The ''Parkway Limited'' was a short-lived

commuter train Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...

operated by Conrail (under contract to

PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...

) between

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau. The city is ...

, in 1981. The train was created in response to construction work on the section of

Interstate 376 Interstate 376 (I-376) is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Pennsylvania, located within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania T ...

known as

Parkway East Interstate 376 (I-376) is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Pennsylvania, located within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Tu ...

. The train was funded by $2 million of a $10 million grant from the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

. It supplemented the PATrain service, which ran slightly to the south. The service had two departures daily in each direction: early morning inbound runs from Greensburg and

Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four is ...

, with corresponding outbound returns in the late afternoon. The trains used

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

in downtown Pittsburgh, becoming the first commuter rail service there since 1964.

Equipment

To operate the service, PennDOT acquired ten refurbished coaches from

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

, the national passenger railroad operator. Amtrak itself had acquired the ten coaches in 1971 when it took over most private-sector long-haul passenger services. The ten coaches had been built by Budd and Pullman-Standard between 1940 and 1954. Amtrak declared the cars surplus after it switched from

steam heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

head end power In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, p ...

History

The service began running on March 3, 1981. Initial patronage was good, with the first trains standing-room only, but by summer ridership had dwindled. The second inbound trip from Pitcairn, which carried at times as few as five passengers, was dropped. To compensate,

began stopping the '' Fort Pitt'' (Pittsburgh–Altoona) at Pitcairn. (The ''Fort Pitt'' already stopped at Greensburg.) Service at Manor was discontinued in favor of Irwin, closer to Pittsburgh. In addition, a move to mainline trackage in Westmoreland County shaved 12 minutes off the schedule. PennDOT canceled the train in November, citing insufficient ridership. From a high of 600 at the train's launch, daily ridership had dropped below 200. The East Busway opened in 1983 over part of the ''Parkway Limiteds route.

References

External links

Picture of the ''Parkway Limited'' in 1981
{{PittsburghTransit Former United States regional rail systems Railway services introduced in 1981 Named passenger trains of the United States Transportation in Pittsburgh Railway services discontinued in 1981