New report evaluates HSR routes, including PGH's (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg: 2013, rail)

[FreightTrainRunning]

Sigh, those pictures of that station make me sad. At least they kept that iron fence when they demolished everything else there.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Sigh, those pictures of that station make me sad. At least they kept that iron fence when they demolished everything else there.

I picked that iron fence out right away as well. For some reason my dog is drawn to that fence as we walk by and I've spent a lot of time examining it.

I know they've talked about closing that particular post office in the past, so maybe the land will become available again soon. We can dream.

[pman]

I suppose there will be some typical groans about "more money for the east" but this project is important. it will lower the cost of operating the harrisburg station area and replace the stick rail, much of which dates to the late 1930's. It should also save a little bit of time for the Pennsylvanian. Lowering the cost of operating the Keytone East corridor is essential for expanding service west of Harrisburg.

Friday, September 30, 2011

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today awarded a $40 million grant to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to eliminate delays in and out of Harrisburg on Amtrak’s Keystone Corridor. The project consists of replacing aging track and signals with modern technologies

News Digest: Pennsylvania?s Keystone Rail Corridor Receives $40 Million from USDOT

the next bit of news should be the plan to improve things west of harrisburg. hopefully there is something that can be done for not too much money just to get things started.

[pman]

I'd call this lowering expectations
New federal law forces PennDOT to pay full operating cost of Amtrak's Keystone Line - News

[MathmanMathman]

I sometimes wonder if instead of Obama's original stimulus spending, he instead spent say $1 trillion on HSR and $1 trillion on intra-city transit rail...would it have been a better spending plan if given the money would have been spent anyway?

Pittsburgh then could have a comprehensive county-wide rail transit system and HSR to Philly, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and DC. Places like Atlanta would have HSR to Charlotte, Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Jacksonville. But it would get only some intra-city rail as it already has a system built with fed money.

[pman]

from the lancaster article

The state now pays 51 percent of the cost, or $9 million. The amount could climb to $18 million unless ways are found to bring down costs, he said.

now from the new one

For the first nine months of this fiscal year, ticket revenue was $27.5 million, while operating costs were $37.8 million. Revenues for the period were up 11 percent from the same period a year earlier, with ridership up 5 percent.

Looming fund cuts endanger Amtrak's Keystone line
that's $10.3 million or $13.7 million annually, substantially less than $18 million quoted earlier. It would appear that increased ridership and revenue is the best hope...hopefully the state pieces together than slower trains that lack capital investment are actually more expensive to run. (pittsburgh)

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by pman

from the lancaster article

now from the new one

Looming fund cuts endanger Amtrak's Keystone line
that's $10.3 million or $13.7 million annually, substantially less than $18 million quoted earlier. It would appear that increased ridership and revenue is the best hope...hopefully the state pieces together than slower trains that lack capital investment are actually more expensive to run. (pittsburgh)

If ticket prices for the Philadelphia-Harrisburg route are as little as $26 and riders cover 73% of the cost, then just raise ticket prices to "as little as" $35. The new 125 mph locomotives should make the route even more appealing for the money.

Then transfer the subsidy for the Keystone to the Pennsylvanian. Or even drop the line. The Pennsylvanian is only once a day while the Keystone is 14. I checked at Amtrak and from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh it costs $77 for a 5 1/2 hour ride. By car, 200 miles and about 4 hours and might cost you $40. For Philadelphia, it's $26-$32 and 1 hour 45 minutes by train, 100 miles and almost 2 hours by car and for about $20. The train is cost effective if you figure in not having to drive and not needing a car at the destination.

[pman]

Higher prices means fewer riders...though they could turn around and offer a companion fare discount (greyhound does this) which woudl mitigate the multiple rider problem. In fact they lowered prices back on 2006 and the line generates more money. Some of it is cost..unlike the necessary the route still has tower operations which add a substantial amount of cost. The new locomotives can't do 125 unless they finish upgrading the line..if they finished upgrading the line they'd likely add 500k riders per the last forecast which, at current avg ticket prices would generate $10 million annually and lower the cost of operations...in other words, make it break even. Unfortunately penndot seems unwilling to do so. that method would also reduce the pittsbrugh trip to under 7 hours between philly and pittsburgh (a good start).
Pittsburgh-they'll probably consider dropping the line if only to see if Amtrak will make it part of the national system by putting it back to Chicago. They definitely need to speed the trip up otherwise its slower than the hound. Normal prices are $52 philly-pittsburgh unless its full.
eta: it does mention 125 mph, I wonder if that relates to the grade crossing closures. it takes the train ten minutes to get out of philly...or 25 mph

[DarkWolf]

Then cut off Keystone West which only services 150-200 a day...while Keystone East Services 3-5,000 a day and has alot of Projects tied into it...unlike Keystone West. That doesn't mean kill it completely...but instead of everyday make it once or twice a week... The Prices are already to high at least for Interstate users , 25$ should be the cap....more people would use the train if it was 25$ to North Jersey / NYC...but its 50$...

[pman]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Then cut off Keystone West which only services 150-200 a day...while Keystone East Services 3-5,000 a day and has alot of Projects tied into it...unlike Keystone West. That doesn't mean kill it completely...but instead of everyday make it once or twice a week... The Prices are already to high at least for Interstate users , 25$ should be the cap....more people would use the train if it was 25$ to North Jersey / NYC...but its 50$...

Given the way the ridership works, I suppose you could argue for twice a day service for weekend travel with no service M-W. I agree, pricing is wrong. I might opt for $35 with a 25% companion fare discount. at least until such time as someone is willing to invest in it to make it a more attractive service.