Plans to get another daily train offering between Pittsburgh and New York City remain on track as the PennDOT has identified 11 key infrastructure projects needed to support such service.

Amtrak's "Pennsylvanian" service linking the Steel City with the Big Apple relies on using a portion of Norfolk Southern Corp.'s freight line between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Officials have said that due to strong rail freight demand and the current limitations of these tracks, a second daily passenger rail service option isn't supported unless a set of infrastructure improvement projects can occur.

According to PennDOT, four out of a total of 11 of these projects can be finished in time for Amtrak's plans to launch a second "Pennsylvanian" by 2026. These include new interlocking mechanisms in Johnstown, connector track upgrades in Camp Hill, a new main line and interlocking configuration improvements in Enola and a connector track to the Enola Yard from Lemoyne.

PennDOT said "a bulk" of this work will focus on improving capacity and routing flexibility in areas near Harrisburg and Altoona, a portion of the route where PennDOT said freight train congestion impacts passenger rail service the most.

The other infrastructure projects, while important, won't prevent Amtrak's ability to offer this service, which also links Pittsburgh via rail to Philadelphia as well as over a dozen small towns along the route. PennDOT said it could take up to eight years to complete all of these projects but is targeting 2030 as its ideal completion year.

The state's transportation department has committed more than $200 million for various improvements along this Norfolk Southern "Pittsburgh Line" freight corridor. Officials first began initial talks behind this agreement back in February 2022.

Source: Pittsburgh Business Times