EASTON, Pa. — The first steps toward restoring passenger rail service in the Lehigh Valley already are seeing disagreements about who will pay for what.
And Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said he is not sure passenger rail would ultimately benefit the city.
A big-picture passenger rail feasibility study published in March analyzed the potential to restore it, and what that would look like.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Transportation Committee got another update on the plan last week.
An estimated $450,000 is needed for the next step in the process, dubbed “Phase Two.”
Lehigh County's leadership is willing to commit half of the cost of Phase Two, county General Services Director Rick Molchany said.
But while Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said he is a “staunch advocate” for passenger rail, he thinks the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, or LVTS, the entity that allocates transportation funds from state and federal agencies, should pay for the study.
“It's ridiculous for the LVTS to be trying to foist all of the expenses onto the counties from the very beginning, when it has millions of dollars in planning funds available,” McClure said.
Molchany, who also is the LVTS chairman, said the organization does not have its own money. None of the state and federal funds the LVTS handles can be used for Phase Two, he said.
Molchany said he is reaching out to local senators and representatives for help, but even if they could provide some funding, the two counties likely will have to split some of the cost.
"We need a partner. We hope Northampton County steps up.”Lehigh County General Services Director Rick Molchany
McClure also suggested the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, or LVPC, could pay for the Phase Two, but Molchany said that agency acts more as a consultant to the LVTS and does not have the resources to pay for it.
“We don't want to derail — no pun intended — this project and miss this moment," Molchany said. "We need a partner. We hope Northampton County steps up.”
Molchany said he hopes to secure the funding by the next LVTS coordinating committee meeting on Aug. 21.
Otherwise, he said, the process would have to be delayed at least until the next meeting, which is Oct. 16.
What is Phase Two?
Phase Two would give a clearer picture of whether the region could get federal funding for passenger rail, who could operate it and the effects it would have on the region.
It's a very early stage of a process that is estimated to take more than a decade.
“There's so many questions that are standing out there right now,” LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley explained at a Transportation Committee meeting Thursday.
“But the important thing is that we're starting to think about them as we enter into this Phase Two process, so we do not get caught off guard and aren't thinking through what could potentially happen next.”
Local officials would also have to choose which city passenger rail would go to — either Philadelphia, New York City or Reading.
The $450,000 price tag from Phase Two would come from paying consultant fees and dedicating staff time from LVPC and LANTA.
Easton mayor has doubts
In Easton, Panto said he had reviewed the first report recently, and despite the amount of fanfare over the idea, he still is not convinced about the cost-to-benefit ratio for his city.
Panto cited overall structural problems that have afflicted railroad tracks across the country. He said the railroad industry has been allowed to “abuse their system for the last 50 years and not reinvest in it.”
“They’ve just been taking the profits and not reinvesting,” Panto said.
According to Panto, the rail study calls for hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital improvements for each prospective route.
In addition, operating deficits could reach up to additional hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, he said.
"And all we're saying is that Easton supports passenger rail, but we don’t support any of our taxpayers going to fund the people who have high-paying jobs in New York City."Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr.
“And they expect the government to pay it,” Panto said.
He later said those costs could hover around $300,000 or more.
“And all we’re saying is that Easton supports passenger rail, but we don’t support any of our taxpayers going to fund the people who have high-paying jobs in New York City," Panto said.
"And that’s what it comes down to — if you’re commuting, then you pay your own way.”
Safety concerns
The mayor also pointed to safety concerns in the Lehigh Valley linked to railroads — both crashes and poor upkeep of existing tracks.
“Our track is rated at 25 miles an hour, and we have a lot of freight that goes through this Valley," he said.
"We had two train derailments in the last two months, and we're very fortunate it hasn't been severely hazardous materials, which do go through our valley.
"But we need to do something."
Expressing concern over the local railroad trestle, Panto said concrete has been falling off of the structure for some time, and with “20,000-ton locomotives going across there and trains going across that bridge, it’s wearing and tearing on that trestle.”
Unfortunately, as Panto put it, efforts to connect with Norfolk Southern on just about any issue is a moot point.
“Norfolk Southern doesn't answer to anything, and they just do what they want in the railroad industry,” he said.
All in all, Panto said, it just does not pay to invest so much taxpayer funding into a service that takes longer to get to a location than by car, especially if the powerhouses behind the railroad industry fail to keep up their own lines.
Molchany said the point of Phase Two is to thoroughly analyze all concerns, including Panto’s, to see if it would be feasible.
“If Phase Two does not show a promising path forward, Lehigh County will not fund further steps,” Molchany said.
