Over the past two days, VISTA Today has reported on a presentation made by State Senator Andy Dinniman made about PennDOT’s  plans to upgrade and refurbish Chester County’s five Amtrak stops.

In the presentation made to 25 Chester County civic leaders and residents gathered at the West Goshen VFW on a cold January morning, Dinniman spoke about the $26 million dollars in state and federal monies set aside to revamp the long dormant Coatesville station and plans for the County’s other four Amtrak stops including recently announced plans to tackle the unruly mess that is the Paoli train station at rush hour.

After speaking for 30 minutes about each of the county’s five Amtrak stations, Dinniman opened conversation to questions.  After fielding a question from former State Representative Barbara McIlvaine Smith about the chronic lack of parking at the Exton station, Senator Dinniman turned to the table next to McIlvaine Smith’s where Ronald Bailey, Chester County Planning Commission Executive Director sat with his hand raised.

“Yes Ron,” said Senator Dinnaman.

What followed for the next two minutes as Bailey endorsed Dinniman’s effectiveness and leadership in Harrisburg moving work on the five Chester County train stops forward, wasn’t so much a question from Bailey as it was a full-throated exhibit of why Chester County works:

“Let me just add some perspective to what [Senator Dinniman] said so that everyone one has some perspective about Senator Dinniman.  Since he has gone to the statehouse he has become an absolutely incredible leader.

“The Keystone Line stations in Chester County are now known as Senator’s Dinniman stations.  You go on to his website and it is the best place to find out what is going on with the [Keystone Line] stations.  It’s the real truth things are happening in Coatesville, things are happening in Paoli because of Senator Dinniman and the influence and the work he has personally done with PennDOT and with the [PennDOT] deputy secretary.

“Like he said, we’re not just building a station in Coatesville, and its because he is working with PennDOT to be able to bring additional resources to make that all happen.  We now have $36 million dollars going into Paoli.  How many years, twenty, twenty-five year?  Absolutely nothing happened in Paoli.  When Senator Dinniman got Paoli in his district things changed.

“What changed, what the problem was, is that PennDOT didn’t want to put money into Paoli because it’s a SEPTA project and its SEPTA’s capital budget.  And SEPTA didn’t want to put money in their capital budget for Paoli because it’s not their station It’s Amtrak station and Amtrak charges SEPTA trackage rights, huge amounts of money to operate over the Amtrak lines.  These three entities wouldn’t basically get in the same room together.

“Senator Dinniman changed that and all three have now contributed ten to 12 million dollars to make up the $36 million dollars.  The money is coming from SEPTA, the money is coming from PennDOT and it’s coming from Amtrak.  It is just incredible what this Senator has done.

“And don’t forget that he was also one of the leaders in the passage of Act 89, the transportation funding legislation, which is not just highways.  For the first time Pennsylvania has a dedicated source of funding for transit.

“What Senator Dinniman is doing for Chester County is just absolutely incredible and you all really need to give him a real vote of appreciation.”

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Top photo credit: Chester County Planning Commission via photopin cc