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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 14, 2016 11:07 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jeffrey P. Pyle and Rep. Robert F. Matzie |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution to Study Increasing Passenger Rail Service |
| In the near future, we intend to introduce a resolution directing the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the feasibility of increasing passenger rail service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Western Pennsylvania has historically had a high level of passenger rail service with twelve daily trains as recently as the 1960s and two daily passenger trains in 2004 serving the Keystone corridor west of Harrisburg. In January 2015 The Keystone West High-Speed Rail Study: Feasibility Report & Preliminary Service Development Plan, prepared for PennDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration, evaluated the feasibility of options to reduce rail travel times and increase trip frequency on Amtrak’s Keystone West portion of the Pennsylvanian service and identified incremental improvements that would make the line compatible for both freight and passenger rail service. We believe the existing one train a day between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh does not meet the transportation needs of residents in the western communities along the line and the many who depend upon passenger rail service to travel. The residents of western Pennsylvania deserve the same consideration and opportunity for increased frequency of service on this existing line as residents of Pennsylvania in other parts of the state along the Keystone line. The resolution that we propose will direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of the feasibility of providing an additional two passenger rail trains a day to the existing one daily train between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg including what federal money can be identified to support such a service. The study should also determine what improvements to the rail infrastructure between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg are necessary in order to make the additional passenger rail service compatible with the existing freight service. Please join us in supporting this resolution. |
Introduced as HR1103