Keystone Service

Amtrak's 195-mile (314 km) Keystone Service provides frequent higher speed passenger train service along the Amtrak-owned Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor (NEC) between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Station in New York via 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. It is Amtrak's fifth-busiest route, and the railroad's third-busiest in the NEC. In fiscal year 2011, the service carried over 1.3 million passengers, an increase of 3.5% over FY2010. Total revenue in FY2011 was $29,366,992, an increase of 5.9% over FY2010.

The trains consist of unreserved coaches between Harrisburg and Philadelphia and reserved coaches between Philadelphia and New York. There is no business class or snack/food service.

On weekdays there are thirteen Keystone trains and one Pennsylvanian train in each direction. All trains run between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, though only nine of the Keystone trains plus the Pennsylvanian operate along the segment between Philadelphia and New York. There are eight round-trip trains on both Saturdays and Sundays. Seven of the Saturday and Sunday trains, including the Pennsylvanian, make the full trip between Harrisburg and New York. On the majority of the trains, the journey between Harrisburg and New York takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 hour and 45 minutes to travel between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. There are also several express trains which cut both journey times by approximately 15 minutes.

As a result of signal, track, and catenary upgrades that were completed in October 2006, Amtrak now exclusively uses EMD AEM-7 electric locomotives in push-pull configuration with rebuilt Metroliner cab cars for their Keystone service. Previously, a complicated engine switch was needed at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station that required about twenty minutes to perform. The trains can reach a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) along the Keystone Corridor, a significant improvement in speed from the previous service. The improvements in infrastructure and service are a result of a $145 million investment and partnership between Amtrak, the Federal Transit Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to bring high-speed rail to southeastern Pennsylvania.