Elizabethtown, PA (ELT)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2008

$1,079,234

Station Ridership

FY 2008

95,173

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The current Amtrak stop is a shelter on a platform. The existing station was built in 1915 by the Pennsylvania Railroad on the campus of the Masonic Home of Grand Lodge of Fee and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. The station served both the Masonic Home and the community of Elizabethtown.

The building was designed by the architectural firm of Zantzinger, Borie & Medary with ashlar limestone and graduated slate roofs in order to create a relationship with the Masonic Home campus. This facility had one of the first elevators in Pennsylvania to service people with disabilities. This historic station has been vacant for more than 25 years and is in need of renovation and rehabilitation.

The Borough of Elizabethtown had been looking for funding to design and construction of infrastructure improvements to the existing station and low-level platforms including the installation of high-level platforms and elevators in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In 2006, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak and Congressman Joseph Pitts’ office visited the station to discuss the project and issues related to ADA.

On August 24, 2009, Senator Arlen Specter, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and local dignitaries joined in breaking ground for renovations to the Amtrak station in Elizabethtown. The station is being rebuilt with $9.3 million in federal stimulus money. The platform will be raised four feet and extended from 220 to 500 feet to help make it more handicapped accessible. Two elevators will be added, and the station building will offer an automated ticket machine and seating. Parking will be improved.

Richard Ayers, executive vice president of Lobar, the general contractor, said at the groundbreaking ceremony that the work can help 35 to 40 construction workers keep their jobs who might otherwise have been laid off. More than 50 people will work on the project, which should be finished in January, 2011.

In 1730, Thomas Harris purchased a large plot of land to establish a trading post in this community. This post became the Bear Tavern, which was then purchased by Barnabas and Elizabeth Hughes of County Donegal, Ireland. Hughes layed out the town, naming it after his wife. Elizabethtown was incorporated as a borough on April 13, 1827.

The railroad arrived here in the 1830s and the city was primarily agricultural until the early 1900s. It grew rapidly after World War II.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or baggage services at this facility.

Elizabethtown is served by an average of 25 daily trains.

Amtrak’s Keystone Service is financed in part through funds made available by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.