$9M in federal funding for Scranton-NYC train infrastructure comes at critical political moment

Scranton’s decades-long dream of renewed rail service to New York City will soon take a key step forward thanks to nearly $9 million in federal infrastructure funding.

Tuesday was a day to talk about trains, and how $8,958,919 in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant money will be used to upgrade railroad infrastructure along the Pennsylvania segment of the right-of-way, including a bridge and thousands of railroad ties.

This wasn’t a campaign event — those gathered included administrative officials as well as elected leadership — but with Election Day one week away, the implications were hard to miss.

Mayor Paige Cognetti, who joined county, state, and federal officials celebrating the award, offered a subtle — though timely — message about the leaders who helped make the funding possible.

“It took a president who had 50 years of experience in the U.S. Senate to get the infrastructure bill across. Seniority, expertise, relationships matter when it comes to getting things done in government,” Cognetti said, referencing President Joe Biden and gesturing toward Rep. Matt Cartwright and Sen. Bob Casey, seated to her left during Tuesday’s ceremony at the Electric City Trolley Museum.

Both Cartwright and Casey have long been active supporters of renewed rail service, which officials say could be up and running as early as 2028 or 2029.

Both urged Pennsylvania Govs. Tom Wolf and Josh Shapiro to provide needed state funds for the project, and they led a coalition of regional partners from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in urging the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to reestablish rail service by including it in the agency’s corridor ID program.

Both lawmakers are Democrats from Lackawanna County, and both are seeking reelection.

“It really matters — not just here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but across the Commonwealth and across the whole country — that we have this type of leadership,” Cognetti said. “So, you know, make sure that we understand that we don’t take it for granted.”

The CRISI funding comes as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, nicknamed the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. Championed by the Biden administration, Casey and Cartwright fought to pass the act, which Biden signed in November 2021.

Could support for infrastructure funding — and the Scranton-New York train — be at risk if Republicans were to win the White House and Congressional races next Tuesday?

Casey declined to speculate on that question when asked by WVIA News.

“Well, I’m going to focus on being optimistic about the next week,” the senator said.

Earlier, in his official remarks, Casey did acknowledge that not all members of Congress have been as supportive of such projects as he and Cartwright have, though he didn’t mention names.

“It’s hard to believe that there are members of Congress and candidates floating around out there that want to repeal the infrastructure law,” Casey said.

“We’re not going to repeal it. We’re going to make sure that we get every penny for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania and the people of our Commonwealth,” Casey said.

Efforts to reach a spokesperson for former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign were not immediately successful.

About the project

According to a two-year study completed by Amtrak and Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA), benefits of the project are expected to include:

• $84 million in economic activity, including increased tourism.
• $20 million in benefits to passengers.
• $7 million in society benefits, including diverting travel from highways and reducing traffic, vehicle accidents and pollution.

“Connecting our region to major metropolitan areas in a seamless, passenger friendly system will be transformative. It will create jobs, improve quality of life, and offer convenient travel options for commuters, college students and tourists, alike,” Cartwright said.

“We now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something transformational for our region.”

Amtrak

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Amtrak Preliminary Service Plan and Financial Analysis

Passenger rail service between Scranton and Hoboken, N.J., across the Hudson River from New York, ended on Jan. 5, 1970. Efforts to restore service took a major step forward in December, when the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) included the project in its Corridor ID Program.

Under the plan, there would be new Amtrak stops in Scranton, Mount Pocono and East Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania, and in New Jersey at Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Montclair and Newark before heading directly into New York City and the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station.

The project would include restoration of about 21 miles of track along the Lackawanna Cutoff, a mountainous but straight right-of-way of the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, abandoned and sold off after passenger service ended. Built in the early 20th century, the cutoff earned its name by providing a faster, more direct route for trains than a previous line.

Officials have said the trip is estimated to take 2 hours and 50 minutes, and Amtrak will run three trains each way every day.

“Which is very competitive with any other form of transportation,” said Larry Malski, president of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA).

His group, which owns part of the line the service would run over, has been at the forefront of restoration efforts for decades.

‘This is construction money’

Malski said the CRISI grant money will be used to rehabilitate the first of three major bridges along the line, as well as funding new ties, rail, and ballast — “elements that you need to upgrade our trackage between here and Delaware Water Gap to 80 mile-an-hour speeds, which Amtrak requires” for the proposed schedule.

“This money is not study money. This money is construction money,” Malski said.

“I’ve waited many decades to be able to announce construction money for this project, and it’s here today,” he added.

The work will be put out to bid and is expected to get underway next year, Malski said.

Project organizers are “just about finished” with work on Phase 1 of the FRA’s Corridor ID program, which covers initial planning and development of a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for service development, Malski said.

State support vital to effort

Cartwright and Casey said the support of Pennsylvania officials, including Govs. Wolf and Shapiro and Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, have been vital to the effort.

Cartwright in 2022 secured an agreement from then Gov. Wolf to provide $3.7 million matching funds for the purchase of 43,000 railroad ties.

He met with successor Shapiro, who agreed to provide $125 million in matching funds, to have PennDOT author the FRA application to the Federal Railroad Administration, and to seek New Jersey Transit’s co-sponsorship. The application was submitted under Shapiro and Carroll, and NJT agreed to cosponsor it.

“You know, the governor and the congressman, the senator and I and others will continue our advocacy to bring this project to fruition,” Carroll said.

“We’re going to have to call this the Shapiro Cannonball,” Cartwright quipped about the new train service.

Carroll chuckled, but suggested a more historic moniker based on the line’s iconic 20th Century branding.

“I am very confident that ‘Phoebe Snow’ will return to Scranton,” he said.

Whatever it’s called, Casey vowed to keep advocacy efforts on track.

“Passenger rail service to and from New York will be a game-changer for our region, meaning more family time, more economic investment, and more job opportunities,” he said.

“I won’t stop fighting for this train until it pulls into Scranton.”