February 18, 2022 - Pittsburgh, PA
Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation Jennie Louwerse were joined by Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, Norfolk Southern (NS) Regional Vice President Rudy Husband and local officials today to announce that the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has paved the way for movement toward improved freight and passenger-rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh."Freight rail is a core piece of Pennsylvania's infrastructure, and this is the rare opportunity to improve an important rail corridor while laying the groundwork for more passenger-rail service in the future," Gov. Wolf said. "Western Pennsylvania has wanted more passenger-rail service for years and I'm excited that we can immediately leverage the federal infrastructure plan for mobility and economic benefits in the communities served by this rail line."Due to the BIL's passenger-rail investments, PennDOT and NS will now collaborate on the operating agreement and finalize the improvements required to increase passenger-rail service on the NS-owned corridor west of Harrisburg. The engineering and construction will stem from a NS operational feasibility study identifying improvements required to eliminate eight chokepoints and to allow freight and passenger trains to operate without conflicting with each other."We are excited to move to the next phase with Norfolk Southern and make these important improvements happen as quickly as possible," Louwerse said. "The federal infrastructure law plugged a significant hole in our ability to meet these critical freight and passenger needs." Speakers include: Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive Governor Tom Wolf Rudy Husband, Norfolk Southern Regional Vice President Jennie Louwerse, PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa Senator Wayne Fontana Senator Wayne Langerholc Amit Bose, Federal Railroad Administration Administrator
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