The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Amtrak plan includes Reading to Philadelphia route
Amtrak has unveiled a plan to add 600 routes, including a passenger route from Reading to Philadelphia, in the wake of President Joe Biden’s American Jobs plan.
Biden on Wednesday announced a $2 trillion plan that includes $80 billion designated to expand and improve the nation’s northeast train corridor and build new routes.
Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said Thursday that the president’s infrastructure plan is just what the nation has been waiting for for a long time.
“Amtrak has a bold vision to bring energy-efficient, world-class rail service to over 160 communities across the nation,” he said.
“Amtrak must rebuild and improve the northeast corridor and our national network and expand our service to more of America,” Flynn said. “With this federal investment, Amtrak will create jobs and improve equity across cities, regions and the entire country.”
The plan, “Our Vision 2035,” is to grow rail service and connect cities across the country. Amtrak reported in a fact sheet presented Thursday that it currently serves 32 million riders a year, and hopes to provide service to an additional 20 million riders.
Beth Toll, Amtrak spokeswoman, on Thursday said she could not disclose what impact the Amtrak expansion will have on a plan by local officials that has been underway for a year to restore train service from Reading to Philadelphia.
Toll said additional information on the Amtrak projects will be available within the next couple of weeks.
“In the coming weeks, Amtrak will present to Congress our reauthorization plan that will include expanding service in key city pairs that are not served well by passenger rail today,” Toll said.
What will it take to make this happen? According to Amtrak:
• Congressional approval of funding for capital costs.
• Streamlining process for freight lines.
• Enforcement of Amtrak’s rights to access all existing rail lines for passenger trains.
John P. Weidenhammer, Berks Alliance chairman, said Amtrak’s plan to expand is excellent news for Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.
The three counties recently formed a Tri-County Passenger Rail committee to pursue restoration of passenger rail service from Reading to Philadelphia. Weidenhammer is on a finance committee associated with the rail committee.
“This shows the rail service to Reading is already in Amtrak’s plan,” Weidenhammer said. “We are viewing this as very good news as in direct support of our efforts. We are working to arrange a meeting with Amtrak to discuss this in more detail.”
Berks County Commissioners Chairman Christian Y. Leinbach, who serves on the Tri-County Passenger Rail Committee, said he is very encouraged by this latest development.
“Our job is to move forward in a very thoughtful and deliberate manner and ultimately make decisions in the best interest of our community,” Leinbach said.
The commissioner said Amtrak’s decision is the third critical step toward the possible restoration of train service in Berks County.
The first step occurred in the summer of 2020 when Transportation Economics and Management Services Inc., based in Frederick, Md., produced a study, funded by the Berks Alliance and Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, that incorporated Amtrak and looked beyond Philadelphia to include New York and Washington.
The study concluded that not only was such a line feasible but that it could operate without annual subsidies.
The second major step was the recent formation of the Tri-County Passenger Rail committee of representatives of the three counties to come up with a plan. In addition to Leinbach, Jim
Gerlach, president and CEO of Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, and Pamela Shupp Menet, Berks County economic development director, represent Berks on the committee.
“Now Amtrak including this line in its Vision 2035 adds a third important piece to the puzzle,” Leinbach said. “While none of these three steps guarantee the restoration of passenger rail service, they are very positive steps that have not taken place before.”
Weidenhammer said that Amtrak will likely have to go to Norfolk Southern to obtain the right-of-way for the tracks.
“Getting Amtrak involved with the project is a big push for us,” Weidenhammer said. “This could help things happen much quicker than we expected.”
Weidenhammer noted that Amtrak’s proposal also includes expanding rail in the Allentown and Scranton areas, which is an excellent boost for economic growth in the state.
Weidenhammer began a project several years ago to restore passenger rail from Reading to Philadelphia. His group’s project involved using the Norfolk Southern track to Norristown, SEPTA tracks to Philadelphia and Amtrak to New York and Baltimore. He had been meeting with Amtrak periodically to discuss restoring the service.