(rshsdepot) Elizabethtown, PA

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

From today's Elizabethtown Chronicle.

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

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Train station project clears another Amtrak hurdle

By Kevin Hensil

The $2.2 million Elizabethtown train station renovation project has cleared 
another significant hurdle. Amtrak has reviewed the borough`s engineering 
plans and issued a small number of comments on the proposal that must be 
addressed. ``It is extremely important,`` Peter Whipple, Elizabethtown 
Borough manger, said. ``We have been looking forward to this next step for 
nearly two years.``
He told borough council last week that DPK&A, Elizabethtown`s architect for 
the project, will meet with Amtrak soon to discuss the comments and attempt 
to find a resolution. Such meetings are routine for projects like this. 
Whipple could not estimate how long the process would take or when 
renovations might begin.
``They are engineering issues and not some of the side issues that we have 
been delayed with over time,`` he said.
Those side issues have long been a source of frustration for Elizabethtown 
officials. In 2003 the borough tried to jump start the project by offering 
to reimburse the financially struggling passenger rail carrier up to $15,000 
to review the train station plans. Without Amtrak`s approval the project 
could not move forward.
Several months passed before a final reimbursement agreement was signed, but 
a dispute arose between DPK&A and Amtrak over legal language concerning 
liability protection during construction at the site which further delayed 
the project.
Having Amtrak review the plans is a significant victory for the borough and 
could signal a much smoother ride ahead for the ambitious project. However, 
even after the engineering concerns are resolved there could be more 
challenges. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Corridor One, 
both significant financial partners in the project, will review the plan. 
The approval of Norfolk Southern is also necessary.
``I`m still cautiously optimistic, but this is a major, major step in this 
process,`` Whipple said. ``We have been waiting for this for some time.``
Elizabethtown`s train station has been closed for 30 years, but the platform 
remains in use and serves an estimated 38,000 passengers each year. In 1998, 
the borough began looking into plans to reopen the station, which it 
believes could be useful to commuters, college students, visitors to Masonic 
Village and spark an economic revitalization of the western end of town.
The $2.2 million dollar project includes renovating and remodeling the 
station`s interior, improving parking and repairing the decaying platform. 
Eventually a visitor`s center, shops, or a restaurant or other 
accommodations may be added.
The borough has budgeted $400,000 for the project and secured financing from 
other organizations including $465,000 from Corridor One and more than $1 
million from PennDOT.
The borough views the train station as a critical link in an effort to 
extend the downtown business district along West High Street to create a mix 
of homes, businesses and industrial sites. The Elizabethtown Economic 
Development Corporation is expected to announce details of that proposal in 
the coming weeks. 

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

------------------------------