Poconos Rail Service Likely to Return

The Morning Call posted another article on rail service on the front page Monday June 9, 2009.

Poconos train to New York City is on track

EPA approval allows officials to enter funding phase for construction and engineering.


The two-decade effort to restore passenger rail service from the Poconos to New York City has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, clearing a critical hurdle that now allows the $550 million project to be funded.

The EPA declared a ''finding of no significant impact'' for the project, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter announced Monday.

The decision allows officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to enter the equally critical funding phase for construction and engineering of the rail line, which would connect Scranton and the Poconos to Hoboken, N.J., and New York City.

''I believe the project is so important it will be funded,'' Specter said Monday after a meeting with Lehigh Valley-area Democrats.

Specter, D-Pa., said the project has the support of several high-profile senators, including Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who wants to extend the rail line to Binghamton, N.Y.

New Jersey's Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez also back the rail line, Specter said.

New Jersey officials, facing the loss of billions in highway funding unless the state meets air quality improvements under the Clean Air Act, want to remove some of the 20,000 commuters who cross over daily from Pennsylvania and travel along the Interstate 80 corridor.

The train could also serve Monroe County's so-called Wall Street West project, a facility that would back up the nation's financial data in the event of a crisis.

''Wall Street wants to diversify, not have everything in southern Manhattan after their experience on 9/11, so we will get the funding,'' Specter said.

Federally approved rail projects can receive up to 50 percent of the cost under the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program, but competition for the federal dollars is fierce.

Lawrence Malski, chairman of the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Railroad Authority, said the project will be completed in phases to allow for lower funding requests. If that's successful, initial Pennsylvania service from Delaware Water Gap could be up and running in four years.

''We've now cleared the way to get the funding to start construction,'' Malski said.

Once completed, the service would be operated by New Jersey Transit, with service from four rail stations in Monroe County at Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, Analomink and Mount Pocono, and one in Scranton.

The Mount Pocono station could serve gamblers from New York and New Jersey wishing to visit Mount Airy Casino Resort, which is nearby.

A portion of the rail line would run through Northampton County near Portland. There also would be two new rail stations in New Jersey, in Andover and Blairstown, with the Andover station serving as a connector to direct service into New York's Penn Station.

Construction is already under way on seven miles of track connecting Andover to Port Morris, N.J., Malski said.