburgh, Lancaster: train, electric, Amtrak)

[JoeLeaphorn]

By the way, my real point in starting this thread was that six months ago, Altmire was talking like improving passenger rail service in Western PA was a pipe dream and a waste of money.

He's starting to come around.

In Ohio, the 3-C corridor project was almost sidelined by the Republican controlled Senate and its Transportation Subcommitte Chairman who preferred to see funds to put additional lanes on the highways in his district (so as to shorten his drive to the capital).

What stopped them short of nixing the thing, outright, was the fact that over 10,000 letters and e-mails of support were received in the days leading up to the vote. Even with that, one of the members of the Transportation Subcommittee had the audacity to state than had knocked on practically every door in his district and no one ever asked him for passenger rail service (hundreds of letters came from his district, alone).

So rather than argue about whether Pittsburgh should be looking East or West, the important thing is that anyone who believes that there should be a greater investment in passenger commuter and intercity rail in Western Pennsylvania write your legislators and tell them while there is still a chance that something can be done.

Don't count on them to do the right thing simply because it makes sense.

[JoeLeaphorn]

Not to beat a dead horse, but in case you haven't read it:

Pittsburgh's chances at high-speed rail service seem iffy - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by JoeLeaphorn

Not to beat a dead horse, but in case you haven't read it . . . .

The good news is that at least they seem to be trying now, but they aren't sure they can get a proposal through in this round. That would be disappointing, but the bottomline is that hopefully this will only be the first round among many.

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The good news is that at least they seem to be trying now, but they aren't sure they can get a proposal through in this round. That would be disappointing, but the bottomline is that hopefully this will only be the first round among many.

wow, this is the "significant investment" they've been harping about?

...only the feasibility of adding extra Amtrak service at regular speeds.
A 2005 study concluded that additional passenger trains could not be run on Norfolk Southern's tracks without disrupting freight traffic or requiring new tracks — estimated at the time to cost about $110 million

what a joke. They should have funded it long ago. At any rate, I don't see why this project couldn't be funded under high speed since it's not as if these extra tracks aren't going to be needed if the trains travel faster. According to the FRA, the study was to have looked at what it would take to run three trains a day at 5.5 hours. that would certainly be a huge improvement.

[BrianTH]

So to update this thread, PA has in fact submitted a preapplication for rail funding:

http://www.recovery.pa.gov/portal/se...app_071609.pdf

From the announcement:

PennDOT submitted the following as candidate projects for potential formal application later:
· Keystone East Corridor Harrisburg to Philadelphia — funding would include track, signal,
power and catenary upgrades, grade crossing removal and station improvements or
replacements.
· Scranton to New York Rail Passenger Rail Service Program Phase 1 — funding for part of
a proposed restored 133-mile passenger rail corridor between Northeastern Pennsylvania
and Hoboken, N.J., with connections to Penn Station in Manhattan.
· Pittsburgh High-Speed Magnetic Levitation Project Phase 1 — funding to design and
construct the first segment (Pittsburgh International Airport to Downtown Pittsburgh) of a
Maglev, or magnetic levitation, line between the airport and Monroeville/Greensburg.
· Keystone West Harrisburg to Pittsburgh High-Speed Rail Feasibility and Business Plan
Study — funding for a feasibility study of enhanced intercity passenger rail service
between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. One Amtrak train a day in each direction now serves
this corridor.
The candidate project list is part of a pre-application process, which will initiate dialogue between
the FRA and the state on the projects’ feasibility and eligibility according to the established
criteria. The FRA will offer guidance on criteria under which the final candidate project list
should be formally submitted.

I can't say I am a huge fan of the Maglev, but I guess if the Feds will pay for it, why not? Of course they probably won't, but it seems like we had the documentation ready to go for a proposal.

As we hashed out above, it looks like the most they can do for the Harrisburg to Pittsburgh route is apply for funding for a study (the details are in the document below, but they are looking at 110 mph service with 6-8 round trips per day). That is disappointing in the short term, but absolutely crucial in the medium term as (hopefully) more funding for these projects is allocated.

Anyway, the preapplication is here, and includes more details on the proposals:

http://www.recovery.pa.gov/portal/se...plications.pdf

[JoeLeaphorn]

The total number of dollars requested by all applicants was $103 billion (for $8 billion in available dollars).

Many of the applicants are beyond the feasibility study and ready to acquire rights of way and lay track (including Ohio which owns the Panhandle line from Pittsburgh to Columbus and for which all but 1000 feet of HSR ROW from Pittsburgh-Youngstown-Cleveland are held by Amtrak or another RR).

Maglev is a non-starter. In Western PA it would be too expensive and serve too few people even for a demonstration project. Conventional track can support HSR, and diesel multiple unit commuter trains in addition to conventional speed services and there are tens of thousands of miles of track and ROWs which already exist.

[BrianTH]

I tend to agree about Maglev, but you never know what those whacky Feds might decide to do.

Anyway, I do think the more realistic hope is funds to upgrade Philly-Harrisburg and funds for the necessary studies to get funding for Harriburg-Pittsburgh in future rounds.

[JoeLeaphorn]

HR3288, the bill that contains the transportation appropriations for FY2010 is being voted on today.

It currently contains $4 billion for high speed rail. More than $100 billion has been requested for High Speed Rail Projects across the country.

Representative Latham has offered an amendment that would reduce that to $1 billion.

Please call your representative now. Leave a simple message:

Please support high-speed rail development. Vote no on the Latham Amendment.

Click here to get the phone number for your representative and then follow up with an email.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2228/t/9625/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1271

[BrianTH]

By the way, the Latham Amendment was in fact voted down--including with 40 Republican votes, which bodes well for the Senate.

[pman]

Pennsylvania transportation officials yesterday asked the federal government for $28.2 million for high-speed rail development along the "Keystone Corridor" between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

One application was for $27.45 million for preliminary engineering on four projects to upgrade tracks, signals and power between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, to add a third express track between Atglen and Paoli, and to remove three grade crossings in Lancaster County.
A second application was for $750,000 to study ways to improve rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, including additional tracks and electrification of the route.
The applications were filed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation late yesterday, the deadline for states to seek funding from part of a federal pool of $8 billion in stimulus funds for high-speed rail projects.
The federal government is expected to announce the award of the first high-speed rail grants by mid-September.
The Keystone Corridor is one of 10 corridors identified as potential high-speed rail routes eligible for funding.
PennDot said in its application that the planned improvements between Philadelphia and Harrisburg could increase the top operating speed on the route to 125 m.p.h. from 110 m.p.h.
The state also is seeking to increase the top speed of passenger trains between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh to 110 m.p.h. from the current top speed of 79 m.p.h. With additional tracks and electrification, PennDot said, the current 51/2-hour trip time could be reduced by two hours, and eight round trips could be offered daily, up from the current one.
The state in 2006 completed a $145 million upgrade to the Philadelphia-Harrisburg portion of the Keystone Corridor, allowing state-subsidized Amtrak trains to make the one-way trip in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. With the faster trips and additional trains, ridership between Philadelphia and Harrisburg has increased by 26 percent in the last two years, state officials said.

Pa. asks U.S. for $28million for high-speed rail | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/25/2009