READING, Pa.- Inside the Berks County Services Center, a room full of leaders focused on one goal: bringing passenger rail service back to Reading.
Monday’s meeting may have looked routine, but officials say there is meaningful progress behind the scenes.
“We did get our long-awaited memorandum of understanding from Amtrak on Friday,” said Thomas Frawley, executive director of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority.
That agreement would allow Amtrak to share data and help support the next stage of planning.
“Step two is the service development plan… station planning, ridership estimates, revenue forecasting,” Frawley explained.
In simple terms, that means figuring out what the service would look like, what it would cost, and where stations could be placed.
“Right now we’re forecasting passenger service returning in the 2030-2031 timeframe,” Frawley said.
For tourism leaders, the impact could be major.
“The discussion about passenger rail service coming back to Berks County is huge for us,” said Heather Zimmerman of Experience Reading & Berks.
She says easier access could bring more visitors to the area.
“It also enables us to bring more conventions and groups and meetings here because of the ease of access,” Zimmerman said.
And for the City of Reading, leaders see something bigger.
“A benefit for our residents to have access to better jobs… as well as having more visitors in the City of Reading,” said Mayor Eddie Moran.