PennDOT kicks off Mount Joy rail station project

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) yesterday marked the start of a $25 million project to improve the train station in Mount Joy, Pa., on Amtrak's Keystone Corridor.

The project will replace low-level platforms with covered, elevated structures that will make boarding trains easier, as well as add elevators and enclosed stair towers and a pedestrian overpass between the east and westbound platforms, according to a PennDOT press release.

The work also includes adding 42 parking spaces and improving 112 parking spaces and slope stabilization. The new station will meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The project is the latest in a series of investments to improve service on the 104-mile Keystone route.

"Transit plays a crucial role in building communities, and we have seen the results from more than a decade of upgrades to the Keystone Corridor," said PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards.

Expected to take three years to complete, the project complements Phase I, which added streetscaping, 69 parking spaces and a covered walkway between the parking lot and station. Phase I was completed in 2012.

Working with Amtrak and the Federal Transit Administration, PennDOT has overseen more than $400 million in improvements to the Harrisburg to Philadelphia and New York Keystone Corridor since 2000.