Hoping to give commuters an alternative to traffic-choked highways, the Westmoreland County Transit Authority has released a feasibility study on using freight rail lines for passenger service.
Construction and delays on major arteries serving Westmoreland County–PA Route 28 and the Squirrel Hill tunnels on I-376–frequently delay drivers. The study by HDR Engineering says that rail travel times could be 60-65 minutes from Latrobe and as little as 45 minutes from Arnold, connecting to Penn Station in the Golden Triangle. Amtrak currently offers one round-trip a day to Pittsburgh from Greensburg.
Norfolk Southern (NS) and Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR) own the lines under study. Stations en route could become hubs for transit-oriented development, the report suggests.
Larry Morris, executive director of the Westmoreland County Transit Authority, says the study is part of an ongoing analysis. “This came out of a series of efforts since 2000, examining the eastern corridor,” he says. “There’s additional work that needs to be done, in cooperation with Norfolk Southern. The next immediate step is an operational analysis.”
The HDR report estimated that total capital costs to create a system on the NS and AVR lines could be $208.7 million, with an additional annual maintenance costs of $22.5 million. Morris says the source for those funds has yet to be determined.
Source: Larry Morris, Westmoreland County Transit Authority
Writer: Chris O’Toole
