Amtrak study finds Scranton-NYC route would generate $87M

A proposed railroad passenger route between Scranton and New York would generate $87 million in annual economic activity, plus $2.9 billion from one-time investments, a new economic impact analysis by Amtrak has found.

The figures are based on a service that would run three daily round-trips, with an initial running time of three hours and twenty-five minutes each way. All of the route’s proposed stations would be new to Amtrak except for New York Penn Station:

• Scranton, Tobyhanna, Mount Pocono and East Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania;

• Blairstown; Dover, Morristown, and Summit; and Newark-Broad in New Jersey.

The study points to strong potential demand for the service given existing tourism between the two regions, tens of thousands of workday commuters, and dozens of colleges and universities along the corridor:

• It says over 27 million people visited the Scranton area in 2019, “the majority of whom were visiting from the New York City area for a scenic getaway.”

• For highway commuters, the study notes that New York’s “chokepoints” into and out of the city via the Lincoln and Holland tunnels have seen traffic and congestion increase — and travel speeds decrease — in recent years.

• The route would connect riders to other Amtrak services throughout the Northeast, as well as the Long Island Rail Road, New York subway lines and NJ TRANSIT.

“These new rail connections for smaller cities would improve mobility for underserved communities and provide reliable and efficient transportation to education and employment opportunities along the route,” the study states.

The Scranton link is one of 39 new passenger rail lines proposed under an Amtrak report calling for $75 billion in federal investment over 15 years.

Political landscape

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, welcomed the analysis, but noted that its success depends on passage of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan.

“Those of us who have been working for years on bringing passenger rail back to Northeastern Pennsylvania are gratified that Amtrak understands the kind of economic boon this train service can be for our whole region,” Cartwright said. “The success of this vision hangs on passage of the Build Back Better plan, which I’ll be focused on passing in the coming months in Washington.”

Some of Biden’s priorities secured bipartisan Senate approval earlier this month with passage of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which includes $66 billion in funding for rail transportation projects.

The measure has yet to pass the House, however, where a struggle is emerging between progressive and moderate Democrats over whether to proceed with the pared-down Senate version or to use the budget reconciliation process to pass a $3.5 trillion spending plan that would include Biden’s jobs and families proposals. Progressives favor the larger version, while some moderate Democrats and Republicans argue that the larger plan goes too far and fear that infrastructure spending is being held “hostage” to what some call a “radical” agenda, as Reuters has reported.

Amtrak’s big vision

Putting Washington’s divisions aside, even the Amtrak report notes that further action on the Scranton rail link is “subject to further analysis by stakeholders including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Amtrak.”

It is just one of 39 new routes pitched by Amtrak as part of the national railroad operator’s “corridor vision” plan. Urging lawmakers to take advantage of a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” that plan also envisions service between Allentown and New York; between Reading and New York via Philadelphia; as well as expanding and enhancing the railroad’s existing Keystone (Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York) and Pennsylvanian (New York- Philadelphia-Harrisburg-Pittsburgh) operations, with the latter extended from Pittsburgh west to Cleveland.

The plan touts billions of dollars in anticipated economic growth across the country, reductions in car accidents and emissions, and argues that rail service is “a form of travel that appeals to and is being demanded by Millennials, the largest generation in America, and also a younger cohort of travelers, Gen Z.”

Biden has been a strong advocate of Amtrak expansion since his days as a regular commuter between Washington and Wilmington when he was a senator representing Delaware.

Groups in his native Scranton, meanwhile, have been pushing for restoration of rail service for decades; Its Erie-Lackawanna passenger train pulled out of Scranton’s downtown station on a frigid morning in early 1970, prior to the creation of Amtrak to operate national passenger service.

What about Wilkes-Barre?

Like Scranton, Wilkes-Barre once was a major rail hub with passenger connections to New York, Philadelphia and beyond in the days when coal was still king and a dense network of tracks crossed Pennsylvania and the nation.

Also like Scranton, the Diamond City saw that massive iron web wither as cars, buses, trucks and planes supplanted trains for the majority of passenger trips. While freight trains still serve the area, passenger service is long gone here; the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey train station in downtown Wilkes-Barre, now being restored for use as the county’s tourism office, saw its last passenger train leave in 1963.

Two recent developments hint at a possible passenger train resurrection here, albeit separate from what Amtrak is planning (and definitely not at the old station).

In May, the Reading & Northern Railroad announced that it is looking to run weekend passenger excursions from the Pittston/Wilkes-Barre area through White Haven to Jim Thorpe. While these would be tourist runs — as opposed to commuter service — Reading & Northern has successfully built up its tourism operations in the Lehigh Gorge and along its Jim Thorpe-Tamaqua-Outer Reading route, with trips drawing visitors to area events and attractions as well as to ride and photograph the trains in their own right.

“This will take a few years,” Matt Fisher, R&N general manager/passenger department, said then. “But we want to establish that service.”

Last month, meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre City Controller Darren Snyder again lobbied for a study on a high-speed rail connection between the city and Philadelphia.

“I think this is a perfect opportunity to conduct a study to see how this would impact the local economy,” Snyder said.