LEGEND
Supporting State: Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvanian provides once daily rail service connecting Pittsburgh, PA and New York City via Altoona, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Philadelphia, PA and Trenton and Newark, NJ. The Pennsylvanian operates over the same tracks as the Amtrak Keystone Service east of Harrisburg. SEPTA commuter rail trains connect in Philadelphia and operate over the same tracks between Downingtown and Philadelphia. Connecting rail service continues from New York via scheduled Amtrak trains from Penn Station, regional commuter rail services including Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Railroad, and NJ Transit as well as NYC Transit. From Pittsburgh, connecting train service on to Chicago via Cleveland, OH is also available. Connecting Amtrak Thruway bus services are also available from Harrisburg to State College (home of Penn State University) and on to Pittsburgh or from Pittsburgh on to Columbus, OH and Indianapolis, IN. Pennsylvanian
Pennsylvanian ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS/SUMMARY Sources: Amtrak State Fact Sheets and Schedule; National Association of Rail Passengers Fact Sheets (2017)
Route Distance 444 miles (Pittsburgh, PA to New York City (Penn Station)) Average Trip Distance (2016) 235 miles Trips by Length (2016) 0-99 mi: 19.4% 100-199 mi: 26.3% 200-299 mi: 18.4% 300-399 mi: 19.6% 400-499 mi: 16.3% Scheduled Time Length of Route Approximately 9 hours (schedule varies by direction) Frequency One train daily in each direction Operating Entity Amtrak Scheduled Trains Eastbound: Train 42 Westbound: Train 43 Number of stations 17 cities in 3 states (14 in PA, 2 in NJ, and 1 in NY) Ridership level (2016) 219,910 Relation to other Amtrak/ Connections to other Amtrak routes, regional commuter rail services, passenger rail services and and/or transit at NYC-Penn Station, in Philadelphia, in Lancaster, in Thruway connections Harrisburg, and in Pittsburgh. Connections with local transit services at major stations along route. Thruway bus connections in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Host railroad(s) Amtrak (Harrisburg to NYC); Norfolk Southern (Pittsburgh to Harrisburg)
Page 1 Pennsylvanian
Annual Passengers 2011-2016 (Thousands)
2011 203.2
2012 206.5
2013 214.4
2014 227
2015 229.1
2016 219.9
190 200 210 220 230 240
Top City Pairs, 2016
By Ridership By Revenue
1. New York, NY - Pittsburgh, PA 444 mi 1. New York, NY - Pittsburgh, PA 444 mi 2. Philadelphia, PA - Pittsburgh, PA 353 mi 2. Philadelphia, PA - Pittsburgh, PA 353 mi 3. Lancaster, PA - Philadelphia, PA 68 mi 3. Harrisburg, PA - New York, NY 195 mi 4. Harrisburg, PA - Philadelphia, PA 104 mi 4. Lancaster, PA - New York, NY 159 mi 5. Harrisburg, PA - New York, NY 195 mi 5. Lancaster, PA - Pittsburgh, PA 285 mi
Activity by Station, 2014-2016 Station 2014 2015 2016 Station 2014 2015 2016 Altoona 26,088 24,900 21,865 Lewistown 9,375 9,125 9,514 Elizabethtown 5,279 5,611 5,358 New York 68,955 68,962 68,577 Exton 3,372 3,576 3,579 Newark 8,230 7,921 7,033 Greensburg 15,023 14,773 13,552 Paoli 12,500 12,782 12,649 Harrisburg 44,649 43,875 42,634 Philadelphia 81,121 85,063 82,787 Huntingdon 6,801 6,616 6,039 Pittsburgh 93,334 94,075 88,494 Johnstown 22,931 24,039 21,875 Trenton 4,477 4,516 4,524 Lancaster 43,954 44,204 43,734 Tyrone 3,346 3,324 3,068 Latrobe 4,631 4,850 4,538
Page 2 Pennsylvanian GOVERNANCE
State-funded service, funded primarily by Pennsylvania DOT (PennDOT) The Amtrak Pennsylvanian is supported by the state of Pennsylvania through funding from its Department of Transportation. The host railroad for the Pennsylvanian east of Harrisburg is Amtrak and the host railroad between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh is Norfolk Southern.
HISTORY Service on the Pennsylvanian began in April 1980 when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reached an agreement with Amtrak to support the route through the state 403(b) funding program. The route was meant to preserve service to Western Pennsylvania communities not served by the recently instituted Broadway Limited (Washington/New York-Chicago) service running along the same corridor after cancellation of the previous National Limited (New York/Washington-Pittsburgh-Kansas City) service as a result of the Amtrak Improvement Act of 1978. The route first ran only between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but was extended to New York City in October of 1983.1 In November 1998, Amtrak extended the Pennsylvanian to Chicago from Pittsburgh providing daytime Amtrak service to several cities in Ohio for the first time in many years, but reverted to the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-New York routing in 2003, instead providing a connecting train on to Chicago at Pittsburgh.2 The Keystone West segment of the corridor between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh is owned by Norfolk Southern while the tracks east of Harrisburg are owned by Amtrak. The Amtrak Keystone Service and SEPTA commuter rail trains share tracks within this eastern part of the corridor. The Pennsylvanian typically operates with a trainset made up of a diesel locomotive, five coaches (4 standard coaches and 1 business class car), and a cafe car west of Philadelphia. The average operating speed over the Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia is currently 60 mph.3
Pennsylvanian Pulling into the Greensburg Station (2016)
Source: Amtrak, Available at: https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/on-board-the-pennsylvanian, Accessed: February 5, 2018.
1 National Rail Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), Amtrak History Blog: On Board the Pennsylvanian, October 18, 2016, Available at: https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/on-board-the-pennsylvanian, Accessed: February 5, 2018. 2 Ibid. 3 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Plan the Keystone Frequently Asked Questions, December 2017, Available at: http://www.planthekeystone.com/Projects%20Documents/Printable_FAQs.pdf, Accessed: February 5, 2018.
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