Update: Amtrak Suspends Harrisburg To Philly Service

Update - 6:00 PM - Due to flood conditions in the Harrisburg area, Amtrak will operate limited Keystone Service between New York/Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA, for the remainder of today, September 8th.

In addition, The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced that it has closed the Turnpike between the Reading Interchange and the Harrisburg East Interchange because floodwaters are impacting the bridge that carries Turnpike traffic over the Swatara Creek in Dauphin County.

Update - 7:00 AM on 9/8 - Keystone service between Harrisburg and Philadelphia has been restored.  SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale line is back in service as well.

Update - 8:00 PM - While Amtrak is making progress on restoring service between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, no estimate for full operation is available.  SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale train service is expected to resume Thursday morning (Sept. 8) with train #514 departing Thorndale at 4:58 AM.

Update - 4:00 PM - Amtrak continues to work to resolve service suspension between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.  No estimate for restoring service is available. 

Update - 2:17 PM  Service outage is due to a large tree across the tracks near the Berwyn Station in eastern Chester County.

Check back again later this afternoon for updates.
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Amtrak suspended service in both directions along their Harrisburg - Philadelphia corridor due to flooding this afternoon.

SEPTA has also suspended their Paoli/Thorndale service for the same reason until Thursday morning.

Check back around 4:00 PM this afternoon for an update.

Planning Begins For Train Station Renovation

If you couldn't make the 'Plan the Keystone' session Tuesday evening, the first of three such sessions planned this week to flesh out the improvements the community wants to see in a train station, here's a quick summation of the discussion and a copy of the presentation.

 From the Plan The Keystone website, this description of Tuesday evening's discussion:

The Community Workshop for the Parkesburg Train Station Area began on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 23.  Approximately 20 participants attended the opening-night presentation and workshop to talk about opportunities for improvement of the train station and downtown Parkesburg. 

The evening began with a presentation in which the project team and Bob Garrett of PennDOT discussed the importance of Parkesburg as a stop along the Keystone Corridor and preliminary project findings.  Participants then divided into small groups to discuss what they valued most about Parkesburg, including its small town character, facilities (library, park etc.), proximity to other urban areas, its history, and open space. They also discussed opportunities for the borough and train station including attracting more businesses, increasing connections and walkability, and encouraging SEPTA to expand service to the borough.

The groups then brainstormed ideas for three “themes” that emerged so far in the planning process: improve the station, connect the station to key Parkesburg assets, and improve mobility in Parkesburg.  The groups poured out a multitude of ideas and suggestions for potentially relocating the station or improving the existing station, improving ADA access, opportunities for East and West Bridge Street, and improving parking among many other suggestions.      

The day was a success and the project team looks forward to working with the public to develop concepts over the next two days. 

And the presentation used to kick off the evening's activities and get everybody thinking about the train stations future:

Parkesburg Train Station Renovation Planning Presentation

Public Input for Parkesburg Train Station Begins Today

           

This from the desk of Borough Council President Mel Keen:

The public is invited to Parkesburg Borough Hall this evening to learn about and share their ideas about PennDOT's upgrades to Parkesburg 'strain station.   

The schedule is:

• Tuesday, Aug. 23 – Parkesburg Borough Hall; 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – opening presentation.
• Wednesday, Aug. 24 - Parkesburg Borough Hall; 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. - public workshop.
• Thursday, Aug. 25 - Parkesburg Borough Hall; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – final public presentation.         

The Parkesburg workshop is part of PennDOT’s larger planning effort, “Plan the Keystone,” which aims to involve the community to help enhance transit service and strengthen the communities served by the Keystone Line. 

Parkesburg Borough Hall is located at 315 West First Avenue, Building 1. There is a parking lot located behind the building with an entrance off South Gay Street.

Read more about the initiative here.

Parkeburg Train Service Profiled in Video

The railchannel.com posts a 34 minute video of Amtrak train service between Parkesburg and Bird in Hand with stops in Christiana and Gap in between.

While the video is well documented, it is not the most exciting video ever made.  All in all, a decent 'snapshot' of train service in, through and beyond Parkesburg.

After 2 Trains, No Parking at 'Burg Station

Philadelphia-bound platform at Downingtown Station built after the original station building burned to the ground in 1990

Parkesburg received prominent mention in a Daily Local News article when Atglen native and Special Projects Coordinator for PennDOT, Bob Garrett, told Downingtown Borough Council last week,

"From Parkesburg east after 7 a.m., all stations are out of parking. We would like to upgrade the stations and make more parking available."

Garrett, who is also helping Parkesburg upgrade its train station, asked Downingtown to conduct a feasibility study to find a new locations for its new train stations.

Seems the existing location, since its located on a curve in the tracks, can't support the installation of handicap accessible platforms.

Alternative sites being considered include a site west of the current station on Lancaster Avenue and an area in the River Station development near Boot Road and Brandywine Avenue.

You can read the entire article in today's Daily Local here.

Parkesburg Yesterday

Here's a video of candidate Barack Obama's whistle (almost) stop in Parkesburg during the Pennsylvania Primary in May of 2008.

Following his visit to Parkesburg, Obama went on to lose the Pennsylvania primary to Hillary Clinton. 

In the end however, he captured the Democratic nomination at that party's August convention in Denver and eventually the Presidency in November's general election, winning convincing majorities in Parkesburg, Chester County and Pennsylvania in the process.

The next presidential election in 2012 promises to be a spirited debate between the now President Obama and his yet-to-be-determined worthy Republican opponent.

Lets hope both candidates find their way to our town during the campaign and maybe, just maybe, find a few minutes on their busy schedules to actually stop and speak to their Parkesburg friends and supporters.