Wilkes-Barre official seeks passenger rail study

WILKES-BARRE — Buoyed by a proposed Amtrak route between Reading and Philadelphia, City Controller Darren Snyder again lobbied for a study on a Wilkes-Barre high-speed rail connection.

Snyder on Thursday asked for support from Mayor George Brown and other stakeholders in raising $100,000 to conduct a concept study on passenger service to Philadelphia.

A message left with Brown was not immediately returned.

With the a push for transit-oriented development Snyder said he revived a proposal he made two years ago. The common thread between then and now remained economic development, albeit with a different route.

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

Snyder was uncertain on whether any of the $37.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds can be used to fund the study. Wilkes-Barre would not have to shoulder the burden alone and other organizations and possibly Luzerne County, the state and federal government could contribute, he said.

That was the case in Reading where the study was paid for with economic development funds by the Reading Alliance Foundation. Snyder provided an email from Alexander Metcalf, Ph.D., president of TEMS Inc. The Frederick, Maryland-based company conducted the Reading study at a cost of $100,000 and it was done in six months.

Earlier this year Amtrak included service between Reading and Philadelphia and Scranton and New York City among proposed new routes.

In his email Thursday to Snyder, Metcalf said the study showed rail service would increase incomes and property values by more than $1 billion.

“It will also expand the federal, local and property tax base by about $1 billion, so the governments will get back their investment of $350 million that we are recommending. These are the kind of numbers we need to develop for your corridor, as it will show how strongly the development of the corridor will boost the economy,” Metcalf said in the email.

Amtrak would get access to Norfolk Southern track for the Reading route, Metcalf added.

The first request Snyder made for funding, which was not acted upon, proposed studying use of the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad line through Allentown to connect to Philadelphia.

Snyder pointed out there is a Norfolk Southern line locally, “so the track is already there,” he said. It would have to be upgraded to accommodate high-speed rail, but the cost would be less than rebuilding the Scranton to New York City line, he said.