COATESVILLE, Pa. – Work is underway on a new $65 million Amtrak/SEPTA station in Coatesville, the West Chester Daily News reports. Expected completion is fall 2025. The job includes design, station and streetscape construction, and Amtrak track work at Fleetwood Street, just east of the existing Pennsylvania Railroad station building.
According to a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation news release, foundation work for the south platform area is currently under construction and foundation work will continue through early spring 2023. That will be followed by construction of platforms and elevators and stair towers on the south side of the station. Coatesville City Manager James Logan is pleased that the new station will be state-of-the-art ADA compliant. “Some the folks who couldn’t ride the trains for years will be able to,” he told the News. Coatesville workers will be able to better commute to other communities on existing Amtrak and restored SEPTA train lines, according to Logan.
The current building is owned by Amtrak and leased to the City of Coatesville and has been closed for more than 25 years. The original site is on a curve that prevents construction of ADA-accessible platforms and necessitated a shift in the station location. The new, accessible station along Fleetwood Street between Third and Fourth avenues will feature 530-foot-long high-level accessible platforms with canopies and seating; stair/elevator towers; an audio-visual public address system and security cameras; bicycle racks; and expanded surface parking.
Track work improvements include a bypass track to be constructed by Amtrak to facilitate moving freight train traffic past the new high-level platforms. While currently served only by Amtrak Keystone Service trains, SEPTA indicated it will be extending Regional Rail commuter service from Thorndale to Coatesville “in the near future.”
Work is being led by PennDOT with support from Chester County, the City of Coatesville, and the Coatesville Redevelopment Authority with additional funding by the Federal Transit Administration.
SEPTA had previously run service West of Thorndale to Coatesville and Parkesburg. They used the crossover at Leaman Place to turn the trains and were qualified to Lancaster in case they couldn’t turn at Leaman.
Interesting that SEPTA calls its commuter rail service “Regional Rail” while Amtrak operates its Regional Rail intercity service on the same rails.