Wikipedia

Lancaster station (Pennsylvania)

Lancaster stationis anAmtrakrailroad stationand a formerPennsylvania Railroadstation inLancaster,Lancaster Countyin the U.S. state ofPennsylvania.Located on theKeystone Corridor,the station is served by theKeystone ServicebetweenNew York CityandHarrisburg,and by thePennsylvanianbetween New York andPittsburgh.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.

Lancaster, PA
Lancaster station in September 2012
General information
Location53 East McGovern Avenue
Lancaster,Pennsylvania,
United States
Coordinates40°3′15.71″N76°18′27.80″W/ 40.0543639°N 76.3077222°W/40.0543639; -76.3077222
Owned byAmtrak
Line(s)AmtrakKeystone Corridor
(Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line)
Platforms2island platforms
Tracks4
ConnectionsLocal transitRed Rose Transit Authority:3, 6, 10, 11, 19
Construction
Parking30 short-term, 50 long-term
AccessibleYes
Architectural styleNeoclassical
Other information
Station codeAmtrak:LNC
IATA codeZRL
History
OpenedApril 28, 1929[1]
ElectrifiedJanuary 15, 1938[2]
Passengers
FY 2023380,261[3](Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Mount Joy
towardHarrisburg
 Keystone Service Parkesburg
towardNew York
Elizabethtown
towardPittsburgh
 Pennsylvanian Exton
towardNew York
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Harrisburg
towardChicago
 Three Rivers
1995–2005
 Paoli
towardNew York
Broadway Limited
Until 1995
Harrisburg
towardKansas City
 National Limited
Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station
Landisville
towardChicago
 Main Line Witmer
towardNew YorkorExchange Place
Mountville
towardFrederick
 Frederick–Lancaster Terminus
Official namePennsylvania Railroad Station
DesignatedSeptember 7, 2001
Part ofLancaster City Historic District
Reference no.01000956[4]
Location
Map

The first railroad station to be established in Lancaster was on thePhiladelphia and Columbia Railroadin 1834. The station was acquired by thePennsylvania Railroadin 1857 who replaced it with a new building. The current station building was constructed in 1929 north of the city by the Pennsylvania after a rail line bypassing the city was opened. Currently owned byAmtrak,the station is listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesas part of theLancaster City Historic District.

Services and facilities

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Station interior in 2010

The Lancaster station is located on East McGovern Avenue, westboundPennsylvania Route 272andU.S. Route 222,between the northern ends of Queen and Duke Streets. It sees twenty-six arrivals by theKeystone Serviceon weekdays, thirteen from both Harrisburg andNew York Penn Station,and seven from each on weekends.[5]ThePennsylvanianarrives once daily from both New York City andPittsburgh Union Station.[5]The station is 49 miles (79 km) east of Harrisburg, 55 miles (89 km) west of30th Street StationinPhiladelphia,and 146 miles (235 km) from New York City.[5]The station was second busiest in the state—behind only Philadelphia 30th Street—duringfiscal year2019 with a ridership of 577,305 passengers, an increase of 1.7 percent from the previous year.[6][7]It is also the 21st busiest Amtrak station nationally.[7]

The Lancaster station is equipped with a ticket office, Amtrak's Quik-Trak ticket machines, vending, and public restrooms.[8]TheRed Rose Transit Authorityprovides local bus service to the station. Route 6 stops in front of the station and provides service to and from downtown Lancaster.[9]Route 3 to thePark City Centershopping mall and Route 19 toManheimstop along McGovern Avenue adjacent to the station; the closest stop for Route 3 and Route 19 heading toward downtown Lancaster is located at Prince Street and Liberty Street.[10][11]Route 10 toLititzand Route 11 toEphratastop along McGovern Avenue across the street from the station; the closest stop for Route 10 and Route 11 heading toward downtown Lancaster is located at Duke Street and Liberty Street.[12][13]

History

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Postcard of the 1859-built station
A 1949 postcard of the station

Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad

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One of the methods of long-distance transportation ofbulk goodsin the early-1800s were canals, while goods imported from Europe or manufactured on theEast Coastwere shipped overland by roads.[14]With construction of theErie Canaland theNational Road,the citizens of Philadelphia became worried of the loss of trade to New York City andBaltimore,Maryland,and persuaded thestate governmentto invest in a transportation network to travel west over theAllegheny Mountains.[15]ThePennsylvania General Assemblyauthorized the construction of theMain Line of Public Worksacross the state in 1826.[16]An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1828 by a private company to divert downriver trade to Baltimore from theSusquehanna Riverto Philadelphia via the Columbia, Lancaster and Philadelphia Railroad.[17]

The legislature revised its plan to include the failed attempt with a connection from the canal terminus inColumbiato Philadelphia. Engineers recommended that a rail route—thePhiladelphia and Columbia Railroad—be constructed with aninclined planeat either end.[18]The original route of the railroad was to pass north of Lancaster, but the city petitioned the state to alter it so that the railroad passed through downtown Lancaster.[19]The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad opened in 1834, originally with a horse-drawn passenger cars beforesteam locomotivesreplaced them as motive power.[20]There are no photographs of the early Lancaster station, however the station would have most likely consisted of nothing more than an open-air, elevatedplatform,as was customary for train stations of that period.[21]The station was located at North Queen and East Chestnut Street, with the platform possibly extending the length of the lot between Queen and Christian Streets.[21]

Pennsylvania Railroad

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In 1857, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sold the Main Line of Public Works to thePennsylvania Railroad.The station was rebuilt in 1859 with a 250-by-85-foot (76 m × 26 m) structure supported bycast ironcolumns.[22]

On April 28, 1929, the Pennsylvania Railroad completed acutoffbypassing downtown Lancaster, closing the old station and opening the new depot.[1]

Amtrak

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A westbound AmtrakKeystone Servicetrain stops at the Lancaster station in 2019

Passenger rail was taken over byAmtrakin 1971. The former Pennsylvania Railroad train was continued by AmtrakBroadway Limited,while theDuquesnewas renamed theKeystone.From 1971 to 1979, Amtrak'sNational Limitedprovided service from the station to New York andKansas City,Missouri.[23][24]Prior to the introduction of theKeystone Servicein 1981, the Lancaster station was served by theSilverliner Service.[25]From 1991 to 1995, theAtlantic City Expressserved the station on weekends.[26][27]TheBroadway Limitedwas discontinued in 1995 and replaced with theThree Rivers.[28][29]

When theLancaster City Historic Districtwas listed on theNational Register of Historic Places,the Lancaster station was designated acontributing propertyto the district on September 7, 2001.[4][30]

Renovations

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Lancaster station during the renovations, September 2011

After decades ofdeferred maintenance,a complete station refurbishment was proposed in 1997, but it was not until June 2009 that a $12 million renovation of the station was initiated by Amtrak and Lancaster County.[31][32]Plans included a newHVACsystem, improved ticketing and waiting area for intercity buses, an expanded parking lot, landscaping, ataxi stand,and "a complete rehabilitation of the station's interior and exterior".[31]However, the start of construction was delayed until October.[33]By September 2011, the renovations were estimated to cost $2 million over the planned amount and were a year behind schedule.[32][34]After being completed, it was discovered that thebus baysat the station could not accommodate the 45-foot-long (14 m)coachesused byBieber Transportation Group.[35]The bays, which were being used astaxi standsinstead, had been originally designed for the 40-foot (12 m) buses that had been used by the now-defunct Capital Trailways. The buses owned by Bieber, consequently, were unable to negotiate the turn in the parking lot leading to the bays. The curbs in the parking lots were eventually cut-back to allow more space for maneuvering.[35]Intercity bus servicewas run by Bieber Transportation Group from the station toYork,Philadelphia, and New York City until it was discontinued on April 1, 2018.[36][37]

In January 2012, a "capstone" project was announced with the intention of restoring the interior of the station including the restoration of waiting area benches, painting and repairing of plaster walls, as well as upgrading of station lighting and accessibility.[38]By October 2013, most of the interior restoration work, including refurbishment of windows, re-plastering and repainting of walls, and the installation of a newHVACsystem, was completed.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ab"Lancaster's New Station".The Lancaster New Era.April 27, 1929. p. 3.RetrievedAugust 22,2020– via Newspapers.
  2. ^"Pennsy Completes New Electric Link".The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.January 15, 1938. p. 1.RetrievedAugust 22,2020– via Newspapers.
  3. ^"Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"(PDF).Amtrak.March 2024.RetrievedJune 30,2024.
  4. ^ab"NPS Focus".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  5. ^abc"Keystone Service"(PDF).Amtrak. September 5, 2017.RetrievedOctober 27,2017.
  6. ^"Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2018, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"(PDF).Amtrak. June 2019.RetrievedMay 31,2020.
  7. ^ab"Station Appendices"(PDF).Amtrak Five-Year Asset Line Plans.Amtrak. 2019. p. 54.RetrievedMay 31,2020.
  8. ^"Lancaster, Pennsylvania (LNC)".Amtrak.RetrievedOctober 27,2017.
  9. ^"Route 6: Downtown Lancaster Loop"(PDF).Red Rose Transit Authority. August 26, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 18,2019.
  10. ^"Route 3: Park City C/8th Ward"(PDF).Red Rose Transit Authority. August 26, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 18,2019.
  11. ^"Route 19: Manheim"(PDF).Red Rose Transit Authority. August 26, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 18,2019.
  12. ^"Route 10: Lititz"(PDF).Red Rose Transit Authority. August 26, 2019.RetrievedNovember 20,2019.
  13. ^"Route 11: Ephrata"(PDF).Red Rose Transit Authority. August 26, 2019.RetrievedNovember 20,2019.
  14. ^Schafer & Soloman 2009,p. 12.
  15. ^Schafer & Soloman 2009,p. 13.
  16. ^Schafer & Soloman 2009,p. 14.
  17. ^Hensel 1907,p. 77.
  18. ^Hensel 1907,p. 78.
  19. ^Hensel 1907,p. 90.
  20. ^Ellis & Evans 1883,p. 320.
  21. ^abCress et al. 2010,p. 3.28.
  22. ^"The New Depot".Lancaster Intelligencer.October 18, 1859. p. 2.
  23. ^Nationwide Schedules of Intercity Passenger Service.Amtrak. November 14, 1971. p. 61.
  24. ^National Train Schedules.Amtrak. July 29, 1979. p. 32.
  25. ^Amtrak National Train Timetables.Amtrak. April 26 – October 24, 1981. pp.22–23.
  26. ^Amtrak System Train Timetables.Amtrak. April 7 – October 26, 1991. p. 29.
  27. ^Amtrak Northeast Timetable.Amtrak. October 30, 1994. p. 27.
  28. ^Amtrak National Timetable.Amtrak. April 2, 1995. p. 18.
  29. ^Amtrak National Timetable.Amtrak. October 29, 1995. p. 18.
  30. ^Kurtz, Sarah M (March 14, 2001)."Lancaster City Historic District"(PDF).National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.sec. 7, p. 5.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  31. ^ab"Lancaster Train Station Renovations Begin"(PDF)(Press release). Amtrak. June 29, 2009.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  32. ^abHarris, Bernard (September 26, 2011)."After costly fix, Lancaster train station still seedy inside".Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.RetrievedNovember 25,2016.
  33. ^Mekeel, Tim (October 20, 2009)."Amtrak station renovation begins".Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.RetrievedNovember 25,2016.
  34. ^Harris, Bernard (December 12, 2010)."Lancaster Amtrak station costs soar".Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.RetrievedNovember 25,2016.
  35. ^abSmedley, Chip (January 17, 2013)."Curb cuts to accommodate buses at the city train station".Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.RetrievedNovember 25,2016.
  36. ^"Destination: New York City - Weekdays"(PDF).Bieber Transportation Group. July 9, 2017.RetrievedOctober 7,2017.
  37. ^"Destination: New York City - Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays"(PDF).Bieber Transportation Group. July 9, 2017.RetrievedOctober 7,2017.
  38. ^"Amtrak Outlines Plans for Next Phase of Improvements at Lancaster Train Station"(PDF)(Press release). Amtrak. January 12, 2012.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  39. ^Smedley, Chip (August 20, 2013)."Train station updgrade is almost complete".Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.RetrievedNovember 25,2016.

Sources

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