Robert Ardolino says state legislation that he expects will pass in the next few weeks should be a big boost to a commuter train project from northern Westmoreland County to Pittsburgh.

Mr. Ardolino is a consultant hired in 2009 by Allegheny Railroad, which owns the tracks from Arnold and Pittsburgh that run along the east side of the Allegheny River. Mr. Ardolino is president of Urban Innovations, which has transit projects in California and Pittsburgh.

Working with the City of Pittsburgh, Mr. Ardolino's group just received a $1.8 million federal Department of Transportation grant to work on planning for a commuter train from Highland Park north to the New Kensington and Arnold area. Another consultant will plan the project within the city.

The state legislation is known as P3 -- for "public-private partnerships" -- and many state officials see it as a way to help pay for transportation projects. The federal government's refusal to allow the state to toll I-80 has resulted in a crisis in funding for road and bridge projects and transit operations.

The P3 legislation would allow the state to lease roads and mass-transit operations to private firms and that revenue would be used by the state to fund other transportation projects. The private firms could use tolls to improve roads or could build new roads or transit facilities with grants.

Mr. Ardolino says 28 states have similar public-private transportation laws.

The new law would allow a nonprofit arm of Urban Innovations, Global Community Services, to apply for grants to improve the rail line and then transfer ownership to PennDOT once the project is completed.

"I just went to Harrisburg three weeks ago, and I've been working with state Rep. Richard Geist, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and state Rep. Frank Dermody," Mr. Ardolino said. "They expect the P3 legislation to pass in the next couple of weeks, before the Legislature takes up the budget."

Mr. Dermody, House minority leader, lives in Oakmont, which would be one of five stops on the train route. He has been a strong advocate for the commuter train over the last five years.

"We want people to be able to get from Arnold to Pittsburgh in 35 minutes," said Mr. Ardolino. Other stops would be in Penn Hills, Lawrenceville and the Strip District. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl recently talked about the commuter train proposal in his plan to revitalize the riverfront in the Lawrenceville section of the city.

"We think that it would cost about $12-14 for a round trip from Arnold, based on a monthly pass," Mr. Ravenstahl said. "You can't even park in Pittsburgh all day for $12."

He envisions four trains going to Pittsburgh during the morning commute and four returning at the evening rush hours. Each train car would hold 40 to 60 people, and he would use six cars, he said. A "sprinter" train could leave from Oakmont and get into Pittsburgh in 15 minutes, he said.

He wants the train to connect to Downtown Pittsburgh at Steel Plaza and the light rail underground transit system, so riders could continue to Heinz Field or the South Hills.

The train would begin in Arnold, at a station built under the Tarentum Bridge, he said.

Mr. Ardolino met earlier this month with New Kensington officials to update them on the project.

Mayor Tom Guzzo said the train "would change the landscape in New Kensington. Obviously, he has to secure the funding, but it would cut the drive time, gas use and emissions, as well as make Route 28 less crazy for motorists. And it would help to spur the professional services we'd like to attract to our downtown area."

Mr. Guzzo said a roundtrip fare of $12 to $14 would be "very attractive" to area commuters with the price of parking in Pittsburgh, gas prices and the cost of maintaining a car.

Mr. Ardolino said his group has a $30 million option to buy the rights to run commuter trains on Allegheny Railroad's tracks during the day. The company's freight trains operate at night. The group first would complete planning and obtain an environmental clearance on the project before executing the sales agreement.

Mr. Ardolino said he has secured $175 million in private funding for the project and plans to use federal and state grants to repay some of those bank loans. He hopes to obtain at least 60 percent of the project costs in grants.

"We finance rail and transit projects all over the country," he said. "We just did a four-year project in Denver, and we're working with a number of towns in California. I want to do this Pittsburgh project because it's my hometown."

"If I can't get the connection to Pittsburgh's light rail system, I don't want to do this project," he said. "I want to see it done right. Done right, with that connection to the light rail system, it is a $350 million project."

Once the P3 legislation passes, a board would be created to oversee the project, he said, with two representatives from Westmoreland County, two from Allegheny County, two from Pittsburgh and one appointed by the governor.

"If you leave it up to the counties, or PAT, this project will never happen," he said. "Westmoreland Transit Authority does buses, and PAT has its own funding problems. I've talked to Larry Morris, director of the Westmoreland Transit Authority, and they don't have the expertise to do train projects."

Commuter trains from Westmoreland County to Pittsburgh have been studied for years.

The Westmoreland County Transit Authority received a grant several years ago to study trains from Greensburg to Pittsburgh, as well as from Arnold. The consultant hired by the authority found that commuter trains were feasible.

But Mr. Ardolino was not optimistic about a Greensburg-to-Pittsburgh route. He said using tracks owned by Norfolk Southern will be more difficult -- because those tracks are used during the day for freight. Running commuter trains on the tracks at the same time makes liability insurance very expensive, he said.