Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Restoring Philadelphia to Reading train service
Proposal for train service to Philadelphia getting new push
John P. Weidenhammer has fond memories as a young boy of boarding the train in downtown Reading to spend a fun day in Philadelphia.
“When I was a kid, my dad took us on the train to Philly,” recalled Weidenhammer, who decades later is spearheading a project to restore passenger train service. “We would go to Horn and Hardart automat and the Franklin Institute. The ride was about an hour and 20 minutes.”
In the 1970s, he rode on the train to work at an accounting firm in Philadelphia.
“You can get a lot of work done on a train,” he said, recalling his train ride from Franklin Street Station, now the Saucony Creek Franklin Station Brew Pub, to his office in Philadelphia.
Weidenhammer, the chairman of Berks Alliance, a group of Berks community leaders committed to restoring the train, recently unveiled the results of a preliminary study, Restoring Passenger Rail Service to Berks County, during a virtual meeting.
The $80,000 study conducted by Transportation Economics & Management Systems Inc., TEMS, based in Frederick, Md., concluded now is the time to bring back the train.
“This is a marathon effort, not a sprint,” Weidenhammer said. “It’s a big deal, and it will take a lot of community support. It’s a tremendous economic development project.
“This is not just about getting people from Reading on an easier and less expensive trip to Philadelphia, but about bringing people from Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C., to greater Reading.”
All eyes on 2025
The goal is to have six new trains rolling in 2025.
“If all goes well, it is possible we could have a passenger rail service from Berks County to Philadelphia and beyond by 2025,” Weidenhammer said.
The cost estimate is $356 million, including purchase of the trains and paying Norfolk Southern for the right-ofway costs for its tracks, and associated upgrades.
The annual cost to operate the train is estimated at $20 million.
The proposal is much less costly than the last proposal from 1999 that was $2 billion because the new plan is for riding existing rails rather than building new tracks.
Weidenhammer said the project is proceeding with the assumption that the coronavirus will no longer be a public health issue in five years, possibly due to a vaccine.
The project also accounts for higher fuel prices after the pandemic is over, he said.
The train would stop in Reading, Pottstown, Royersford, Phoenixville, and Norristown. Stops could also include Wyomissing and Birdsboro.
From there, it would head to Philadelphia, stopping at Temple University, Jefferson station, Suburban Station and 30th Street station.
At 30th Street station, the train would connect to train service to New York, Baltimore and Washington.
The train would travel at a speed of up to 79 mph.
It would take an hour and 22 minutes to go from Reading to 30th Street station in Philadelphia if the train made all stops. There could be an express train that would reduce the time significantly.
Weidenhammer said the train would be a reliable, useful way of transportation for students, faculty and families with two new higher education schools opening soon in Berks.
Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health in Wyomissing is on track to open in the 2021-22 academic school year. The campus will have the capacity to educate 200 medical students.
Alvernia University is planning on opening an engineering and business center at Fourth and Penn streets in Reading.
“The train would make commuting to the college and medical school a lot easier,” Weidenhammer said.
Jim Gerlach, former congressman and now president and CEO of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, said connecting a commuter train to New York and Washington opens up additional financial and service opportunities.
“A lot of people would love to see a regional rail,” Gerlach said. “It’s an exciting project that can and should be done.”
The roadmap
Weidenhammer said the alliance is seeking support from the community and elected officials.
Here is the Berks Alliance game plan:
• Engage local officials in Berks, Montgomery and Chester counties to explore ways to fund and manage passenger rail.
• Share information with state and federal lawmakers.
• Initiate conversations with SEPTA, Amtrak, and Norfolk Southern.
• Develop refined information to share with all parties.
From there, a blueprint would be developed to obtain federal, state and local funding and commercial loans for the project.
The alliance would then apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration for grants.
The hope is to conduct an environmental study in the spring of 2021.
Weidenhammer said the timing could be delayed if the alliance is unable to develop a coalition of support to move forward.
He noted that 5% to 6% of the automobile riders would likely switch over to riding the train.
Time getting ripe
Dr. Alexander Metcalf, president of TEMS, said technology has changed a lot in the last 30 years, noting that SEPTA and Norfolk Southern have modernized the tracks and are well-suited for the additional train trips from Reading.
Metcalf said the outbreak of the coronavirus could result in a reduction in commuters because many people are telecommuting.
He said the train will be used for business as well as social trips.
“There will be a lot of enthusiasm to go to baseball and football games, to visit granny and to go shopping,” Metcalf said. “People may want to go see a play in New York.”
Dr. Edwin “Chip” Kraft, TEMS director of operations, showed a simulation of the existing tracks, pointing out how passenger and freight trains could exist on existing Norfolk Southern tracks.
The primary difference between this study and a previous study, the Schuylkill Valley Metro Study, conducted in 1999 is the cost.
The new plan calls for using the Norfolk Southern Railway, which runs freight trains on the track, and SEPTA track at a cost estimate of $356 million.
In comparison, a 1999 study called for building all new tracks and had a price tag of $2 billion.
The new study estimated that if the train is restored, property values would increase $265.9 million in Reading from 2025-54 because of the convenient access to the cities along the Northeast corridor. During the same time period, property taxes in Reading would increase by $240 million, according to the study.
Weidenhammer said the train will help reduce congestion on Route 422 and the Schuylkill Expressway.
If all goes as expected, a one-way ticket from Reading to Philadelphia could cost as little as $9.
Crystal Seitz, president of Pennsylvania’s Americana Region, a Berks tourist bureau, said the train would be a good way to increase tourism in Berks.
“This would allow us the opportunity to consider development of other tourism assets that could bring visitation daily throughout the year rather than just for weekend events,” Seitz said.
Storied history
Reading has a long history as a transportation hub, dating to the early 1800s with the Schuylkill canals.
In 1843, the Reading Railroad was built along the canal route extending from Philadelphia to Pottsville.
The railroad provided passenger trains.
In 1976, SEPTA took over the Reading passenger train. By 1981, SEPTA reported losing $2 million a year with the line. Local bus companies lobbied to discontinue the rail line.
On June 30, 1981, the last train pulled out of Reading.
There has been a quest to get the trains operating again for four decades.
With congested highways and rising fuel prices, now is the time to bring the train back, the consultants concluded.
Weidenhammer said he looks forward to riding a train to Philadelphia instead of spending a lot of time in traffic.
“When I have a meeting in Philadelphia, I have to leave three hours ahead of time,” he said. “Any accident could back traffic up for miles.”