SEPTA and Norfolk Southern are looking into whether the freight railroad could still operate proposed Schuylkill Valley Metro service between Center City and Reading.
The move comes as Norfolk Southern pursues the new business of carrying passengers in Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; and elsewhere. Here, about 70 percent of the 62-mile route in the Schuylkill valley runs on Norfolk Southern track.
The $285,000 SEPTA-funded study is one fruit of a task force recently created by Gov. Rendell and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.).
The group seeks to revive the moribund $2 billion project also known as MetroRail, as $49 million in federal funds earmarked by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter gathers dust. In discussion now, according to task-force minutes, is a rail line priced between $500 million and $700 million.
Over the next four months, Norfolk Southern will explore the possibility of dispatching trains and carrying riders under contract with a public agency, according to the agreement. The Virginia-based railroad will examine running passenger service at 30- and 60-minute intervals and shifting freight accordingly, as well as potential ridership and insurance.
Key to any plan, task-force officials say, is guaranteeing that passengers will not have to change seats the length of the line. According to task-force documents, one scenario being discussed has Norfolk Southern diesel locomotives hauling coaches to Norristown and yielding them to electrified engines on SEPTA's Regional Rail system.
"This is a Chevy type of approach instead of a Rolls-Royce approach," Norfolk Southern regional vice president Craig Lewis said yesterday. "Everybody knows that a two-seat ride will not have the potential of a one-seat ride."
The agreement, awaiting signature by both Norfolk Southern and SEPTA general manager Faye Moore, represents a sea change for both partners.
Under prior SEPTA general manager Jack Leary, plans to electrify service to Reading and run light-rail vehicles on new track ran afoul of turf and safety concerns by Norfolk Southern. With political static and high costs in the way, that plan failed to gain Federal Transit Administration approval.
"The two sides went at each other like gladiators in a Roman arena," Lewis said. "The attitude now is, we have to look at circumstances, evaluate them, and cooperate."
Added Chris Patton, chief of long-range planning for SEPTA: "We are making progress."
In January, PennDot Secretary Allen Biehler and Gerlach began a series of meetings with SEPTA, the FTA, and BARTA, Reading's transit agency, to reassess MetroRail. With FTA grants likely to match no more than 60 percent of the cost, the task force aims to formulate a pragmatic plan by fall, Gerlach said.
"Things are progressing nicely to make this a leaner, meaner project," he said yesterday.
In the years since MetroRail soured, Norfolk Southern has pursued commuter-rail partnerships elsewhere. In December, Norfolk Southern reached agreement to sell 6.5 miles of track for a new light-rail line south of Charlotte, Lewis said. Now, Norfolk Southern is negotiating to run commuter rail north of the North Carolina city.
Talks continue in Georgia about Norfolk Southern running service with used coaches and used locomotives on a 26-mile line from Atlanta to its suburbs.
In prior studies, Schuylkill Valley Metro was projected to carry up to 49,000 riders a day.
In Reading, BARTA executive director Dennis Louwerse said he is buoyed by progress.
"My position is it has to go from end to end from the start," Louwerse said. "I am convinced it's moving forward. What the endgame is, I don't know."
