Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line track renewal project in Pennsylvania is progressing ahead of schedule. The last day of replacement bus service was moved forward to November 7, two weeks earlier than expected.

Bringing in Modern Rails

The $122 million track replacement project began on March 15 and looked to replace 43 miles of track between Lanchester and Harrisburg.

The Harrisburg Line was utilizing infrastructure from the 1950s. With the project more than 95% of the way done, new infrastructure will allow for improved ride quality and increased service reliability.

The existing wooden ties are being replaced with more than 113,000 concrete ties, which have a 60-year lifespan.

In addition the project refreshed 226,500 feet of gravel track bed to support the track structure and improve drainage.

Service to Return to Normal

Keystone Service trains that ran on the line were replaced with buses starting on April 8 due to the significant track outages required by the project. However, regular rail service is expected to resume on November 8.

As the line resumes regular service, residual work will continue and the overall project will be completed in December.

Normally a project like this would take approximately two years. Amtrak implemented an innovative approach with expanded track outage windows that improved work efficiencies and reduced the duration of customer impacts.

Working to Update Quickly

Much of the rail infrastructure operated by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor was last renewed in the 1970s. Amtrak historically renews approximately 30 miles of track per year.

This project is part of the company’s accelerated plan of renewing more than 55 miles of track in the coming year.

Due to the scope and scale of investment demands Amtrak is implementing new strategies to promote efficient and productive infrastructure project completion. 

The strategy to expand construction outage schedules in the short term has helped accelerate work and complete the project faster. With this strategy, the long term impacts on customers and train service has been minimized.