Middletown station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

on the

Keystone Corridor The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line, Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main li ...

in Middletown, Dauphin County in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The station is served by Amtrak's ''

Keystone Service The ''Keystone Service'' is a 195 mile (314 km) regional passenger train service from Amtrak, that operates between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the P ...

'' between

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. The former low-level station was built in 1990, but a relocated station with a high-level platform opened on January 10, 2022.

Services and facilities

The Middletown station is located at 270 West Emaus Street. In addition to being used by residents of Middletown, the station is also popular with commuters heading to

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where it was previously free to park. It sees twenty-three arrivals by the ''Keystone Service'' on weekdays, thirteen from both Harrisburg and

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

, and seven from each on weekends. The station is east of Harrisburg, west of

30th Street Station 30th Street Station, officially William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, is a major intermodal passenger transport, intermodal transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The station opened in 1933 as Pennsylvania Station– ...

in Philadelphia, and from New York. In

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2018, the station saw a ridership of 68,022 passengers, a decrease of 0.2 percent from the previous year. The station consists of a high-level center platform with a covering and seating, with a bridge over the tracks providing access to the platform. As the Middletown station is unstaffed, all tickets from the station need to be pre-paid, or purchased from a conductor on board the train. Capital Area Transit's Route 7

transit bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...

passes near the station on its route between Middletown,

Harrisburg International Airport Harrisburg International Airport is a public airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Harrisburg. It is owned by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority., effective September 16, 2022 The airport code MDT r ...

, and

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Harrisburg.

History

A railroad was first laid through Middletown in 1836 by the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, which was taken over by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

in 1850. Only a bare platform was available until brick station was built in 1902. It was demolished in the 1970s. Prior to the introduction of the ''Keystone Service'' in 1981, Middletown was served by the '' Big Apple'', the '' Silverliner Service'', and the '' Keystone''. A

shelter A shelter is an architectural structure or natural formation (or a combination of the two) providing protection from the local environment. A shelter can serve as a home or be provided by a residential institution. It can be understood as both ...

and concrete platform was built in 1990 by Amtrak. From 1991 to 1995, the '' Atlantic City Express'' served the station on weekends.

Relocation

Middletown PA Amtrak station from platform October 2023

The Middletown station was in need of being relocated because it was on a superelevated curve and did not comply with the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

as well. It was moved from its previous location at Union and Mill streets to a location at Ann Street and

Pennsylvania Route 230 Pennsylvania Route 230 (PA 230) is a long state route in central Pennsylvania. Its western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 22 (US 22) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. Its eastern terminus is ...

, between the former station and

. Initial plans called for the station to be moved next to the airport terminal, but this was rejected in favor of keeping the station in the downtown area. By 2013, it was expected to be completed by 2015 and estimated to cost $32 million. Funding would be provided by the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

and the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT). , bidding for site clearing was expected to take place in mid-2016, with the new station opening in 2018. The work includes pedestrian bridges to the platform and over Route 230, and an extension of West Emaus Street to Route 230. By early 2018, the projected opening was delayed to 2022 due to delays with Norfolk Southern and Amtrak relocating their tracks. Despite an August 2021 projection, the station opened on January 10, 2022. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on January 18, 2022, with federal, state, and local officials along with Amtrak and PennDOT personnel in attendance.

References

External links

Planning page for replacement station
{{PRR Main Line stations Amtrak stations in Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Railway stations in the United States opened in 1990 1990 establishments in Pennsylvania Stations on the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations