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10/30/2024
Amtrak selected HNTB Corp. to manage the first of three critical construction projects for the Philadelphia Zoo-to-Paoli electrification transmission line program on the Harrisburg Line in Pennsylvania.
The completed program will provide an 18-mile segment of track with higher voltage and modern catenary lines between the Philadelphia Zoo substation and the Paoli substation in the census-designated location of Paoli in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The substations are where power for the transmission lines is converted from lower to high, and vice versa.
“Amtrak’s Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian trains, as well as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Paoli Thorndale Line, will benefit from more reliable service thanks to a modern overhead catenary system and power generation and distribution infrastructure,” said Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery, in a press release.
HNTB will manage the Bryn Mawr substation replacement project, including demolishing the existing substation and installing two 138kV step-down transformers and other equipment to reinforce the higher power supply for tracks between the Philadelphia Zoo and Paoli. The Bryn Mawr substation is located about halfway between the Philadelphia Zoo and Paoli substations.
The contract amount was not disclosed in the press release.
Amtrak previously awarded a contract to Vanalt Electrical Construction Inc. for construction on the associated power systems, such as lighting, steel structure gantries, and cabling. This work is slated to begin this fall, Amtrak officials said.
The other two construction contracts will be for replacing the overhead catenary and transmissions line. Amtrak has split the project into two sections of work, between Paoli and Bryn Mawr, which Amtrak hopes to award in early 2025, and between Bryn Mawr and the Philadelphia Zoo, which is still in planning.
The project requires 330 new catenary structures, upgrades to the existing signal power system within the project limits from 3.3kV to 6.9kV and decommissioning the existing off-corridor transmission lines and demolition of the existing overhead catenary structures.