High Speed Rail

High-speed Rail is Coming Our Way!
by Lisa Hummel

Just when you thought high-speed rail was fodder for the far-distant future, PennDot and Amtrak have put their heads together and made it a reality. The $140 million plan for high-speed rail will affect transportation in the Keystone Corrider, the route that runs between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. At a ceremony held earlier this week, Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker joined Amtrak President George Warrington, state Secretary of Transportation Brad Mallory, and Amtrak Map of Train Route Northeast Corridor President Stan Bagley to announce the five-year agreement, in which both the state and Amtrak will provide $70 million to the effort.

By raising the trains’ speeds from 75 mph to 90 – 110 mph, the high-speed rail service will eventually cut travel times between the two Pennsylvania cities to 90 minutes, some thirty minutes shorter than the capabilities of the current trains. In addition, the trains will be able to more adequately service the passengers that travel 105 mile stretch that makes up the Keystone Corridor, providing such amenities as electrical outlets for laptop computers, larger storage wells for overhead luggage, and improved restrooms.

This development does nothing but bring more good news to proponents of the Keystone Corridor, the very line that Amtrak and Gov. Tom Ridge negotiated to save in 1995 due to poor passenger numbers. In the three years since the route was saved, the Keystone Corridor was the fastest growing Amtrak service in the Northeast during Amtrak’s 1999 budget year, growing 17.5 percent, and skyrocketing from less than 400,000 a year to nearly a million.

"We made the right decision in 1995 to invest in Keystone Service and we’re making the right decision today to carry that success a big step further," said Secretary of Transportation Mallory. "Passenger rail offers business travelers and commuters downtown-to-downtown service that not only is faster than driving, but friendlier to the environment. In addition, the new link with HIA [the planned construction of a new intermodel station at Harrisburg International Airport] will improve both air and rail service to the capital region."

With the success of the program, future plans for the high-speed rail include a three-hour run to New York City and the possible introduction of a route that could extend as far west as Pittsburgh. Quite an accomplishment for something that seemed so space-age not so long ago. All aboard!