Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) recently released the results of a two-year study examining a potential rail service between Scranton and New York.
The route outlined in the plan would make three roundtrips daily, with trains traveling at a maximum speed of 110 mph and transporting an estimated 470,000 riders annually. There would be stations located in Scranton, Mt. Pocono, East Stroudsburg, Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Montclair, Newark, and New York City.
The proposed service would use existing tracks between Scranton and the Delaware Water Gap, 20 miles of restored tracks on the “Lackawanna Cutoff,” and existing tracks owned and operated by NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak.
It would cost between $100 million and $175 million to complete track improvements on the PNRRA-owned segment. Purchasing new trains would cost approximately $70 million to $90 million. These expenses would be approximately 30 percent to 45 percent of the total project cost.
More design work will be needed to estimate the total cost.
Service could potentially begin as early as 2028, pending design work and construction.
The project would generate an estimated $7 million in society benefits, $20 million in benefits to passengers, and $84 million in economic activity.