Middletown station (Pennsylvania)

Last updated
Middletown, PA
New Middletown Amtrak Station.jpg
The new Middletown station in January 2022.
General information
Location270 West Emaus Street
Middletown, Pennsylvania
United States
Coordinates 40°11′46″N76°44′20″W / 40.196144°N 76.738944°W / 40.196144; -76.738944
Owned by Amtrak
Line(s)Amtrak Keystone Corridor
(Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line)
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks3
ConnectionsAiga bus trans.svg CAT: 7
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station code Amtrak: MID
History
Rebuilt1990; January 10, 2022 [1]
ElectrifiedJanuary 15, 1938 [2]
Passengers
FY 202238,263 [3] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Harrisburg
Terminus
 Keystone Service Elizabethtown
toward New York
      Pennsylvanian does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station
Highspire
toward Chicago
Main Line Royalton
toward New York or Exchange Place

Middletown station is an Amtrak train station on the Keystone Corridor in Middletown, Dauphin County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The station is served by Amtrak's Keystone Service between New York City and Harrisburg. The former low-level station was built in 1990, but a relocated station with a high-level platform opened on January 10, 2022. [1]

Contents

Services and facilities

The Middletown station is located at 270 West Emaus Street. In addition to being used by residents of Middletown, the station is also popular with commuters heading to Harrisburg and Philadelphia, where it was previously free to park. [4] It sees twenty-three arrivals by the Keystone Service on weekdays, thirteen from both Harrisburg and New York Penn Station, and seven from each on weekends. [5] The station is 10 miles (16.1 km) east of Harrisburg, 94 miles (151 km) west of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, and 185 miles (298 km) from New York. [5] In fiscal year 2018, the station saw a ridership of 68,022 passengers, a decrease of 0.2 percent from the previous year. [6] [7]

The station consists of a high-level center platform with a covering and seating, with a bridge over the tracks providing access to the platform. As the Middletown station is unstaffed, all tickets from the station need to be pre-paid, or purchased from a conductor on board the train. [8] Capital Area Transit's Route 7 transit bus passes near the station on its route between Middletown, Harrisburg International Airport, and downtown Harrisburg. [9]

History

The former low-level Middletown station in June 2013 Middletown station, June 2013.jpg
The former low-level Middletown station in June 2013

A railroad was first laid through Middletown in 1836 by the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, which was taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1850. [10] Only a bare platform was available until brick station was built in 1902. It was demolished in the 1970s. [10] [11] Prior to the introduction of the Keystone Service in 1981, Middletown was served by the Big Apple , the Silverliner Service , and the Keystone . [12] A shelter and concrete platform was built in 1990 by Amtrak. [10] From 1991 to 1995, the Atlantic City Express served the station on weekends. [13] [14]

Relocation

Middletown station in October 2023 Middletown PA Amtrak station from platform October 2023.jpeg
Middletown station in October 2023

The Middletown station was in need of being relocated because it was on a superelevated curve and did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as well. [15] It was moved from its previous location at Union and Mill streets to a location at Ann Street and Pennsylvania Route 230, between the former station and Harrisburg International Airport. [16] Initial plans called for the station to be moved next to the airport terminal, but this was rejected in favor of keeping the station in the downtown area. By 2013, it was expected to be completed by 2015 and estimated to cost $32 million. Funding would be provided by the Federal Transit Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). [16]

As of May 2016, bidding for site clearing was expected to take place in mid-2016, with the new station opening in 2018. The work includes pedestrian bridges to the platform and over Route 230, and an extension of West Emaus Street to Route 230. [17] By early 2018, the projected opening was delayed to 2022 due to delays with Norfolk Southern and Amtrak relocating their tracks. [18] Despite an August 2021 projection, [19] the station opened on January 10, 2022. [1] A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on January 18, 2022, with federal, state, and local officials along with Amtrak and PennDOT personnel in attendance. [20]

Related Research Articles

<i>Keystone Service</i> Amtrak service in Pennsylvania

The Keystone Service is a 195 mile 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. Most trains continue along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to Penn Station in New York City.

<i>Pennsylvanian</i> (train) Amtrak service between Pittsburgh, PA and New York City, NY

The Pennsylvanian is a 444-mile (715 km) daily daytime Amtrak train running between New York City and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia. The trains travel across the Appalachian Mountains, through Pennsylvania's capital Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, suburban and central Philadelphia, and New Jersey en route to New York. The entire train ride takes about 9 hours total: 1.5 hours between New York and Philadelphia, 2 hours between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and 5.5 hours between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Department of Transportation</span> Government agency of Pennsylvania, United States

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT supports nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of state roads and highways, about 25,000 bridges, and new roadway construction with the exception of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trenton Transit Center</span> Train station in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton Transit Center is the main passenger train station in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the southernmost stop in New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor. It is the terminus for NJ Transit trains to and from New York City and SEPTA Trenton Line Regional Rail trains to and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an intermediate station for Amtrak trains traveling between the two cities along the Northeast Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keystone Corridor</span> High-speed rail corridor in Pennsylvania

The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line commuter rail service, and Amtrak's Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian inter-city trains; and the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Line. The corridor was originally the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardmore station (Pennsylvania)</span> Train station in Pennsylvania

Ardmore station is a train station in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, located on the Pennsylvania Main Line. The station serves several Amtrak Keystone Service trains daily, as well as all SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line local regional rail trains. The station is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) from Suburban Station in Center City Philadelphia, and travel time to Suburban Station is 22 minutes on SEPTA local trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malvern station (SEPTA)</span>

Malvern station is a SEPTA Regional Rail and a former Amtrak station in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Located at West King Road and North Warren Avenue, it serves most Paoli/Thorndale Line trains. Until 1998, some Keystone Service trains stopped here as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exton station (Pennsylvania)</span>

Exton station is a train station in Exton, West Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service trains and one daily eastbound Pennsylvanian trip, as well as SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downingtown station</span>

Downingtown station is a commuter and intercity passenger rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at West Lancaster Avenue & Stuart Avenue in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service and SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line trains. Amtrak's Pennsylvanian does not stop here. In 2017, the average total SEPTA weekday boardings at this station was 291, and the average total SEPTA weekday alightings was 312.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Transportation Center</span> Intermodal station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Brunswick station</span> NJ Transit and Amtrak station

New Brunswick is an active commuter railroad train station in the city of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The station services trains of New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and Amtrak's Keystone Service and Northeast Regional. For New Jersey Transit trains, the next station to the southwest is Jersey Avenue, while the next station to the northeast is Edison. For Amtrak services, the next station southwest is Princeton Junction, the next station to the northeast is Metropark. The station consists of two handicap-accessible side platforms surrounding the four tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwells Heights station</span> Train station in Pennsylvania, US

Cornwells Heights station is a train station in Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania. Located on Station Avenue near Bristol Pike in Bensalem Township, it serves the northeast suburbs of Philadelphia. It is served by SEPTA's Trenton Line commuter trains. On weekdays only, a limited number of Amtrak Keystone Service trains also stop at the station. The station has two side platforms serving the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coatesville station</span> Amtrak rail station in Pennsylvania, US

Coatesville station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service trains. The station has two side platforms serving the outer tracks of the three-track Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster station (Pennsylvania)</span>

Lancaster station is an Amtrak railroad station and a former Pennsylvania Railroad station in Lancaster, Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located on the Keystone Corridor, the station is served by the Keystone Service between New York City and Harrisburg, and by the Pennsylvanian between New York and Pittsburgh. Lancaster is the second busiest Amtrak station in Pennsylvania, and the twenty-first busiest in the United States. It is one of the busiest Amtrak stations serving a metropolitan area smaller than two million people, primarily because of the large number of passengers traveling to and from Philadelphia and points east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Joy station (Pennsylvania)</span>

Mount Joy station is an Amtrak intercity railway station located about 13 miles northwest of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at East Henry Street and North Market Street in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service trains. The station formerly was a makeshift bus shelter in a railroad cut but replaced by an Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990-accessible platform. There is no ticket office at this station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabethtown station</span> Amtrak station in Pennsylvania

Elizabethtown station is an Amtrak railroad station on the Keystone Corridor in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The station is served by Amtrak's Keystone Service between New York City and Harrisburg, and by the Pennsylvanian between New York and Pittsburgh. The station was built in 1915 by the Pennsylvania Railroad to replace another that had been built in 1900. The station building was closed in 1977 by Amtrak. The title to the building was transferred to the borough of Elizabethtown in 1998, and it was leased back to Amtrak. From 2009 to 2011, the station underwent a 21-month renovation to make it handicapped-accessible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area</span> Metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, United States

The Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, officially the Harrisburg–Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and also referred to as the Susquehanna Valley, is defined by the Office of Management and Budget as an area consisting of three counties in South Central Pennsylvania, anchored by the cities of Harrisburg and Carlisle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line</span> Amtrak railway line

The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. This is the only electrified Amtrak line in the United States outside of the main line of the Northeast Corridor. The line runs from Philadelphia, where it meets the Northeast Corridor at Zoo Junction at milepost 1.9, west to Harrisburg, where electrification ends. The Main Line is part of the longer Keystone Corridor, which continues west to Pittsburgh along the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line. This section is sometimes referred to as "Keystone East" and is part of Amtrak's Keystone Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (Erie, Pennsylvania)</span> Railroad station in Erie, Pennsylvania

Union Station is an Amtrak railroad station and mixed-use commercial building in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It is served by the Lake Shore Limited route, which provides daily passenger service between Chicago and New York City or Boston; Erie is the train's only stop in Pennsylvania. The station's ground floor has been redeveloped into commercial spaces, including The Brewerie at Union Station, a brewpub. The building itself is privately owned by the global logistics and freight management company Logistics Plus and serves as its headquarters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paoli/Thorndale Line</span> SEPTA Regional Rail service from Philadelphia to Thorndale

The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far eastern leg of Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line, which in turn was once the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and is now part of the Keystone Corridor, a federally-designated high-speed rail corridor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gov. Wolf Announces Service to New Middletown Station Begins Monday, January 10". Governor of Pennsylvania (Press release). January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Pennsy Completes New Electric Link". The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. January 15, 1938. p. 1. Retrieved August 22, 2020– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  4. ↑ Miller, Barbara (Oct 31, 2010). "Train riders await decision on Middletown Amtrak station". The Patriot-News . Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Retrieved Sep 3, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Keystone Service: New York and Harrisburg" (PDF). Amtrak. Oct 24, 2016. Retrieved Dec 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2015, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Amtrak. Nov 2017. Retrieved Nov 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2018, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2019. Retrieved Nov 21, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Middletown, PA (MID)". Amtrak. Retrieved Sep 3, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Route 7: Middletown" (PDF). Capital Area Transit. May 23, 2016. Retrieved Dec 2, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Kagen, David Ira; Sunbery, Edward William (2009). Middletown Borough. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-7385-6472-2.
  11. ↑ History of the Middletown Train Station (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. March 2021.
  12. ↑ Amtrak National Train Timetables. Amtrak. Apr 26 – Oct 24, 1981. pp. 22–23.
  13. ↑ Amtrak System Train Timetables. Amtrak. Apr 7 – Oct 26, 1991. p. 29.
  14. ↑ Amtrak Northeast Timetable. Amtrak. Oct 30, 1994. p. 27.
  15. ↑ Zimmerman, Phyllis (Sep 4, 2011). "PennDOT creates plan to complete Middletown Amtrak station by 2013". The Patriot-News . Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Retrieved Jan 6, 2012.
  16. 1 2 Malawskey, Nick (Oct 24, 2013). "Middletown train station project moving at full steam". The Patriot-News. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Retrieved Aug 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ Miller, Dan (May 17, 2016). "All Aboard: PennDOT Seeks Bid on Site Preparation for Long-awaited Train Station" (PDF). Press and Journal.
  18. ↑ Miller, Barbara (January 10, 2018). "New Amtrak station waiting for tracks to be moved". Penn Live.
  19. ↑ Miller, Dan (April 29, 2020). "Work continues on Amtrak station, with date moved slightly later for targeted completion on West Main". Press and Journal.
  20. ↑ "Federal, local and state officials join Amtrak, PennDOT representatives at ribbon-cutting ceremony for new train station in Middletown". York, PA: WPMT-TV. January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.