{"id":275874,"date":"2026-08-31T16:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275874\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:40:19","slug":"agency-leading-effort-to-launch-reading-pa-passenger-service-signs-agreement-with-amtrak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275874\/","title":{"rendered":"Agency leading effort to launch Reading, Pa., passenger service signs agreement with Amtrak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p>Memorandum of Understanding sets Amtrak as operator, addresses steps in FRA\u2019s Corridor ID program<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>                <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-260853\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TRN_Reading_route.jpeg\" alt=\"Map of rail line between Reading, Pa., and Philadelphia\" width=\"781\" height=\"514\"  \/>The proposed Reading-Philadelphia passenger route, as outlined in a 2020 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation study. PennDOT<\/p>\n<p>READING, Pa. \u2014 The Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority, the agency working to bring Amtrak service to Reading, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amtrak to advance the project.<\/p>\n<p>The recently announced agreement affirms the authority\u2019s designation of Amtrak as operator for the future service; formalizes an Amtrak commitment to complete ridership, revenue, and cost estimates for the service; and indicates Amtrak\u2019s willingness to work with the authority on tasks later in the development process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis MOU is a major milestone in the Authority\u2019s progress toward reintroduction of intercity passenger rail service in our region,\u201d SRPRA Chair Marian Moskowitz said in a press release. \u201cWe are grateful to Amtrak for their support, to all our stakeholders including the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and to our elected officials at all levels on both sides of the aisle who continue to help us advance this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Reading-Philadelphia-New York route was among those selected in the first stage of the Federal Railroad Administration\u2019s Corridor Identification and Development Program. Amtrak\u2019s completion of the ridership, revenue, and cost estimates will be part of Step 2 of that program; the authority is working on other Step 2 tasks, including a preliminary analysis of route options and development of a project management plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmtrak is proud to partner with the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority to advance the potential restoration of passenger rail between Reading and Philadelphia,\u201d said Nicole Bucich, Amtrak vice president of planning and state partnerships. \u201cWe look forward to the opportunity to reconnect communities like Reading to the Northeast Corridor and beyond, to support their economic and community development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More on the authority and the efforts to restore service to Reading is available <a href=\"https:\/\/gosrpra.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at its website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 To report news or errors, contact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trains.com\/pro\/passenger\/intercity\/agency-leading-effort-to-launch-reading-pa-passenger-service-signs-agreement-with-amtrak\/mailto:trainsnewswire@firecrown.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trainsnewswire@firecrown.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Share this article<\/p>\n<p>\nFacebook<br \/>\nTwitter<br \/>\nLinkedIn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Memorandum of Understanding sets Amtrak as operator, addresses steps in FRA\u2019s Corridor ID program The proposed Reading-Philadelphia passenger&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[36118,115724,2833,115725,115726,128,130,129],"class_list":["post-275874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-amtrak","tag-news-reviews","tag-northeast","tag-passenger-transit","tag-railroad-operations","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}