Rail Revival

With a vibrant authority, community support and unprecedented funding opportunities, the latest effort to restore passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia remains full steam ahead.

By Stephanie Weaver

The idea of bringing passenger rail service back to Reading has been batted around for decades. Beyond its Monopoly board fame, the Reading Railroad played a significant role in the history of Berks County and the nation overall. And for the good part of a century, that railroad served as a critical mode of transportation to connect Reading with Philadelphia.

Passenger rail service between the two cities ended in 1981, but discussions about finding a way to bring it back started up as early as the ‘90s. But each time, the governmentfunded efforts stalled out shortly after the completion of an initial study.

That trend changed in 2020 when the Berks Alliance, a private sector organization funded by local businesses, commissioned and paid for a new study.

“They looked at the challenge from a very different perspective,” Berks County Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach said. “The result was a study that, for the first time, provided a cost-effective approach to restoration of passenger rail.”

A viable option

One important factor of the Berks Alliance study was that, instead of only looking at commuter service between the two cities, it explored the option of working with Amtrak and inter-city service to tie Berks to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. via Amtrak’s larger network.

“When they spoke with Amtrak and ran the numbers, they knew they had a viable option to present that no prior study had considered,” Leinbach said.

At the same time, PennDOT was working on its own analysis to examine the critical path necessary to restore passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia. These studies helped foster discussions between officials in Berks with leadership in Chester and Montgomery counties to find a way to join forces and move toward next steps together. Up until that point, each county had been attempting to find solutions on their own.

In February 2021, the counties formed the Tri-County Passenger Rail Committee, which spent the next year researching the viability of the project with Amtrak and SEPTA. This effort was further bolstered by the 2021 enactment of the federal infrastructure bill, which makes unprecedented federal funding available for inter-city rail projects.

With Amtrak expressing an interest to establish the regional service, the three counties unanimously approved creating the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority in April 2022.

“The formation of a three-county authority to pursue the project is the first time the chief elected officials of all three counties have formally united around the project and have committed both financial and staff resources to bring it to fruition,” said Jim Gerlach, president of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance.

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“About four years ago I began discussing the restoration of passenger rail with the commissioners in Montgomery and Chester Counties to see if there was interest in tackling this challenge together. We quickly identified that each county was trying to address restoration of passenger rail for certain communities in their respective counties. For Berks County, it was the City of Reading. For Chester County it was the Borough of Phoenixville and for Montgomery County it was the Borough of Pottstown. … Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties clearly understand that we are much stronger working together.”

Christian Y. Leinbach, Chair, Berks County Board of Commissioners

The three counties will provide equal funding to operate the authority for the first two years, starting with a $100,000 investment from each county. The nine-member authority includes three representatives from each county, including a County Commissioner. Berks County’s representatives are Leinbach, Gerlach and Reading Mayor Eddie Moran.

One of the authority’s first actions was to hire Thomas Frawley as the SRPRA’s interim executive director. Frawley, of Chester County, has more than 40 years of experience in the train industry, working on and off with Amtrak. His work on the 2018 Phoenixville Mayor’s Task Force study into passenger rail restoration allowed him to become extremely familiar with the corridor that runs through his own backyard.

Frawley believes the confluence of funding sources is what makes this effort different from prior attempts. One of his main focuses now is to secure funding and support from state and federal sources, specifically by applying to participate in the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification Development Program. If SRPRA’s application is accepted, the authority will be able to work with the federal government to develop a scope, prepare a service development plan, design improvements for passenger rail service and construct necessary improvements.

“This program presents funding for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore passenger rail service from Reading and Philadelphia and beyond,” Frawley said.

“The Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority may be a big name, but it has a single purpose: To bring a train service back to a region where it is greatly needed and where it will benefit so many. We have a groundswell of support from residents, business owners and community leaders, and we have three counties focused as one, to make this happen.”

Marian Moskowitz, Chair, Chester County Board of Commissioners

‘Everybody wins’

Authority members say restoring passenger rail service to Reading opens the city up to one of the strongest economic regions in the world: The mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. Linking into that network opens the door to economic development opportunities that simply aren’t possible today. The new service would help bring people from across the region to Reading and Berks County for jobs, social gatherings and cultural events, and in turn, gives Berks residents a reliable, safe and efficient transportation option to access other major cities and communities along the line.

“That cumulative activity will result in increased interest from developers to undertake commercial, residential, and cultural projects in the City and County necessary to meet rail passengers’ new demand for services and community amenities,” Gerlach said.

Various studies have shown that passenger rail service will bring an immense impact to all of the communities along the route. Over 30 years, the line is estimated to create economic and environmental benefits that include:

• $1.4 billion of income generation for residents

“Montgomery County is pleased to join with our partners in Berks and Chester to provide the seed funding to create the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority. By working with other municipalities along the Reading – Philadelphia Corridor, we will leverage our combined resources and capabilities to support station development as an integrated element of Transit Oriented Development and other community improvement strategies. This corridor would increase mobility for Reading and Philadelphia residents to and from the broader Northeast region with daily multi-frequency service.”

Kenneth E. Lawrence, Jr., Chair, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners

• More than $1 billion in new property development

• Job creation, directly with the rail service and through the growth of local businesses

• Reduction in vehicle congestion, specifically along the 422 corridor, with an estimated 1.5-1.8 million riders on the train, and off the road.

Beyond the economic advantages, the restoration of rail service will also contribute to lower transportation costs, improved air quality in the region and equity and economic empowerment. Frawley believes it could bring the boost the City of Reading needs to once again become a proud and prosperous city.

“This is a project that I think is going to have a lot of benefits, a lot of ‘everybody wins’ results,” Frawley said. “It’s also achievable in a reasonable amount of time.”

Making it happen

But even though the stars seem to be finally aligning, Leinbach stressed the importance of always keeping in mind the delicate balance between beneficial opportunities and costs.

“We have an obligation to be deliberate and thorough as we move through the process,” he said. “Just because we have come this far does not mean that the restoration of passenger rail is complete or a foregone conclusion.”

Leinbach noted that while the authority has successfully negotiated for Amtrak to be the operator, they still need to negotiate the use of existing rail lines with Norfolk Southern and SEPTA. And through those conversations they will better understand the true capital cost and ongoing operational costs of maintaining the line.

These considerations are why the authority was formed with the requirement that, after three years, all three counties will vote on whether to reauthorize the SRPRA. If one county decides against it, the SRPRA will end.

“This process will take time and strategic thinking,” Leinbach said. “We are committed to an open and transparent process, which is why we have this built-in review and analysis mechanism.”

So far, it’s been all green lights, fueled by a team of individuals who are committed to making the most of the incredible opportunity before them. Gerlach said he has been especially impressed by the laser focus and professionalism of the SRPRA members and their respective staffs.

“Restoration of regional rail service has been discussed for decades in our area, so the Commissioners and fellow SRPRA members aren’t engaged in this work to see it fail yet again,” Gerlach said. “We all know this service is needed and can be achieved, so everyone is focused on how to accomplish this goal as quickly and budgetarily efficiently as possible.”

Frawley agreed, saying he hopes this effort can bring lasting change for all the communities involved. That’s why, after four decades in the business and completing successful projects across the country, he wanted to be a part of this one.

“I’m at a point in my career where I really prefer to focus on things that are interesting and fun,” Frawley said. “I am working with a lot of really nice, really bright people and I’ve had no complaints whatsoever. Sure, sometimes it’s herding cats, but I think everybody, in the end, wants to see something good happen.”

Amtrak Bus Service

Berks residents eager for a safe, comfortable and economic way to travel from Reading to Philadelphia can check out the new Amtrak Thruway Connection bus service.

The service, which launched last summer, consists of two daily trips in each direction, with an intermediate stop in Pottstown. The buses departing from Reading leave daily at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., while the ones from Philadelphia depart at 11:35 a.m. and 5:55 p.m.

The bus service was launched as a precursor to the restoration of passenger rail service in the Schuylkill River corridor. The route is also directly integrated into Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and National Network that includes services to Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Washington, Florida and more.

Tickets can be purchased at www.amtrak.com, through the Amtrak app or by calling 800-USA-RAIL.

STOPS:

Reading: BARTA Transportation Center, 701 Franklin St., Reading

Pottstown: Hanover Street, near the Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center

Philadelphia: William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, Philadelphia