Exiled in Express

How hard is it to get between the station and the airport? Mainly interested in picking up a rental car, would any of the companies pick me up? Walkable or would I disgruntle a taxi driver with a short fare?

ExitRowAisle

Because I couldn't quite figure out if the Middletown train station had buses running to the airport, I took the train west all the way to Harrisburg. There is a public bus that runs from downtown Harrisburg to the airport. I didn't time it, but it seemed to take about 20-30 minutes from downtown Harrisburg to the airport. (My only reason for going to to MDT was to pick up a rental car. A pick-up in Philadelphia and a drop-off in Pittsburgh was cost prohibitive.)

fairviewroad

Don't know whether any rental companies would pick you up. You could probably call each one of them and ask since ultimately that would be the cheapest/easiest solution:
http://www.flyhia.com/car_rental

As far as walkable, it's about 2 1/2 miles. Here's a map. Probably not the most pedestrian-friendly area, in terms of sidewalks, etc. But doable in an absolute pinch.

I'd guess a taxi would be happy to transport you, but I doubt that taxis meet every train arriving into MID. So you might have to look up cab companies and call ahead.

There is in fact a local transit route that will take you directly from the Amtrak station to the airport terminal, however it has a limited schedule and not all trips serve the airport. You can find the schedule here:
http://www.cattransit.com/wp-content...own-052112.pdf

You'll be boarding at the corner of Ann and Union, going from approx timepoint 10 to timepoint 7 on the schedule. As you can see, some of the inbound trips skip the airport. There is no Sunday service.

Bottom line, this type of transfer will be way, way easier if/when the new Amtrak station opens and if it in fact does have a shuttle bus connection.

tolkiennut

I've taken a taxi from MID to MDT many times due to flying out to city A, fly to city B, train back to Middletown... it's not ideal as I've been told you have to use the Airport taxis and they have left me waiting for 15+ minutes at MID

Local Taxi Service Phone
Harrisburg City Cabs (717) 948-5990

tolkiennut

Speaking of which, any update on the Middletown Train Station project?

I heard they selected one of the non-airport locations, opting for a station closer to the current one, but I haven't heard anything else.

The conductors don't seem to be aware of any upcoming changes.

I always cross my fingers evertime we cross the tracks at 5:08am in the dark to board

jackal

Just updating this old post for future reference: the new ELT station is fully ADA-accessible with high platforms and elevators from the tunnel under the tracks. It's a nice station, actually, and you can catch lots of whiffs of goodness from the Dove chocolate plant next door. (Sadly, no tours of the privately-held firm.)

You'd think. Especially because there already IS a shuttle...to the long-term lot, which is about halfway in between the terminal and the MID Amtrak station. (Note that the Amtrak station uses MID for its Middletown stop code.)

Shuttles leave the airport for the long-term lot every 7-10 minutes. For most of the day, there's hourly Amtrak service in each direction (there are a few gaps of a bit more than an hour). It would be an almost negligible addition to make two of those shuttles each hour (timed to meet one train in each direction) take the extra three minutes in each direction to drive from the long-term lot to the Amtrak station to pick-up and drop-off passengers.

I wrote the airport authority to suggest this, since it seems like a no-brainer. I certainly would use it, since I can either have friends/neighbors take me to the MJY station, or there's free long-term parking at the ELT station (I'd rather spend $12 on the round-trip train fare than $8.50/day on the long-term lot). I never got a response from the airport.

The rental agencies are all on-site in the airport garage; thus, none have shuttles with which they could come and pick you up.

However, if you do end up wanting to walk it, it's actually not bad, since you don't need to walk all the way to the terminal (about 2 miles, as mentioned previously)--just walk the 3/4 of a mile to the long-term lot, wait at parking hut #1 for a shuttle to pull up, and ride the free shuttle the rest of the way. The walk takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how fast you walk, and it's perfectly safe (I've done the walk a half a dozen times, day and night).

Or PM me and I might just drop by to give you a ride. Heck, get off at MJY and we'll grab a bite to eat and I'll take you the rest of the way to the airport. But make sure I'm in town first.

I've heard nothing at all, but I don't really pay attention to local news.

fairviewroad

Ah, a great piece of advice. ^^

jackal

Forgot to include a Google Map in my post yesterday.

Stop for a beer and a pretty good burger at the Blue Room, just on the other side of the tracks from the MID station.

Also, upon second thought, the airport wouldn't even need to have a shuttle run to meet every train. Just make it on-demand! Passengers arriving at MID can call the shuttle dispatcher from their cell phones, and the next shuttle will make the brief detour to the Amtrak station to pick them up. (Drop-offs would be on-demand, too--just tell the driver when you board the shuttle at the airport.)

To make it successful, it needs to be promoted. I'd suggest the following two steps, both of which can be done for virtually no cost:

1. Amtrak renames the station "Middletown and Harrisburg International Airport"; conductors are to announce the stop in this fashion, thus promoting the shuttle connection to the several thousand daily Keystone commuters (optionally, conductors can include, "call 888-2FLY-HIA to request the free airport shuttle" upon arrival at MID)
2. The airport posts clear signage at the arrivals/baggage claim area for "PARKING/AMTRAK STATION SHUTTLE"; shuttles themselves include similar signage, and shuttle drivers verbally ask boarding passengers whether they are going to the parking lot or the Amtrak station (thus, all long-term parking customers will know about the option to use Amtrak next time)

Obviously, the HIA website would be updated, too.

If they spent the $500 or so it would take to change the signs and update the website and the $500 or so in extra fuel it would cost each year to have the shuttles divert to MID a few times a day, they could pretty much indefinitely delay the need to construct a separate station for HIA. It's a huge savings!

(MDT, if you're still reading this, please pass this on to your bosses!)

tolkiennut

I suspect one of the reasons for lack of promotion is the not-to-be-mentioned free parking at MID and the troubles this would create for all if people started parking for free at MID and took shuttles to MDT...

jackal

Do they allow overnight parking at MID?! I guess I just assumed they do like ELT does in its short-term lot and disallow parking from 2a-4a. (ELT has free long-term parking on the back side of the station.)

Heck, if they don't prohibit overnight parking, maybe I'll just park there next time and walk to the long-term lot. I'll walk 15 minutes to save $30 on four days of parking.

That said, the MID lot isn't owned or has anything to do with the airport authority, so I doubt they care (except about losing potential parking revenue)...but the fact they're contemplating building a station at the airport shows that's not a primary concern. This is a way to accomplish a similar goal at much lower expense--and also to get people in the habit of taking the train to the airport so that when they do build the MDT station, it has good utilization.

tolkiennut

I'm sure if they build a new station near the airport (and heck, maybe anywhere), they will put up a pay parking lot - if near MDT, it would be on par with MDT rates.

There is only a small lot at MID, and it is frequently overrun with people parking on/near sidewalks, but it is long term, no restrictions, and we like it that way :-). I park there for days at a time.

jackal

Well, forget pay parking ever again, especially on those 5:30am departures on which I can't use Amtrak.

fairviewroad

(Don't hold your breath!)

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...ion_proje.html

fairviewroad

Construction still hasn't begun. Projected opening is now 2018. [Again, don't hold your breath]. However this article contains some of the most details about this project that I've seen. Among other things, it suggests that the new station will be on a center platform between the tracks. I believe that would make it the only such station on the Keystone Corridor. Platform will be accessed by pedestrian bridge from either side.

Middletown gets details on new Amtrak station

BobH

Interesting point --

30th street station in Philly has all kinds of Platforms

Harrisburg has a lot

Lancaster has two center platforms serving four passenger tracks

Once upon a time, that part of the PRR was a very busy place, now it's just busy

Bob H