Trains ran once daily in each direction. The entire train ride took about 9 hours total, with 1.5 hours between New York and Philadelphia, 2 hours between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and 5.5 hours between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvanian ran a portion of the Three Rivers route, which runs from New York to Chicago. East of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvanian ran over Amtrak's own railroad, but between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh it ran over Norfolk Southern's.
Services on the Pennsylvanian included Unreserved Coach, Business Class (reserved deluxe seating), Dinette (for food, snacks, and drinks), and Railfone for public telephone access, which was available in the food serevice cars.
The Pennsylvanian is a 444-mile (715 km) daytime Amtrak train running between New York, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At the time the Pennsylvanian was inaugurated, the Broadway Limited was departing Pittsburgh at an inconvenient early morning hour.
After that period, and after the required public hearings were conducted, the Pennsylvanian was restarted on March 8, 2005 as a truncation of the Three Rivers over the original route of the Pennsylvanian.
Amtrak expects to get through the current budget year but says it needs a major increase in federal support to maintain service over the next several years.
Amtrak President David Gunn said Thursday that Congress made it possible for the passenger railroad to survive another year by granting nearly all of the $1.2 billion requested through September.
When Amtrak was close to a systemwide shutdown last summer, several states feared it could affect their daily commuter operations.
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