New train station opens in Middletown along Amtrak’s Keystone line

The old station was basically a park and ride, with no building or facilities. 

• Julia Agos/WITF
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  Julia Agos was a reporter and the host of All Things Considered for WITF.

(Middletown) – A midstate community has a new train station.  

Amtrak converted a warehouse on 270 West Emaus Street, just a few hundred yards from the parking lot of the former Middletown stop, into a facility where people can park or lock up their bikes, and use a pedestrian bridge to reach the train platform. The building has no restrooms.

The entire facility complies with the Americans for Disabilities Act. 

The old station was basically a park and ride, with no building or facilities. 

The new Middletown station is designed to serve is designed to serve residents, students at Penn State Harrisburg less than a mile away, and those traveling through Harrisburg International Airport, which is about two miles away.  

At a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries said the project has been in the making for nearly two decades.  

“This is a culmination of working together in a joint cooperative manner between local, state and federal entities,” he said. “This is what you do when you work together to get things done for the betterment of the community.” 

The price tag came in around $50 million with the Federal Transit Authority, PennDOT and Amtrak contributing funding. 

Amtrak’s AVP Infrastructure Access & Investment Tom Moritz said the new facility is part of a long-time effort to expand and improve access to the Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. 

“Stations or the heart of the communities that Amtrak serves. There are more than transportation hubs. The train station also paints the first impression of a town for those coming to stay or just passing through,” he said.  

Other improvements to the Keystone line include a new parking lot at Lancaster Station, which opened in March, and the start of construction on the Coatesville Station, which began in October.