Pennsylvanian (Amtrak)
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The Pennsylvanian is a daytime Amtrak train running between New York, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trains travel through Pennsylvania's capital, the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, surburban and central Philadelphia, and pass through New Jersey up to New York City.
Trains run once daily in each direction. The entire train ride takes about 9 hours total, with 1.5 hours between New York and Philadelphia, 2 hours between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and 5.5 hours between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvanian runs a portion of the Three Rivers route, which ran from New York to Chicago. East of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvanian runs over Amtrak's own railroad, but between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh it runs over Norfolk Southern's ex-Pennsylvania Railroad line through Horseshoe Curve.
Services on the Pennsylvanian includes Coach, Business Class (reserved deluxe seating), Dinette (for food, snacks, and drinks), and Railfone for public telephone access, which is available in the food service cars.
Originally, this train was started to provide daytime departures between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and New York service was provided as a connecting train at Philadelphia. At the time the Pennsylvanian was inaugurated, the Broadway Limited was departing Pittsburgh at an inconvenient early morning hour. Since then, the length of the Pennsylvanian's route has undergone a number of iterations. The most recent iteration involved the cancellation of the Pennsylvanian as part of Amtrak's statuatory 180-day cancellation notice of service along a route. After that period, and after the required public hearings were conducted, the Pennsylvanian was restarted on March 8, 2005 as a truncation of the Three Rivers over the original route of the Pennsylvanian.
Stations served
- New York, New York (Pennsylvania Station)*
- Newark International Airport, New Jersey
- Newark, New Jersey (Newark Penn Station)*
- Metropark, New Jersey
- New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Princeton Junction, New Jersey
- Trenton, New Jersey
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (30th Street Station)*
- Ardmore, Pennsylvania
- Paoli, Pennsylvania
- Downingtown, Pennsylvania
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania**
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania
- Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
- Tyrone, Pennsylvania
- Altoona, Pennsylvania
- Johnstown, Pennsylvania
- Latrobe, Pennsylvania
- Greensburg, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania*
- * Trains running from Harrisburg to New York required a reverse move/engine change at 30th Street Station, resulting in a 20-30 minute delay.
- ** Thruway motorcoach connection, a coordination between the train and bus schedules, is available.
External links
- Amtrak Pennsylvanian Service (http://www.amtrak.com/trains/pennsylvanian.html)