With its buses full and demand for more commuter service skyrocketing, Westmoreland County transit officials say building commuter rail service between Greensburg and Arnold and downtown Pittsburgh is a priority for the public agency.
"I think the authority is ready to move forward with it. We have to have the funding in place," said state Rep. Tom Tangretti, D-Greensburg, a member of the transit authority board.
Commuter rail service has been on the authority's radar for more than a year. Late last year, it hired a Pittsburgh consulting company to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed trains.
That $500,000 study is expected to be completed late this year by HDR Engineer Inc.
The authority met last month with Norfolk Southern, the freight train operator that owns the tracks on which the passenger rail line would run. The railroad indicated it would be receptive to allowing the passenger service on its tracks as long as it did not interfere with existing freight service, authority Executive Director Larry Morris said.
The proposed commuter train system would have two rail corridors, one that would originate in either Latrobe or Greensburg and run through Jeannette, Irwin and Trafford, and eventually into downtown Pittsburgh.
Initial cost estimates ranged from $190 million for a limited-service system to a more ambitious $300 million line that would operate every 30 minutes during peak commuting times.
The second corridor could cost about $140 million to build and would start in Arnold and travel through the Allegheny River Valley and into Pittsburgh's Strip District.
"It's becoming a more realistic goal than it has been in the past. Every time gas goes up 20 cents it becomes more realistic," said authority Chairman Frank Tosto Jr.
Funding for the proposed trains is still an unanswered question. A transportation financing bill approved last summer by state lawmakers authorized up to $50 million a year for commuter rail projects. Officials said federal funding might be tapped.
Just how the trains will be paid for is another facet of the feasibility study.
Both train lines are considered crucial to handle overflow demand for the authority's daily commuter bus service into Pittsburgh.
Since 2003, the monthly number of commuters riding authority buses into Pittsburgh has jumped more than 163 percent.
In April 2003, there were 7,422 passengers on the Pittsburgh buses. The ridership numbers for April were 19,531.
The commuter service has become standing room only on some routes. Additional buses were put into service, and four new vehicles are expected to be added to its fleet later this summer.
Morris said that still might not ease the future demand as gasoline prices continue to spike.
That fact has authority members convinced that train service is the best answer to the meet the commuter demand.
"It's exactly where we need to be in order to catch the wave for ever expanding demand for public transit," Tangretti said.
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