Keystone Service
The Keystone Service is a 195 mile (314 km) regional passenger train service from Amtrak between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line (Keystone Corridor). Most trains continue along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to Penn Station in New York City. Trips between Harrisburg and New York take approximately hours, including hours between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. There are also several express trains that cut both journey times by approximately 15 minutes. The line is considered higher-speed rail with trains operating at up to over parts of the Northeast Corridor and up to over parts of the Keystone Corridor. It is Amtrak's fifth-busiest route and the third-busiest in the NEC. In fiscal year 2016, the service carried 1.47 million passengers, an increase of 7.9% over FY2015. Total revenue in FY2016 was $41,123,787, an increase of 7.5% over FY2015. The route is primarily funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). History Takeover from Penn Central The Keystone Service is the successor of numerous services running along the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line dating from 1857, when the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) bought the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, enabling service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. By the time the PRR folded into Penn Central in 1968, it operated three types of service on the Main Line: commuter service between and Suburban Station via 30th Street Station, regional service (trains numbered in the 600s) between Harrisburg and Suburban Station via 30th Street Station, and express intercity service like the Broadway Limited and Duquesne, which skipped 30th Street Station entirely and used North Philadelphia station as their only Philadelphia stop. When the Metroliner high-speed program had begun two years earlier, the state had attempted to capitalize on the opportunity to purchase upgraded rolling stock for the 600-series trains. On August 30, 1966, Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania announced plans to purchase 11 Metroliners for service to replace the Silverliners then used. The cars were ordered through Philadelphia commuter agency SEPTA, as the state was not permitted to contract directly with the PRR. The state, SEPTA, and PRR reached an agreement on November 3; the state and SEPTA would each pay $2 million, funded mostly by mass transit grants from the newly formed Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the PRR would receive a free 15-year lease of the cars. The PRR soon withdrew after complaints from competing Red Arrow Lines and Capitol Trailways, and the HUD grants were later found not to be applicable to intercity service. In June 1968, an agreement was reached where the state Transportation Assistance Authority would pay $2 million and Penn Central would pay $2.5 million for the 11 Metroliners for Harrisburg service. On July 14, a 4-car train was tested on the line, with several demonstration runs for officials on August 21. On February 25, 1970, the cars intended for Harrisburg service completed their performance testing. Penn Central refused to accept the cars, citing numerous