Passenger Trains > Money released for the NY to Scranton line

9 million dollars were released today to start reconstruction on the Pennsylvania portion of the proposed NY to Scranton passenger line

Long time coming and maybe longer to bring this line to fruition

https://www.pahomepage.com/news/funding-secured-for-amtrack-to-new-york/

Posted from iPhone

Looks like the D-L will get some nice, upgraded track and bridges. The small matter of the gap between Port Morris and Slateford needs to be addressed before they can start talking about Amtrak, and that'll take a lot more than $9 million. Have they even evaluated the crumbling concrete viaducts on the Cutoff?

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like the D-L will get some nice, upgraded
> track and bridges. The small matter of the gap
> between Port Morris and Slateford needs to be
> addressed before they can start talking about
> Amtrak, and that'll take a lot more than $9
> million. Have they even evaluated the crumbling
> concrete viaducts on the Cutoff?

The news broadcast in the article that's linked addressed this. Three phases to restoration, and this is only phase 1. The other two phases deal with different sections of track and different infrastructure challenges. This $9M will apparently address one of the viaducts.....This is such a long overdue project that Amtrak or SEPTA/NJT should have completed already. There has been a LOT of effort over the year to secure the "cutoff" so that it could be restored to passenger rail use. Now to complete this half baked investment. 

Larry Malski has been a champion of this project for at least 40 years.

Posted from Android

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The news broadcast in the article that's linked
> addressed this. Three phases to restoration, and
> this is only phase 1. The other two phases deal
> with different sections of track and different
> infrastructure challenges. This $9M will
> apparently address one of the viaducts.....This is
> such a long overdue project that Amtrak or
> SEPTA/NJT should have completed already. There has
> been a LOT of effort over the year to secure the
> "cutoff" so that it could be restored to passenger
> rail use. Now to complete this half baked
> investment. 

The actual press release from Mayor Pete has the actual details.  Local news media picks up piece and spin it for their audience.   Here the verbiage from the feds:  $8.96 million to the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority for track and tie replacement , as well as upgrades to one grade crossing, on the authority;s Pocono main line between Slateford and Gouldsboro"     

It's nice to see work starting but its just a tiny step forward.  Part of the problem which infest boards like this is that so many people only see a headline or the "spun" story from some local media outlet and assume it means service will be starting next year.  They are then jaded about the lack of progress, got to be consultants lining their pockets, incompetence, graft, etc.    $8.96 million is not that much for track rehab.   Slateford to Gouldsboro is what, 40 miles?  What is track speed right now - 25?  So if you put in 1000 ties a mile, you should be able to bump up to 35 freight/49 passenger.   1000 ties a mile = 40,000 ties.   We're buying grade 3s right now for call it $55 each delivered.  That's $2.2 million for just the ties - that's a big pile of ties stacked on property.   Now you need to distribute them.  You'll need spikes, you'll probably need some plates, then you have installation, ballast, surfacing, needed ditching, that's probably pushing $7 million easy.  That just a tie and surface job.  Release says "track replacement", so that sounds like there will be some rail involved.  Plus the grade crossing - that could be anywhere from a quarter million to well over a million depending on what/where it is.  So at the end of the day, you end up with an improved mainline that is in a condition that you can get serious about making further upgrades (signals/PTC, more track work) etc. to make the line a viable candidate for a passenger corridor hosting multiple frequency.   So when this money is exhausted in a couple years and nothing has been done about "crumbling bridges" or the missing part, critics (including right here on TO) will point to the October 2024 news articles about all that money they got and bitch that "we" (the public" got nothing for this investment.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/24 06:19 by scraphauler.

There was an engineering analysis of the Lackawanna Paulinskill Viaduct (west end of the Cut-Off in NJ) 15 years ago that suggested a $2 bn cost for just that part of the project alone.  The Delaware River bridge is another huge aspect of the project.

I'm delighted that the D-L received this funding, but I'm not sure I'd read too much into it.  Especially coming a few days before a hotely contested election for Bob Casey's and  Matt Cartwright's seats in Congress.

American projects take way too much money, and a perfect example is that new NYC subway line.  In other parts of the Western world, it would have happened faster and cheaper.  There a big news article about it all, and how U.S. management of such projects is the starting point of lost dollars.  We need to be much better at managing and using scarce dollars.  

This is irrational euphoria. There is nothing going on in New Jersey. Only NJT dragging its feet restoring track up to Andover, as slowly as they dare, and that has nothing to do with the Pennsylvania service, only extended or diverted Boonton line trains.