Editing Keystone Service (section)

=== Takeover from Penn Central ===
The Keystone Service is the successor to numerous services running along the [[Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line]] dating back to 1857, when the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) bought the [[Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad]], enabling service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

By the time the PRR merged with [[Penn Central Transportation Company|Penn Central]] in 1968, it operated three types of service on the Main Line: commuter service between the suburb of {{amtk|Paoli}} and [[Suburban Station]] via [[30th Street Station]], regional service (trains numbered in the 600s) between [[Harrisburg Transportation Center|Harrisburg]] and Suburban Station via 30th Street Station, and express intercity service like the ''[[Broadway Limited]]'' and ''[[Duquesne (train)|Duquesne]]'', which skipped 30th Street Station entirely and used [[North Philadelphia station]] as their only Philadelphia stop.<ref name="dawson">{{Cite journal |last=Dawson |first=John A. |title=Rail Ridership, Service, and Markets in the Keystone Corridor |url=http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1993/1381/1381-002.pdf |journal=Transportation Research Record |volume=19 |pages=12–19}}</ref>

When the [[Budd Metroliner|Metroliner]] high-speed program had begun two years earlier, the state had attempted to capitalize on the opportunity to purchase upgraded rolling stock for the 600-series trains. On August 30, 1966, Governor [[William Scranton]] of Pennsylvania announced plans to purchase 11 Metroliners capable of {{convert|80|mph|abbr=on}} service to replace the [[Silverliner]]s then used. The cars were ordered through Philadelphia commuter agency [[SEPTA]], as the state was not permitted to contract directly with the PRR.<ref name="baer1966">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1966 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1966.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> The state, SEPTA, and PRR reached an agreement on November 3; the state and SEPTA would each pay $2 million, funded mostly by mass transit grants from the newly formed [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|Department of Housing and Urban Development]] (HUD), and the PRR would receive a free 15-year lease of the cars. The PRR soon withdrew after complaints from competing Red Arrow Lines and Capitol Trailways, and the HUD grants were later found to be inapplicable to intercity service.<ref name="baer1966" />

In June 1968, an agreement was reached where the state Transportation Assistance Authority would pay $2 million and Penn Central would pay $2.5 million for the 11 Metroliners for Harrisburg service. On July 14, a 4-car train was tested on the line, with several demonstration runs for officials on August 21.<ref name="baer1968">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1968 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1968.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> On February 25, 1970, the cars intended for Harrisburg service completed their performance testing. Penn Central refused to accept the cars, citing numerous technical issues with the cars and their general unsuitability for the service. They had slower acceleration than the Silverliners already in service, tended to overheat when making numerous closely spaced stops, and had difficulty climbing the grade out of Suburban Station. Additionally, the corridor lacked high-level platforms to effectively use the cars, and 15 substations would require expensive modifications.<ref name="baer1970">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1970 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1970.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> The 11 cars were unused for some time before Penn Central ultimately decided to lease the cars for use on the [[Metroliner (train)|core New York–Washington service]]. They were moved back to the Budd plant for modifications in April. In July 1970, the state authorized $100,000 to upgrade existing Silverliners for the Harrisburg service instead.<ref name="baer1970" />

When Amtrak was created to take over intercity passenger rail service in 1971, there was substantial debate about whether some trains constituted intercity services (to be either taken over by Amtrak or discontinued, relieving private companies like Penn Central of the financial burden) or commuter services (to be retained by the private companies unless discontinuance was approved by the [[Interstate Commerce Commission|ICC]]). Penn Central alleged that several of its regional services – the 600-series trains, connecting Lancaster–[[York, Pennsylvania|York]] buses, ''[[Clocker (train)|Clockers]]'', and [[Harlem Line|New York–Chatham service]] – were intercity services that could be discontinued since they were not included in Amtrak's initial system.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

On March 31, 1971, Penn Central filed with ICC to discontinue the 600-series trains at the conclusion of their contract with [[SEPTA]] on June 30.<ref name="baer1971">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1971 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1971.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> The state filed suit against Penn Central on April 7 to stop the discontinuance. On April 23, Penn Central filed in District Court to discontinue the regional services.<ref name="baer1971" /> Five days later, the state and the [[United Transportation Union|UTU]] filed an opposing suit, calling the trains a commuter service. On April 30, Judge [[John P. Fullam]] ordered Penn Central to continue operating the trains and ultimately referred the case to the ICC.<ref name="baer1971" />

When Amtrak took over intercity service on May 1, 1971, the 600-series trains continued to be operated by Penn Central, though they were listed in Amtrak schedules.<ref name="tt19710501">{{Cite book |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19710501&item=0015 |title=National Schedules of Intercity Passenger Service |date=May 1, 1971 |publisher=National Railroad Passenger Corporation |page=13 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref> The city of Philadelphia and the state both preferred to have Penn Central rather than Amtrak operate the service, as Amtrak was exempt from state control. On June 21, the ICC ruled that the service was not intercity rail, as sought by the state and not by Penn Central.<ref name="baer1971" /> On August 3, Fullam ordered Penn Central to continue operating the regional services.<ref name="baer1971" />

On October 29, 1972, after further negotiations with Penn Central, Amtrak took over operation of the 600-series trains as ''Silverliner Service'', named for the [[Silverliner]] cars used to run the trains.<ref name="baer1972">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1972 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1972.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19721029&item=0044 |title=Nationwide Schedules of Intercity Passenger Service |date=October 29, 1972 |publisher=National Railroad Passenger Corporation |page=43 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref> Amtrak assumed formal responsibility for the ''Silverliner Service'' and ''Clockers'' around April 1974.<ref name="baer1974">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1974 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1974.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> Penn Central (and later [[Conrail]] and finally [[SEPTA Regional Rail]]) continued to operate Paoli–Philadelphia commuter service. Amtrak took over ticketing for the ''Silverliner Service'' and ''Clockers'' from Penn Central on July 1, 1975.<ref name="baer1975" /> On October 26, 1975, SEPTA funded an increase from 9 to 11 daily round trips.<ref name="baer1975">{{Cite web |last=Baer |first=Christopher T. |date=April 2015 |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1975 |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1975.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> Amtrak began including a listing of connecting trains to/from New York City in the November 1975 timetable.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19751130&item=0031 |title=All-America Schedules |date=November 30, 1975 |publisher=Amtrak |page=30 |via=Museum of Railway Tmetables}}</ref>