Amtrak joined Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll, State Representative Tom Jones, and other partners to celebrate the full restoration of weekday Keystone Service and thank customers for their patience during the Harrisburg Line Track Renewal Project, which concluded earlier this month.

"Amtrak's in-house construction crews achieved significant efficiency improvements compared with previous years, increasing production by 87% and reducing injuries by more than 80% from 2023,” said Amtrak Executive VP, Capital Delivery, Laura Mason. 

An Accelerated Approach

While this work was estimated to take approximately two years, Amtrak developed an accelerated approach that expedited the project with a combination of single and full track outages, improving work efficiencies, and reducing the duration of the project.

Over the past eight months, Amtrak crews replaced more than 43 miles of track and installed 113,000 concrete ties during this major infrastructure project on Amtrak-owned tracks between Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pa. 

Amtrak customers and freight operators in this area can now benefit from improved ride quality and comfort and increased service reliability thanks to these upgrades.

Amtrak worked with state partner PennDOT to preserve ridership and help ensure the continued success of the partnership. Amtrak provided replacement bus transportation at all affected stations and preserved midday Pennsylvanian train service through the area. 

The project also involved close coordination with Norfolk Southern and many freight shippers who use these same tracks to transport raw materials and finished products on the corridor.

Continued Improvements 

As Amtrak enters a new era of rail, the company has made unprecedented investments to improve Northeast Corridor (NEC) infrastructure. 

Due to the scope and scale of investment demands, Amtrak is implementing innovative strategies like this to promote efficient and productive infrastructure project delivery.

Given the project’s success, Amtrak is actively exploring opportunities along the NEC to collaborate with stakeholders in developing and implementing innovative outages like the Harrisburg Line Track Renewal Project, which ultimately deliver benefits to the public more rapidly and cost-effectively. 

Another example includes catenary upgrades on the south end of the NEC in Maryland, which have benefitted from expanded overnight work hours in partnership with Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration. 

The projects represent the importance of strong partnerships between Amtrak, state departments of transportation, freight railroads and other entities working together to advance important renewal projects and build a new era of rail in America.