Good news from Amtrak on rail return
The prospects for a return to passenger rail to the Schuylkill Valley keep looking better and better, a welcome bright spot in a recent stretch of bad news in the nation and world.
The idea of restoring rail service to communities in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties has been around in one form or another for most of the four decades since service on the former Schuylkill River line, but early this year there was a sure sign of serious momentum when 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.
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. And our region has seen the formation of the TriCounty Passenger Rail committee of representatives of the three counties to come up with a plan.
The latest word from Amtrak on the subject is even more encouraging. The national rail line has established a web page dedicated to the issue of rail service in our region. Better yet, it goes beyond service from Reading to Philadelphia. Amtrak 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 an hour and a half. The journey to New York would take about three hours.
Communities to the northwest of Philadelphia have been underserved in terms of intercity transportation for a long time. Reading, for example, has gone without passenger rail and air service, and intercity bus service is a shadow of what it once was. For all too many in our region, the only viable option is an unpleasant trip along crowded and dangerous Route 422 and the appalling Schuylkill Expressway.
For those who don’t drive or lack a private vehicle, the options are even more scant. Regularly scheduled trains to Philadelphia and New York would make those cities much more accessible and make it easy to connect to other places across the country as well.
Amtrak estimates that the rail lines will produce $54 million in annual economic impact and $1.8 billion in economic activity from initial capital investments.
It’s heartening to read what Amtrak has to say about our region on the website. Clearly officials at the railroad have bought into what we and others in our area have been saying for years: Communities here have been underestimated for far too long.
It points out recent population growth in Reading, which recently moved up to become the fourth largest city in Pennsylvania. It notes the new route would connect more than a dozen universities and more than 50 Fortune 500 companies.
This is about more than just helping people in our communities get to and from big cities. It would encourage people in the Philadelphia and New York areas to visit Pennsylvania communities they may have overlooked in the past. It offers the opportunity for people to come to our towns not just for dining and entertainment but for education and business opportunities already in place and in the works.
Best of all, organizers believe a return to rail service could be put in place within just five to seven years.
We urge our representatives in Congress and other local political and business leaders to push for this project to come to fruition. After so many years of disappointments on this front, they must not allow this opportunity to pass us by.