Study aims to get passenger rail back on track for Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE — City Council will be asked to help get passenger rail service back on track by approving a $100,000 study like the one requested last year by Controller Darren Snyder.

Snyder’s July request to crunch the numbers didn’t come up for a vote. But eight months later, Council included a resolution on the agenda for its Thursday night meeting to hire Transportation Economics & Management Systems Inc., TEMS, for the work.

What hasn’t changed is Snyder’s support for restoring service to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. What has changed is the availability of funding and a push to expand passenger rail service nationwide.

Snyder on Tuesday referenced the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was signed into law in November and directed at least $18 billion toward the expansion passenger rail service to new corridors.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to restore our train service,” Snyder said.

Regular passenger service to Wilkes-Barre ended over a half-century ago.

The first step toward restoring it is getting Council’s approval. From there, money would have to be found, either in the city’s budget or in other pandemic aid from the federal government, to hire the Frederick, Maryland- based TEMS that last year outlined its approach in an Oct. 29 proposal.

“The goal of this study is to evaluate how passenger rail service between Wilkes-Barre and Philadelphia and/or Washington, D.C. and will further enhance the economy of cities and strengthen the economy through better access to the markets, jobs, and income, and the social and leisure facilities of the Philadelphia and Washington region. It should be noted that this includes not just the City of Philadelphia, but also the whole of the Northeast Corridor and Washington, D.C.,” the TEMS proposal said.

Snyder said he’s not the only one calling for rail service. He said he’s heard from a couple of residential developers and in discussions with them, one of them brought up the effect on entertainment venues.

“This is more of an economic development study,” Snyder said, reiterating a point he’s previously made.

It also would make other connections.

“This study is needed to get on the state’s rail plan and more comprehensive funding,” Snyder said.

The service would run on an existing freight lines to Philadelphia with possible stops in Reading and Allentown. The D.C. route would be different altogether, heading to Harrisburg and continuing south.

“In general, intercity travel is increasing, marked by a substantial increase in travel demand and distances traveled, as well as a significant shift toward rail use as a result of higher gas prices, and increased highway congestion,” the TEMS proposal said.

Snyder attested to the gas prices. “I just filled my tank and it cost over $80,” he said.