Improving Chester County’s Five Train Stations October 17, 2014 Jennie Granger, AICP Bureau of Aviation, Director Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Keystone Corridor • 14 daily weekday and 8 • 104 Mile Corridor weekend round trips • 12 Stations • On time performance > 90% • 1.46 M Passengers in FY13 • Top 10 fastest growing corridors PennDOT Goals • Improve the passenger experience to: – Increase Ridership – Decrease travel time – Create modern, attractive, and safe stations – Build a strong transit culture • Return to a state of good repair Stakeholder Roles • Amtrak – Owns and operates corridor • SEPTA – Operates on portion • Norfolk Southern – Operates on portion • PennDOT – Responsible for operations & maintenance –Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) – Receives grants for capital improvements Project Funding • FTA Commuter Rail Formula Funding – Stations – Amenities • FRA High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (HSIPR) • All Funding Requires State Match – Act 89 helped solidify continued success Current Infrastructure Projects Grade Crossings Eliminations • $20 million to close 3 remaining public at-grade crossings • Projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2015 • Will increase safety and facilitate higher speeds Interlockings and ABS • $40 million to design and reconstruct State Interlocking in Harrisburg • $7 million to perform preliminary engineering for interlockings throughout the corridor • $1.5 million to perform preliminary engineering for Automatic Block Signaling PennDOT led Station Projects Parkesburg Station • Planning completed in 2012 • PennDOT will conduct further analysis as project progresses • No funding available at this time Ridership FY 2011 48,951 FY 2012 51,296 FY 2013 55,290 Current Station Coatesville Station • Property acquisition is nearly complete Ridership Preliminary Engineering complete • FY 2011 14,981 awaiting comments for Amtrak FY 2012 16,493 FY 2013 16,626 • $26.5 million project Proposed New Station Area Downingtown Station • Conceptual design and environmental screening completed in Mid 2014 Ridership FY 2011 64,535 FY 2012 65,345 FY 2013 68,918 2013 SEPTA wkdy 856 Downingtown Station Photo Of Existing Station Downingtown Station Photo Of Proposed New Station Location Downingtown Station Rendering of Proposed New Station Concept SEPTA Led Station Projects Exton Station • SEPTA designing station building and high-level platforms • Construction to begin early 2015 • Long term – Parking Ridership FY 2011 101,823 FY 2012 109,980 FY 2013 113,499 2013 SEPTA wkdy 1,420 Exton Station facing eastbound Paoli Station • Phase I Accessibility Project – Complete by 12/2018 • Future Phases - Phase II – Bridge • Parking/Retail Opportunities Ridership FY 2011 161,791 FY 2012 167,561 FY 2013 175,299 2013 SEPTA wkdy 2,570 CONCEPTUAL Phase I - Proposed Accessibility Improvements Existing Aerial View CONCEPTUAL Proposed Aerial View of Accessibility Improvements Existing View looking Southeast CONCEPTUAL Proposed View looking Southeast Existing View looking Northeast CONCEPTUAL Proposed View looking Northeast CONCEPTUAL Phase II - Proposed Darby Road Extension WWW.PLANTHEKEYSTONE.COM CONCEPTUAL Overview of Accessibility Improvements.