The proposed restoration of passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City recently cleared another hurdle, advancing to the next stage of a federal program designed to identify new, viable passenger train routes.
The Scranton-to-NYC rail corridor project is one of the first five in the nation to advance to the second step of the three-step Corridor Identification and Development Program. Step two includes the completion of a Service Development Plan for the proposed route and serves as a precursor to the third step, which could deliver potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for rail construction and related work in advance of the Big Apple-bound trains running again.
“This is when we get everything ready to start going to bid, in other words bid out construction, and it then allows us to start accessing, after we complete step two, the bigger amounts of funding that are out there,” Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority President Larry Malski said.
As proposed, the restored service would see Amtrak passenger trains run between Scranton and Manhattan’s Penn Station with stops in Mount Pocono, East Stroudsburg, Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Orange and Newark. An Amtrak study released in March 2023 found that restoring such a service would generate $84 million in new economic activity annually, creating jobs on both sides of the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border.
The state Department of Transportation is taking the lead in developing the Service Development Plan, which will include stakeholder engagement, cost estimating, financial and implementation planning and other elements.
“Advancing this project ensures we will leave no stone unturned as we grow the northeastern region’s economy and mobility,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said in a news release. “We are steadfast in our commitment to the public, business leaders and many more who look forward to restoring this passenger rail connection.”
Prior passenger rail service between Scranton and NYC shut down in 1970. Restoring it — which could happen as early as 2028 or 2029, if plans come to fruition — has long been a goal of rail advocates and supportive elected officials alike.
Much of the progress they’ve celebrated in recent years was made possible by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a signature legislative achievement of outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden. The Scranton native and Amtrak aficionado will leave the White House on Monday when Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office.