$20 MILLION IN CONSTRUCTION FUNDING FOR NYC-SCRANTON SERVICE ANNOUNCED
(Oct 29, 2024) – An award of a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant in the amount of $8.9 million from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was announced today at a news conference in Scranton, PA with representatives from Amtrak, PENNDOT, local, state and federal officials, and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. The announcement also included PENNDOT matching funds and other Congressionally-directed funding. The total amount of funding exceeds $20 million.
The grant would fully fund the replacement of the Slateford Road Bridge (please see map), the only physical obstruction on the 136-mile NYC-Scranton, PA Corridor. The original Slateford Road Bridge was torn out about 1990 and was subsequently filled-in and paved over, creating a physical impediment. This project would replace the original bridge, removing the impediment and allowing Amtrak direct access to the Delaware River Viaduct for its future rehabilitation.
In addition, the funding would be used to upgrade the existing section of track between Slateford Jct. and Gouldsboro (approx. Mileposts 74-114) to FRA Class 4 track, which would permit a maximum speed of 80 mph for passenger trains. As such, the funding would provide for the replacement of crossties, the installation of continuously-welded rail, as well as any grade crossing improvements deemed to be necessary to accommodate future Amtrak service.
The roughly 20-mile section between Gouldsboro and Scranton is already primarily at FRA Class 3, permitting a maximum speed of 60 mph for passenger trains, which should be acceptable for Amtrak service given the curvature of the railroad in that section. Collectively, this would essentially upgrade the 60 miles of trackage in Pennsylvania (Slateford-Scranton) to Amtrak standards.
Given the process that would need to be followed, it is anticipated that construction would not start until sometime next year.
Finally, it should be emphasized that is NOT “study money”, but rather PASSENGER SERVICE CONSTRUCTION MONEY, the first such grant for this project ever.
SCRANTON-NYC AMTRAK CORRIDOR MOVES FORWARD – Dec 5, 2023
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has announced that the New York City-Scranton corridor is eligible for Step 1 of the Corridor ID program, narrowing the list of 95 rail corridors in the US that had applied to FRA to a smaller number. Going to Step 1 will result in a grant of $500,000 to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT), which can be used for staffing or other purposes relevant to the process. Co-applicants for NYC-Scranton Amtrak service are the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) and New Jersey Transit. Steps 2 and 3 of the Corridor ID Program will involve the creation and the implementation of a Service Development Plan, respectively. Although it’s early to be talking about the launch of Amtrak service to Scranton, the current estimate would be in the 2028 or 2029 timeframe.
AMTRAK RELEASES SCRANTON-NEW YORK CITY STUDY – May 2, 2023
On March 22, 2023, Amtrak published its long-awaited study on its proposed NYC-Scranton corridor. Three round-trips would be run daily, with a running time for the 136-mile trip of two hours and 50 minutes, which would be the fastest regularly-scheduled train ever run to Scranton. Although the project still requires approval from the Federal Railroad Administration(FRA), if it were to go forward it is projected that the service could begin as early as 2028. It’s unclear as to when the FRA will make its announcement of the eligible corridors in its CIDP (Corridor ID Program), although the timeframe is most likely to be sometime between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2023. Further details are provided in the link immediately below.
NJ TRANSIT – WORK AT HUDSON FARM AND ANDOVER STATION CONTINUES – May 2, 2023
ANDOVER, NJ – This was the scene on Jan 18 at NJ Transit’s future Andover Station where these three pieces of equipment were being used on an alternating basis with a fourth working in Hill Cut, about midway between here and the Roseville Road overpass (maybe a quarter-mile away).
They have cleared out an area at the station stop that has become the project’s nerve center, with two trailer offices now stationed there. To answer the question that has been posed in the past, all access for the project will be via Andover. And since heavy cement trucks will be coming in eventually for the tunnel work, the right-of-way will need to be prepared in order that they can safely travel to and from the tunnel’s west portal, roughly a mile from here.
The right-of-way from Andover to Roseville Tunnel has now been cleared. At some point, anchors will be placed in Colby Cut, just west of the tunnel, to mitigate rockfall issues.
Finally, the “big” question…when does work on the tunnel begin? Possibly in June.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY…
In 2022, the old red barn at Hudson Farm, up the road from Andover Station–but related to the Cut-Off project because of Andover Junction Brook–was demolished and the site cleared and leveled. In September (2022), a survey crew from Seattle was scaling Colby Cut (just west of Roseville Tunnel) to analyze the deep rock cut for rockfall mitigation that will be taking place as part of the tunnel rehabilitation. The Eric Duch photo (immediately below) shows the pile of rubble where the barn once stood. Culvert replacement work at Andover Station is also in progress.
New Jersey Transit has designated contractor Schiavone LLC of Secaucus, NJ for the two-year Roseville Tunnel rehabilitation rail project. The NJ Transit Board of Directors approved the $32.5 million project on April 13, 2022. A Notice to Proceed on the project, which includes the replacement of two culverts on Andover Junction Brook in Andover, was announced by NJ Transit on Sept 8, 2022. The culverts are at Hudson Farm, which is the reason for the barn demolition, and at Andover Station.
The tunnel will be the single largest sub-project on the 7.3 mile extension to Andover, NJ due to open in late-2026. Work on the tunnel will involve placing anchors inside the tunnel to fully stabilize it; lining the tunnel with a membrane that will allow continuous drainage; removal of several feet of the tunnel to bring its length to about 1,000 feet, exempting it from needing a ventilation system; the installation of a closed-circuit TV system; installation of a communications system; installation of a pedestrian walkway; right-of-way clearance for 8,000 feet to the future Andover Station; and rockfall mitigation and stabilization 1,700 feet west of the tunnel (Colby Cut) and 200 feet east of the tunnel; and the placement of ballast on the right-of-way between Andover and the tunnel, except for the final six inches of ballast which will be placed by NJ Transit.
AMTRAK – FRA ANNOUNCES DATE FOR CORRIDOR DESIGNATIONS (including Scranton) – Updated May 2, 2023
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which with Amtrak will be determining the priority of rail corridors to be designated for federal funding, announced on Dec 20, 2022 that it has started accepting applications for that funding through Mar 27, 2023 and that it will announce which corridors will be on its “short list” sometime between May 23rd and “late Summer”, 2023.
Presently, Amtrak is investigating the creation of the “Scranton Corridor” with stops at New York-Penn Station, Newark-Broad Street (NJ), Morristown (NJ) or Montclair-Bay Street (NJ) (depending on routing), Dover (NJ), Blairstown (NJ), East Stroudsburg (PA), Mount Pocono (PA), and Scranton (PA). A study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) and Amtrak was released on Mar 22, 2023 (please see story above).
A future Amtrak train shown passing through Mountain Station in South Orange, NJ on NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex Lines (Morristown Line). The Amtrak map shows the proposed station stops for Amtrak on the Scranton-NYC line, as well as the location of the Lackawanna Cut-Off on that corridor.