Pittsburgh Line

Pittsburgh Line
Eastbound intermodal train on the Pittsburgh Line in Newport
Overview
Type	Freight rail and passenger rail
System	Norfolk Southern, Amtrak
Status	Operational
Locale	western and central Pennsylvania
Termini	CP-Harrisburg in Harrisburg CP-West Pitt in Pittsburgh
Operation
Owner	Norfolk Southern
Operator(s)	Norfolk Southern, Amtrak
Technical
Line length	248 mi (399 km)
Number of tracks	2-4
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the state of Pennsylvania and its part of the Amtrak-Norfolk Southern combined rail corridor, the Keystone Corridor.

Formerly the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) Middle Division part of its Main Line (now known as the Keystone Corridor), the Pittsburgh Line spans 248 miles (399 km) between the state capitol in Harrisburg and its namesake city of Pittsburgh, crossing the Allegheny Mountains through the Gallitzin Tunnels west of Altoona and the famous Horseshoe Curve in the process. Its east end is marked with the railroad's Harrisburg Line to Reading and Philadelphia, and the Fort Wayne Line on its west end to Conway, Pennsylvania and points west in Ohio and Indiana.

The Pittsburgh Line is arguably Norfolk Southern's busiest freight corridor, where 50 to 70 trains traverse the line daily.

The Pittsburgh Line is marked with three major freight terminals on both of its ends. On its east end, Harrisburg Terminal handles a bulk of the railroads intermodal traffic, with a handful intermodal trains originating and terminating there. Across the Susquehanna River in Enola is Norfolk Southern’s major freight terminal in the Greater Harrisburg area; Enola Yard, which handles almost all manifest freight traffic that passes through the area. Many of the Pittsburgh Line’s manifest freight trains originate or terminate here, with a few continuing south to Baltimore, Maryland and points east, while others bypass Enola and cross the Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna to Harrisburg bound for Allentown, Pennsylvania and points east.