(rshsdepot) Elizabethtown, PA

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

From the Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster, PA

Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/


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E-town RR station overhaul begins next spring
Aug. 18, 2003

Elizabethtown's derelict stone train station -- shuttered since the early
1980s -- will see rail passengers inside its walls again by next fall.
The head of a regional passenger rail project stepped up this morning and
provided the last $464,000 for a long-planned $2.2 million renovation of the
88-year-old station.

Borough manager Peter Whipple said today that with funding in place, review
and project bidding can be done by spring and the work should be completed
by fall 2004.

Elizabethtown Borough Council President Doug Pfautz announced the funding at
a ceremony at the station. Lining up behind him were U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts,
state and county representatives, and John Ward, president of the Modern
Transit Partnership.

The partnership, with money from the state, provided the funding needed to
begin the project. The organization, which is planning a regional passenger
rail line called CORRIDORone from Lancaster to Carlisle, may be the biggest
beneficiary of the renovated station, used by more than 37,000 passengers
each year.

The line is looking to operate on existing Amtrak rails and ferry
Elizabethtown commuters to Harrisburg, Lancaster and points in between
beginning in 2005.

Pitts, who announced his support for the commuter rail line in June, said
this morning that the two rail systems can complement each other.

And, he added: "To continue to rely solely on Amtrak and on our roads just
won't cut it."

The area to be served by the regional line is expected to grow 27 percent in
population and 44 percent in employment by 2020, said Pitts, and commuters
will need to turn to rail travel to ease traffic congestion and curb
suburban sprawl development.

Like Pitts, state Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill of Lebanon
County was also late for this morning's ceremony because of road
construction on Route 283. He also praised rail travel.

"You can't travel on the East Coast and not realize that the traffic is
starting to overburden the roads," Brightbill said.

Lancaster County Commissioner Chairman Paul R. Thibault noted they were
talking about reviving a 19th century mode of transportation for the 21st
century.

"We need this alternative form -- this old fashioned form -- of
transportation," said Thibault. "It's fast. It's affordable, and it's
flexible."

Many people already ride the train from Elizabethtown. Pfautz said he hopes
more will ride when the renovations to the South Wilson Avenue station are
complete.

Next, Whipple said, the plans will be completed and sent to Amtrak for
approval.

Pfautz said renovation will start from the top down, beginning with the
canopies over the track-side platforms. Ramps will be added to each side of
the tracks to make the platform accessible to people in wheelchairs and to
comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Lighting with be increased around the platforms, station and in the nearby
parking lots. Also, the parking lots will be paved and storm drainage and
curbing added, said Whipple.

This morning, there were large puddles in the parking area.

Paved pathways will also be added from the parking lot to the station. Those
paths are now dirt or mud.

Rich Esposito, district manager of Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, said the
station has always been a shining star on the line.

"I know my customers will appreciate all the improvements that are coming,"
he said.

Amtrak is the reason the Modern Transit Partnership had to step forward. The
national passenger rail service had earlier committed to pay the $464,000
portion of the station renovation, but then said early this year it didn't
have the money and backed out.

The borough does not have specific plans for the station's interior. The
building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is leased
by the borough from Amtrak.

The building will be renovated as part of the project but likely will not be
used again as a ticketing center, Whipple said.

He said the borough has received several proposals from people interested in
operating a business in the building. They suggest professional offices, a
restaurant or a newsstand that would cater to commuters, he said.

But he added that part of the project will have to wait.

"Until we get a shovel in the ground we won't entertain any proposals,"
Whipple said.

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #735
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org