A new Amtrak project near William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in Philadelphia will help increase the national rail operator’s service reliability and frequency across Pennsylvania and the Northeast, writes Emma Dooling for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Amtrak broke ground last week on a new heavy maintenance facility at the Penn Coach Yard in University City. According to CEO Stephen Gardner, this $462 million project is “critical” in upgrading the customer experience by replacing the majority of its existing fleet with new trains in the coming years.

“This project and several others like it will help drive continued ridership growth and future service expansion,” said Gardner.

The new 350,000-square-foot facility is projected to open in 2027. Amtrak senior public relations manager Kyle Anderson noted that the project will result in the creation of 250 construction jobs and over 50 Amtrak maintenance jobs at the rail yard.

The new complex will be used to perform daily equipment inspections, service, and cleaning, as well as other life cycle maintenance along with heavy maintenance repairs.

The construction is not expected to have a major impact on customers.

Read more about the new $462 million Amtrak project in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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