Plenty Riding on Rail Plans for South-Central PA

The quest to bring commuter rail to the greater Harrisburg area has been something of a roller-coaster ride for John Ward.

Since 2002, Ward has been president of the Modern Transit Partnership, a Harrisburg-based group aiming to bring rail service to the region. He joined amid a burst of optimism that trains would soon be rolling.

But early hopes faded after a key backer dropped out. Officials in Cumberland County, a rural and suburban area west of the state capital, decided they didn't want to climb aboard, even though initial plans called for rail service to link the county seat in Carlisle.

But Ward is optimistic again--and keen to yield results from his seven-year tenure at the transit partnership. "We don't have a lot to show for our efforts so far, and I sure want to get something accomplished before I leave," he says.

At the moment, the outlook for rail is bright. Federal officials are promising billions of dollars for regional rail projects around the country as part of the economic recovery package. And though state and local budgets are tight, Ward is hopeful money can be found to cover the annual operating costs of commuter service between Lancaster and Harrisburg. The estimate is about $10 million per year.

The route, dubbed the Capital Red Rose Corridor, is currently served by Amtrak. Commuter service would run more frequently and could provide a crucial link for local passengers, who might be bypassed if Amtrak switches to higher-speed trains.

"A high speed line is going to want a lot fewer stops in order to maintain average speed," says James Cowhey, executive director of the Lancaster County Planning Commission.

Some of the preparations already are under way for the Harrisburg-to-Lancaster line. In northeastern Lancaster County, the Elizabethtown station is undergoing renovations that will make it more hospitable to daily passengers. The bare-bones station in Mount Joy is likely to follow, Ward adds. "It's nothing more than a little school bus shelter for people to try to get into to stay out of the weather."

The 80-year-old station in Lancaster is getting a $12 million facelift—as well as its first air conditioners. A brand-new station, meanwhile, is slated for land between Middletown and Harrisburg International Airport.

And in the spring, Gov. Ed Rendell promised federal transportation officials that he would find money to cover operating costs for the Capital Red Rose Corridor. The state money is all local officials need before they can claim $19.2 million in federal funds for capital projects, such as rearranging tracks to store more trains at the Lancaster and Harrisburg stations, Ward says.

Money won't come from the state this year, Ward says. But he expects lawmakers to tackle transportation funding next year, given holes in the state budget caused by failure to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike or enact tolls on Interstate 80. Together, the two steps would have raised billions.

"Somebody has to belly up to the bar and make some decisions and fund projects," Ward says. "They just can't say the budget's tight and neglect it all."

While Ward and the Modern Transit Partnership wait, they already are taking the next step in developing the capital region's rail system. They have begun pursuing what they describe as premium bus service between downtown Harrisburg and Lebanon, by way of Hershey.

The local bus company, Capital Area Transit (www.cattransit.com), already runs five buses per day on that route. The premium service, which could begin within the next three years, would run more often and in more comfortable buses outfitted with luggage racks and wi-fi connections.

"That would be pretty cool," says Sandy Ballard, who rides a standard city bus from her home in Hershey to a job at the Pennsylvania Bar Association (www.pabar.org) in Harrisburg. Ballard also appreciates plans for buses to run more frequently. She had to alter her work hours to fit the bus schedule.

"Some people don't have that flexibility," she says.

Long-range plans call for establishing a Lebanon-to-Harrisburg rail line alongside Routes 322 and 422. The price tag—$267 million in capital costs—is high. But it could be cheaper than building a new highway to cover the same ground, Ward says. "It's going to be very difficult even to add additional lanes."

Skeptics continue to condemn regional rail as a costly solution that addresses a fragment of a region's traffic problems and is used only by a small group of people.

Nonetheless, leaders in the capital region point out that population growth will continue squeezing cars and trucks onto the area's roads and highways.

"It's not Atlanta," says Linda Goldstein, vice president of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and Capital Region Economic Development Corp.  "But if we do not get some of these cars off the highway, whether it's regional rail or more bus transport, we've got a growing issue."

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Joel Berg is a freelance writer, part-time writing teacher and recovering business reporter living in York.

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Photos:

Sandy Ballard enjoys a conversation while using the Capital Area Transit bus system

Commuters board a CAT bus near the Harrisburg Transportation Center.

CAT logo on a bus.

Ballard's bus approaches at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Walnut Street in Harrisburg

Photographs by Michael Bupp