LANCASTER, PA – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today toured the Lancaster Amtrak train station. He surveyed the progress of the train station renovation project which is currently underway. He was joined by local officials and Amtrak representatives.
“As ridership on the Keystone Corridor continues to grow, we must do all that we can to maintain and improve the rail infrastructure,” said Senator Casey. “This project, which will make the Lancaster station more accessible and user friendly, will help sustain and grow ridership numbers.”
Senator Casey has been an advocate for the improvements to the station. After learning of Amtrak estimates of a significant increase in costs for renovating the station, Senator Casey helped organize a meeting between county officials and Amtrak.
As a result of the meeting, it was determined that no additional funds beyond Amtrak’s estimate of $1.7 million provided to the Lancaster County Planning Commission (LCPC) in 2008 would be needed for Amtrak’s construction support.
At the meeting, Amtrak agreed to provide more support of the project at the station through closer coordination of scheduling with LCPC’s construction managers, KCI Technologies. It was also agreed that Amtrak and the LCPC would increase communication by convening periodic senior-level update meetings. Lastly, Amtrak offered to provide more detailed information on project invoices to the City of Lancaster to assist in greater transparency of Amtrak costs.
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