By LIAM MAYO

SCRANTON, PA — A proposed revitalization of passenger rail service between Scranton and NYC is still in the works, but the project is currently still in the very early stages of development, with no projection yet forthcoming on when the first train might roll into the station. 

The project team held an online informational meeting on Thursday, February 19, looking to update members of the public who live along the proposed rail corridor. 

Two paths are currently being examined for the project. Both paths would start in Scranton, pass through Mt. Pocono and East Stroudsburg and cross the Delaware River at the Delaware River Viaduct. From there, both paths would progress to Blairstown, NJ and Dover, NJ. 

Leaving Dover, one option would see the trains going north along the existing New Jersey Transit’s Montclair line, while the other would see them going south along the Morristown line. Either way, the trains would pass through Newark and end at Penn Station in New York City. The project team estimated total travel time at around three hours. 

There’s a lot of work ahead to make that service a reality, said Todd Euston, PennDOT’s project manager for the project. 



The project team needs to make decisions about the service’s operations (how many trains on what schedule, and how best to integrate service with existing rail service); infrastructure (what upgrades are needed to existing infrastructure); and stations (what features they should have and where they’ll be located). Additionally, the team will need to forecast demand, estimate costs and economic impact and conduct an environmental survey. 

However, the project team assured the public that, while it might take a while to get there, rail service was definitely coming. 

Angela Watson, PennDOT Director of Rail, Freight, Ports and Waterways, acknowledged that the project has been in the works for a very long time. However, this time it has dedicated federal backing through the Corridor ID program, something that did not exist previously, she said. 

The Corridor ID program, part of the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, sought to identify and support corridors for expanded rail travel throughout the country. While 69 corridors were accepted, Scranton to NYC was one of the first corridors to get started on a service development plan, in part thanks to the pre-existing body of work done to try and get that service off the ground.Â