GATHERING STEAM
Steering committee for return of passenger line next focuses on creating authority
The tri-county committee formed early this year to diagram the way forward for the restoration of passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia is proposing formation of an authority that would receive federal funding and employ staff to develop plans.
A county commissioner from each of the counties in the expected route — Berks, Montgomery and Chester — in coming weeks will begin meeting virtually with municipal leaders to explain the need for an authority and answer any questions, Berks commissioner Chairman Christian Leinbach told the MediaNews Group recently.
Leinbach chairs the nine-member TriCounty Passenger Rail Committee composed of one elected commissioner and two technical partners from each of the three counties.
“In principle, the three commissioners on the committee support that type of action,” Leinbach said of forming an authority.
Only municipal leaders will be sent a link to join the virtual meetings. Steering committee members who will host the meetings will avoid including two commissioners from any one county so it won’t be considered a public meeting under the state open meetings law.
This is to ensure that the questions of municipal leaders will be answered, he explained.
“It’s not about us grandstanding or getting up on a soapbox,” Leinbach said. “It’s about presenting to municipal leaders what we know and answering questions. If they have a hard question, we want them to answer a hard question.”
The authority will need to be staffed if it is to be more than a paper entity, he said.
The three county planning commissions are being asked to provide recommendations on staffing.
Some elected leaders and residents may believe that forming an authority is tantamount to greenlighting passenger rail service.
Although it would signal an intent by the three counties to move forward in concept, Leinbach insists it would not guarantee the rollout of passenger rail service.
Details, cost estimates and funding sources are still being worked out.
It will cost several hundred million dollars to start passenger rail service, Leinbach said, but it won’t approach the $2 billion estimate that stopped the Schuylkill Valley Metro project in its tracks when the Reading-to-Philly route was proposed in the late 1990s.
The difference is the new concept uses existing rails: Norfolk Southern for most of the way and eventually SEPTA’s in eastern Montgomery.
Norfolk Southern runs freight trains on its railway that runs through Read
ing, so that company figures to be a central part of any discussions on how to proceed.
The last passenger train left Reading’s Franklin Street station, which has been remodeled into the Saucony Creek Franklin Station Brewpub, in 1981.
The bigger picture
Recent developments nationally and regionally have improved the prospects of connecting Reading and Pottstown and other towns along the Schuylkill River and shifted momentum toward turning the concept into an actual proposal.
A year ago Transportation Economics and Management Services Inc., a Maryland consulting firm, produced a study funded by the Berks Alliance and Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, that determined a rail line from Reading to Philadelphia was feasible.
Since then, Amtrak unveiled an expansion plan that included a Reading-to-Philadelphia route.
It was one of 600 routes proposed in the wake of the rollout of the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan. That proposal included billions of dollars for expansion and improvement to the Northeast rail corridor.
This summer, Amtrak established a web page dedicated to the issue of rail service in the region. It goes beyond service from Reading to Philadelphia, and line now envisions connecting the route to New York as well.
Amtrak foresees having three daily round trips with stops in Reading, Pottstown, Phoenixville, King of Prussia, Norristown and Philadelphia. The trip from Reading to Philadelphia would take about 90 minutes. The journey to New York would take about three hours.
“I believe that stars have aligned,” said John Weidenhammer, chairman of the Berks Alliance and a rail enthusiast who championed the feasibility study. “The potential for this to happen has increased dramatically. The collaboration that’s going on between the counties is key to making sure this happens.”
Weidenhammer believes some of the bipartisan infrastructure investment package negotiated by the Biden Administration and congressional leaders will result in more funding becoming available for passenger rail, especially with Amtrak unveiling its Vision 2035 plan to connect dozens more cities within the next 14 years.
“Amtrak actually created a web page to say it’s on their priority list,” he said of New York-Philadelphia-Reading line. “All of that just contributes to what was already positive momentum for this process.”
PennDOT has also gotten aboard. The transportation agency did its own study of a Reading-to-Philadelphia commuter rail line.
Even more significantly, PennDOT included that passenger line in its rail plan that it is required to submit to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Weidenhammer said. That clears the way for federal funding that will be needed to keep the process moving.
Weidenhammer believes funding will be less of an issue than negotiating a “winwin agreement” with Norfolk Southern to allow use of its railroad for passenger trains.
More are on board
He said anchor institutions in Berks, including the manufacturing sector, all agree that passenger rail is one of the strategic needs for economic development and improved quality of living.
“The Berks Alliance identified passenger rail as really an equity issue for our community,” Weidenhammer said, explaining that Reading has become more isolated with the end of rail service 40 years ago and the closing of the Bieber Tourways Inter-City Bus terminal.
That makes it difficult for some residents to visit family in other cities and receive visitors.
“We also need people coming from Philadelphia and King of Prussia to aid our economy and fill our main jobs,” he said. “Rail is kind of a triple threat: It solves the transportation problem, is a tremendous economic development activator and solves an equity problem.”
Amtrak estimates the rail lines will produce $54 million in annual economic impact and $1.8 billion in economic activity from initial capital investments.
Weidenhammer said it’s been estimated that there’s $250 million in new real estate development where a new commuter train stops.
A train stop in the 700 block of Franklin Street would make that block a prime spot for redevelopment, he said.
Weidenhammer envisions a new station, possibly included in the construction of a high-rise complex.
Leinbach said the infrastructure deal focuses not just on providing commuter rail but on connecting underserved communities that are experiencing significant economic challenges.
“And Pottstown and Reading fit those parameters perfectly,” he said. “This kind of initiative (a rail line) makes Reading a destination. And it makes it an anchor in some respects. It’s a beginning point and an end point, like Philadelphia, New York or D.C.”
Leinbach said he’s cautiously optimistic that the passenger rail line will become a reality.
But he quickly added, “We’ve got a lot more in front of us than we have accomplished behind us.”