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Amtrak Keystone Service (HBG-LNC-PHL-NYC) improvements

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  • Amtrak Keystone Service (HBG-LNC-PHL-NYC) improvements

    As many of you know, I work in (and enjoy) the transportation planning sector, and have a particular interest in passenger rail. That being the case, I'm excited about the upcoming Amtrak Keystone Service (Harrisburg-Lancaster-Philadelphia-New York) improvements that will take effect on 10/30/06. Notable improvements include:

    *An increase in Harrisburg/Philadelphia weekday roundtrips from 11 to 14 trains per day (9-10 of the trains also travel between Harrisburg and New York)

    *An increase in Harrisburg/Philadelphia/New York weekend roundtrips from 6 to 7 trains per day

    *A decrease in travel time between Harrisburg and Philadelphia of 15-30 minutes and between Harrisburg and New York of about 30-40 minutes

    *A later last train on weekdays from Philadelphia to Harrisburg (Train 619, leaves 30th Street Station at 10:15 PM; this is about 2 hours later than the current last westbound train)

    *Later last trains on weekdays and Sundays from New York to Philadelphia (Sunday train leaves 10:05 PM and weekday trains leave 11:15 PM from NY Penn Station, later than all Amtrak Regional trains in the latter case)

    Here's a link to the Keystone Service timetable effective 10/30/06.

    These schedule improvements allow a lot more flexibility for Keystone Service users and could have benefits for Philly sports fans. The new later westbound train means sports fans in the Lancaster and Harrisburg areas can definitely go to Big 5/Philly 6 college basketball games that start at 7 PM (or with Penn or Drexel for sure, start at 7:30 PM). Weeknight Sixers games, assuming they start at 7 PM and take about 2 1/2 hours, become doable provided the game doesn't go into overtime. Even weeknight Phillies games may become doable if the game ends by about 9:30 PM or if people are willing to leave a little early. The extra, revised Sunday service also makes it more convenient for people to get back from home Eagles games. In addition to the benefits for Lancaster and Harrisburg area fans, Philadelphia area fans can also go to Philly weeknight road games in New York without too many problems (if they don't want to use the cheaper but longer SEPTA R7 & NJ Transit NEC lines).

    In addition to the sports fan benefits, the improved service also makes even easier for people in the Harrisburg and Lancaster areas to make day trips to Philadelphia and makes it viable for people in those areas to make weekday day trips to New York and not have to leave until 7 PM (using either NJ Transit/SEPTA or Amtrak Regional service).

    Trains between Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Philadelphia are pretty cheap too, especially when you consider gas prices, PA Turnpike tolls, Philly parking costs, and car maintenance costs. Harrisburg/Philadelphia tickets are $20 one-way/$40 round-trip, while Lancaster/Philadelphia fares are $14 one-way/$28 round-trip. Fares between Harrisburg/Lancaster/Philadelphia and New York are higher, due to higher costs for all transportation modes and high Amtrak demand between Philly and NYC, but are as low as $45 one-way between Harrisburg, Lancaster, or Philadelphia and New York.

    I'm really looking forward to these improvements. In fact, I plan on making my first-ever all-rail trip between Harrisburg and New York on November 10th. I'll probably look into going to some Big Five and Drexel weeknight games during the 2006-07 season too.
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