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The ''Pennsylvanian'' is a 444-mile (715 km) daytime Amtrak train running between New York 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. Trains run once daily in each direction. The entire train ride takes about 9 hours total, with 1.5 hours between New York and Philadelphia, 2 hours between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and 5.5 hours between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The ''Pennsylvanian'' is a once a day replacement of the ''Keystone'' service between New York and Pittsburgh, offering Business Class seating as an upgrade to the coach-only seating on ''Keystone'' trains. Prior to Amtrak, the route was known as the ''Duquesne'', named after Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh, and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The ''Pennsylvanian'' began on April 27, 1980, as a state-supported daylight train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with connecting service to New York. Amtrak would later extend the train to serve New York directly. Between 1998–2005 Amtrak shifted the endpoints west to Chicago and Philadelphia, providing daylight service to Cleveland, Ohio. In 2005 the ''Pennsylvanian'' reverted to a Pittsburgh–New York schedule. On its inauguration the ''Pennsylvanian'' used Amfleet equipment and continues to be so equipped. == History == The ''Pennsylvanian'' is the replacement of the former ''Keystone'' service between New York and Pittsburgh. Prior to Amtrak, the route was known as the ''Duquesne'', named after Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh, and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The ''Duquesne'' had a long history, finally becoming a daily New York—Pittsburgh train on October 25, 1959, numbered 16 eastbound and 25 westbound. With the start of Amtrak operations on May 1, 1971, the ''Duquesne'' was renamed the ''Keystone'' and renumbered 42 westbound and 43 eastbound with the first Amtrak timetable on November 14, 1971. The ''Keystone'' was discontinued on April 30, 1972. The immediate impetus for the ''Pennsylvanian'' was the discontinuance of the ''National Limited'', a New York–Kansas City train which had provided service over the corridor.〔 The ''Pennsylvanian'' began on April 27, 1980, as a state-supported daylight train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with connecting service to New York via the ''Philadelphian'' (a ''Clocker'') westbound and the ''Montrealer'' eastbound. At the time the ''Pennsylvanian'' was inaugurated, the ''Broadway Limited'' was departing Pittsburgh at an inconvenient early morning hour. The new train ran with Amfleet equipment, including a cafe car. Pennsylvania agreed to pay 20% of the train's costs for the first year, or $580,000, with the state and Amtrak eventually splitting the costs 50/50 by the third year. Between 1981 and 1983, ''Pennsylvanian'' equipment was turned every night to operate a second state-supported train, the ''Fort Pitt'', which ran from Pittsburgh to Altoona. Amtrak withdrew this train in early 1983 after the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) declined to continue subsidizing the increased operation. At the time the ''Fort Pitt'' carried 30 passengers per day. After significant ridership gains in 1984, PennDOT proposed that a second train be added to the route. PennDOT and Amtrak would have split the costs evenly. Amtrak officials were favorable, but budget problems stalled the plan. In the late 1980s passenger-rail groups urged Amtrak to extend the ''Pennsylvanian'' to Cleveland, Ohio. Proposals included new stations in Sewickley and Beaver Falls. Pressure increased in 1989 when Amtrak announced the re-routing of the ''Broadway Limited'' and ''Capitol Limited'' over that same route as part of a restructuring of routes in Indiana. As part of this change, the ''Capitol Limited'' began serving the Cleveland—Pittsburgh route, albeit in the middle of the night. Amtrak and PennDOT considered two routes for an extended ''Pennsylvanian'': one via Alliance, Ohio (following the route of the ''Capitol Limited'') and one via Youngstown, Ohio (partially following the ''Broadway Limited'') with a new stop in New Castle, Pennsylvania. On November 7, 1998, Amtrak extended the ''Pennsylvanian'' through to Chicago along the route of the ''Capitol Limited'' via Toledo, finally bringing a daylight connection to Cleveland. The ''Three Rivers'' continued to run over a different schedule via Akron and Fostoria. As part of the change Amtrak truncated the eastern end to Philadelphia, enabling the train to complete the run within a single day. Amtrak returned the ''Pennsylvanian'' to the New York—Pittsburgh route on January 27, 2003, citing low ridership and Amtrak's withdrawal from the express freight business. On November 1, 2004, Amtrak merged the ''Pennsylvanian'' and ''Three Rivers'', keeping the latter name with a western terminus in Chicago. Amtrak had sought $2.5 million in assistance from Pennsylvania to keep both trains running. On March 8, 2005, Amtrak truncated service to Pittsburgh—New York and restored the ''Pennsylvanian'' name to the route. there is no through service west of Pittsburgh; the ''Capitol Limited'' continues to provide service to Chicago, though as part of its federally mandated analysis of the worst-performing long-distance routes, Amtrak determined that reinstating a through-car connection with the ''Pennsylvanian'' would result in the highest gain in monetary and customer service measurements of possible options.〔 To implement this, Amtrak plans to operate a Viewliner sleeper car, an Amfleet cafe car and two Amfleet coaches between Chicago and New York approximating the historic ''Broadway Limited,'' via the ''Capitol Limited'' and ''Pennsylvanian.'' This would begin when funding and equipment is available. On January 28, 2011, it was announced that Pennsylvania had received a $750,000 grant from the federal government to study expanding service westwards from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh along the route of the ''Pennsylvanian'', including higher speeds and additional frequencies. During fiscal year 2011, the ''Pennsylvanian'' carried over 200,000 passengers, a 2% increase over FY2010. The train had a total revenue of $8,856,539 during FY2011, up 4.8% from FY2010.〔 In Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013, ridership increased to 212,006 and 218,997 respectively. Likewise, revenue increased to $9.28 and $10.4 million respectively. In May 2013 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania agreed to $3.8 million in funding to subsidize the service. In November 2013, The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that funding would be provided for the train to operate until October 1, 2014. The change in subsidiary resulted from PRIIA laws passed in 2009 that requires states to subsidize Amtrak routes less than 750 miles in length 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pennsylvanian (train)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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