Keystone Service Train Amtrak at the EXTON station in Chester. (Peter Hall/Capital-Star)
The key connection of the passenger railway between Central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and New York may be threatened, if the legislators are not acting to stop the cuts of public transport in the largest area of the community metro, said on Monday a representative of the American Brendan Boyle (D-2ND district) said.
Boyle said that President Amtrak, Roger Harris, told him that the loss of payments in the amount of over 71 million dollars from south -eastern Pennsylvania (Septa) would seriously affect the activities of Amtrak, probably leading to the suspension of the Keystone service.
“Many people in our area rely on the Keystone service. If Septa limits or eliminates the funds to Amtrak, this railway line will stop working,” Boyle said on Monday.
The train performs 13 daily trips between Harrisburg and New York with stops in Lancaster and several smaller communities in the South Central and South -Eastern Pennsylvania, in addition to Philadelphia. According to Amtrak, trains, which are financed primarily by Penndot, wore 1.27 million passengers last year. This makes Keystone The fifth best turn Work.
If you turn to our reach more and more, consider transferring a donation to strengthen our independent, non -profit newsroom.
Amtrak officials did not answer immediately at the request for comment.
In the face of a deficit of $ 213 million, SEPTA plans to limit or eliminate service throughout its system. Cutting may start next week if the legislator is unable to escalate the financing of public transport in the state budget, which is currently over six weeks. Reductions can affect 800,000 people who utilize the transit system every day.
Weights to bus and rail services include the elimination of the SEPTA regional railway routes, which operate on Amtrak lines. They include the North -East Corridor between New York and Washington and the Keystone corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
According to the Boyle Office, SEPTA will bring USD 42.3 million to capital projects, including track and signal improvements, and USD 28.8 million in operating expenses and station operations.
A spokesman Andrew Busch said that by eliminating five suburban rail services that utilize the Amtrak line, SEPTA can cause costs to save on a structural deficit. While the service on the other eight suburban lines is to be reduced by 45%, SEPTA is the owner of these rails and would not see comparable savings, completely cut them.
“Septa does not know how the elimination of regional railway services on the lines belonging to Amtrak will affect the Keystone service service,” said Busch. “We understand that Amtrak will have to make decisions in the coming weeks, whether to stop or postpone infrastructure projects on the Keystone line in response to the planned elimination of Selt leasing payment on January 1.”
It is also unclear whether the loss of Sept payments would affect the service of Amtrak Pennsylvanian between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In 2023, the state won a federal subsidy to introduce songs belonging to Norfolk Southern Corp. to enable the second daily run of Pennsylvanian.
Penndot officials did not answer the request for comment on Monday.
While the cuts in the service of Amtrak are not certain, even if Septa makes planned cuts, the possibility shows how the public transport crisis “puts tens of millions of dollars in a serious threat for the action of Amtrak in our regions,” Boyle said.
“This is another reason why the septa financing crisis must end,” he said.
While septa is the largest mass transport agency in the state, Suppliers of public transport in every unit had a financial crisis Because the rider fell violently during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then more people work remotely, tariff revenues have not returned to pre -standardic levels.
At the same time, the legislators fought to find reliable sources of transport financing, because more economical fuel vehicles and the spread of electric vehicles broke off with fuel tax income.
He also emphasized the duality of the division of the urban and rural narrutpropole community. Republican legislators opposed greater financing of transit without additional money for roads, bridges and other transport infrastructure, such as regional airports, which serve rural districts.
Every morning get our best stories in your inbox. Subscribe now the morning Pennsylvania Capital Star guide.
Governor Josh Shapiro proposed to escalate the tax revenue contribution in public transport in his last two budgets to provide about $ 300 million more for transit. However, last year, the compromise budget covered only $ 80 million additional money for transit. Shapiro redirected by $ 153 million in federal motorway funds for the maintenance of sept on the surface.
Despite the avalanche of activity last week, the impasse between the house controlled by the democratic and the Senate led by the Republican does not seem closer to the fracture.
House Democrats found a budget proposal worth $ 47.6 billion on Wednesday, which removed the Senate controlled by GOP overdue night by voting the party, effectively extending the deadlock.
The Senate’s proposal is about $ 3 billion less than the one that passed the chamber last month. Large differences include financing of public education and various mechanisms of financing public transport.
