In a town where transit related articles aren't always easy to come by, I got probably a little more excited than I should have to see three separate articles about commuter/HSR relating to Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. I'll write more (especially about the HSR entries) in a later post, but just to get them all out there, here they are in no particular order:
Commuter Rail: In an apparent reversal from a previous article in the Post Gazette, the Greensburg line is apparently not dead. Additionally, the costs estimates came back less than expected(sweet). I'm still not sure how many more studies must be taken but at $208 million, these lines look like a steal (Thank you existing infrastructure). Also, for anyone interested, public comment will be held June 29th in Greensburg, and June 30th in New Ken. Hours for both are 6-9 PM.
HSR:
The Pittsburgh to Cleveland Connection: It's been stated by other bloggers that it would make better sense for Pittsburgh to connect to Cleveland (and Chicago) before it connects across the state to Philadelphia and Harrisburg. I for one, agree, and apparently so does Jason Altmire. In a meeting yesterday he said that a link between Pittsburgh and Cleveland is a "missing link" to Obama's proposed HSR system. Apparently, a connection between the two cities would be eligible for funding... however, before they can think about any corridor, they must begin to work on it. Leading us to our third trainapalooza article...
A slow start to HSR: California and several other corridors have a jump start on us for HSR funding. Although Philly to Pittsburgh has been designated an HSR corridor, that's about the only thing that has happened. Jason Altmire wants to take steps forward to begin working towards HSR corridors to and through Pittsburgh, although no concrete steps have been outlined.
Pittsburgh Street Lights Update
13 years ago
2 comments:
I would love to see a Pittsburgh to Columbus line, I suppose you could extend it thru to Indianapolis and Chicago too.
That said, a line that connects Pittsburgh thru the Akron-Canton area to Cleveland and onward toward Chicago (Toledo, South Bend incl'd too?) might do some good for local economies struggling along that route. Not entirely sure how, but I know that Toledo at least has started changing over glass factories to solar panel factories.
A Pittsburgh to Columbus line is part of Ohio's hub program (in addition to the Pittsburgh to Cleveland line). The problem is, much like the Pittsburgh to Cleveland connection, Ohio is the only state talking about it, not PA.
The proposed route would use the old Pennsylvania Railroad "Panhandle Division" from Columbus to Mingo Jct., OH and then either continue on that right of way to Pittsburgh (which is currently a rail trail) or would continue east on the Wheeling and Lake Erie's line from Mingo Jct., OH to Pittsburgh (this is the line you see crossing over the parkway west near Carnegie).
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