LANTA Gives Support to Passenger Rail Study

The Morning Call ran another article today about the fact that LANTA has finally endorsed the study for returning passenger rail to the Leigh Valley. It's good to see that change is finally coming to the organization. The some board members seem to view it as more of a pipe dream.

LANTA gives support to passenger-rail study
The transportation authority won't necessarily endorse conclusions to be reached

By Dan Hartzell OF THE MORNING CALL

August 13, 2009

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority has endorsed a study aimed at determining the feasibility of restoring passenger-rail service between the Lehigh Valley and New York City.

The $250,000 review isn't new. In fact, LANTA board member Anne McHale said Tuesday she'd seen colleague Paul Marin's presentation about it so often that she hoped he wouldn't mind if she left the room next time he gave it.

''I don't need to see it again,'' she said with a laugh.

But after Marin's report, McHale, who as a Northampton County councilwoman supported the county's $75,000 contribution to the study, suggested LANTA should formally endorse the study. Her motion to that effect was approved by voice vote, without dissent, at the authority's monthly meeting in Allentown on Tuesday.

Executive Director Armando Greco said the vote represents LANTA approval of the study, though not necessarily any conclusions it might reach.

Marin, who also serves as treasurer of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., which contributed $100,000 to the study, said it should be completed by February. Lehigh County also allocated $75,000 to the consultant's review. LANTA has contributed no money.

Through the years, area political leaders have offered mixed views on whether passenger trains can, or should, return to the area after vanishing decades ago.

Some, including Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Michael Kaiser, have said the area's population, despite rapid growth, isn't nearly dense enough to support rail financially.

A year ago, Kaiser said that if a related study by New Jersey Transit recommends extending its Raritan Valley commuter rail line by about 21 miles from High Bridge to Phillipsburg, he'd reconsider the viability of a final link from there to the Valley. The Raritan line runs to Newark, N.J., where passengers can transfer to trains into New York.

Asked for an update Wednesday, Kaiser didn't exactly withdraw last year's comment, but he remained skeptical about passenger rail returning to the Valley.

''There will probably be further studies after this study,'' he said of the transit study and its local addendum.

Many significant obstacles remain, he said: ''I learned my skepticism early in life, and I don't consider that a bad thing. My job is to look at the facts and try to make decisions based on that.''

Marin and other rail proponents insist the time is right to push for passenger trains, particularly with Washington stoking the ailing economy. Rail projects can qualify for $8 billion in stimulus funding, Marin said, adding that 275 ''pre-applications'' for the money already have steamed into Washington, representing more than $100 billion in project proposals.

''What's beginning to happen is, there are signs of political will changing in Washington,'' Marin said. Passenger-rail restoration ''is going to happen through federal funding and leadership; we are at the front end of creating a national rail network'' not unlike the development of the interstate highway system 50 years ago, he said.

At its July meeting, the board welcomed two new members. Michelle Griffin Young replaced Donald J. Mahoney as a Lehigh County representative, and Lazaro G. Fuentes replaced Timothy J. Brady as a member from Northampton County.

NJ Transit Could come to Lehigh Valley

Apparently rail could be brought back earlier though a deal with tolling the Delaware River bridges. This is a good an interesting development.

Plan could bring commuter rail to Lehigh Valley in five years


Link to NJ Transit: Bridge panel would use millions in toll money to pay for it.
By Matt Assad Of The Morning Call
October 14, 2008


A plan to bring passenger railroads into the Lehigh Valley would tap the millions of dollars that motorists pay in Delaware River bridge tolls to fund a $100 million line that would link Easton to NJ Transit trains.

Talks to have the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission pay to extend a line 20 miles west from High Bridge, N.J., began two years ago and have been re-energized by high gasoline prices and highway congestion.

Such a deal would mean trains could be running into Easton in as little as five years, helping regional planners avoid what could otherwise be a 10- to 20-year wait to get enough federal funding.

But for now, the plan remains a concept awaiting the blessing of the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, said bridge commission Chairman David R. DeGerolamo.

''The frustrating thing is if we had done this two years ago, when I first suggested it, we'd be close to having trains running,'' said DeGerolamo, who is also a Phillipsburg councilman. ''Now it's sort of in a holding pattern until we get some kind of direction from the governors. It's too bad, because I think we missed an opportunity.''

Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said Rendell supports establishing the line into the Valley and the bridge commission is free to fund the construction if it chooses, but said the costs of running the railroad must also be considered.

''It's unquestionably a worthwhile project,'' Ardo said. ''No one has specifically approached the governor about it, but even if they do, funding is going to be an issue, not only for construction, but for ongoing operations.''

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's office did not comment.

If the commission had approved floating $100 million in bonds as DeGerolamo requested, it would have had to determine whether it could repay them through existing tolls, increased tolls or by adding tolls to one of its 13 free bridges. That's still the case.

The issue of extending NJ Transit into the Lehigh Valley resurfaced in recent months, as Valley highways became more crowded with people commuting to New York City and New Jersey and gas prices rose to more than $4 a gallon.

Lehigh and Northampton counties along with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. have together committed $250,000 to pay for a study of what it would cost to extend the NJ Transit line through the Valley and what it would cost to operate.

But Paul Marin, a former Wall Street money manager now living in Allentown, says the line would be a small piece of a statewide rail network that he's been advocating throughout the region.

He's spent the past two months meeting with officials, including Pennsylvania Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky and Transportation Secretary Allen D. Bieler. Last week, he made his plea during the annual Pennsylvania Planning Partners Conference in Canonsburg, Washington County.

''If we can build a statewide rail plan, then we are eligible for billions of dollars in federal money,'' Marin said. ''Locally, the toll bridge commission is an option that could have trains running within four years after floating the bonds. That would be ideal.

Rough Map of Possible Rail System

View Lehigh Valley Rail Overview in a larger map

I imagine two lines both originating from a new Bethlehem Union Station:

1. Going South to the SEPTA Quakertown Line which is not yet built
Having 5 Stations:
Bethlehem Union Station - Connection to LANTA buses
Hellertown - Near I-78 with a Park and Ride
Coopersburg
Shelley - Near 309 with a Park and RIde
Quakertown

2. Going East to NJ Transit Phillisburg Line
Having 3 Stations:
Bethlehem Union Station - Connection to LANTA buses
Easton
Phillipsburg

Note this is really rough and I don't really know much about the tracks and what not.