WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) and Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) celebrated the announcement of a $143,629,028 federal grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) for expansion of Amtrak passenger rail service on the Keystone West Corridor. This funding is from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and will allow for a second daily round-trip between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Additionally, the congressmembers announced a $500,000 grant from the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program to plan and develop how to expand both Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian and Keystone services along the entire Pittsburgh to Philadelphia corridor. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will match 20 percent of the project’s total cost.
“I am thrilled to announce this massive $143.6 million federal investment in Western Pennsylvania’s long neglected passenger rail service,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio. “Our region deserves the best infrastructure—and that includes better rail service that gets people where they need to go.”
“For Pennsylvanians and communities across the eastern corridor, passenger rail has helped connect our communities and ensure people can visit their families, access jobs, and explore all that our Commonwealth has to offer. But for far too long, passenger rail in Pittsburgh has remained woefully inadequate and left our communities and economy disconnected” said Rep. Summer Lee. “After pushing the Department of Transportation for infrastructure investment to connect our communities within my district and across the region, I am so excited to help deliver this $143 million grant to immediately begin building a passenger rail to finally ensure there’s frequent and reliable service connecting Pittsburgh with Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Chicago by rail. This service will go a long way to ensure Pittsburgh is connected to the rest of Pennsylvania and the entire eastern corridor–bringing new life to our cities and creating hundreds of good-paying, union jobs along the way.”
More specifically, this investment will fund the project’s land acquisition, design, and construction efforts to improve signaling and safety improvements along Norfolk Southern Railway’s main line between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. This project will improve system and service performance of the Amtrak Pennsylvanian service with additional capacity and other upgrades, including the additional, second daily round trip.