PA: Commissioners appoint Cartwright to railroad authority as progress on Scranton-to-NYC train project continues

As a member of Congress, former U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright served as a chief elected advocate for the long-sought restoration of passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City.

Now out of office after six terms and a narrow November defeat in pursuit of a seventh, the longtime former Democratic lawmaker will continue pushing to bring the project to fruition as a member of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority board.

Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan, Matt McGloin and Chris Chermak voted unanimously Wednesday to appoint Cartwright to a term on the railroad authority running through 2029. He replaces Dominic Keating, whom the commissioners thanked.

“My work to restore passenger rail service to Northeastern Pennsylvania is the prime moving factor in my wanting to be on the PNRRA board,” Cartwright said when reached after the meeting. “It’s been a consuming passion of mine ever since those PNRRA board members approached me in the summer of 2012, and being on the board gives me an avenue to stay active in advocating for this rail project. It will be transformational for Northeastern Pennsylvania. Every single business owner in our area will benefit.”

As proposed, the restored service would see Amtrak passenger trains run between Scranton and Manhattan’s Penn Station with stops in Mount Pocono, East Stroudsburg, Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Montclair and Newark. An Amtrak study released in March 2023 found that restoring such a service would generate $84 million in new economic activity annually, creating jobs on both sides of the Pennsylvania/ New Jersey border.

Prior passenger service between Scranton and the Big Apple shut down in 1970. And while efforts to revive it have been in the works for decades, the project finally made substantial progress in recent years thanks to former President Joe Biden’s federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, legislative support from Cartwright and fellow advocates, and considerable work by the railroad authority and other stakeholders.

Cartwright’s appointment follows last week’s announcement that the project was among the first five in the nation to advance to the second step of the three-step federal Corridor Identification and Development Program. That step includes the completion of a Service Development Plan for the proposed route and serves as a precursor to step three, which could deliver potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for rail construction and related work.

The state Department of Transportation is taking the lead in developing the Service Development Plan, a process that will include stakeholder engagement, cost estimating, financial and implementation planning, and other elements.

The commissioners, meanwhile, praised Cartwright for his work on the project to this point.

“As I think we all know, while in Congress, Matt had gone to incredible efforts to help secure funding for the passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City and that’s something that he’s fought to restore … for years and years,” McGloin said. “And now for him to join our rail authority and for us to be able to have the chance to work with him, and to have him be a part of the county, I believe it strengthens our efforts tremendously with Amtrak passenger trains coming to Scranton.”

Gaughan agreed, noting the importance of getting the rail project “across the finish line.”

Chermak, the lone Republican commissioner, backed Cartwright’s appointment in an example of bipartisan consensus.

“He’s a train guy,” Chermak said. “It’s perfect for him.”

U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., recently replaced Cartwright in Congress after defeating the six-term incumbent in November.

Bresnahan, a self-described “infrastructure guy” whose victory helped Republicans maintain a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, has expressed support in principle for restoring local passenger rail service to New York City provided it’s done in a safe and fiscally responsible way. He’s also acknowledged the project’s potential to create family-sustaining jobs in the trades and other sectors.

Assuming progress continues, officials have said the passenger service could be restored as early as 2028 or 2029.

“It’s hard to express the gratification that I feel in seeing this progress through the administrative steps,” Cartwright said. “But, ultimately, when the first Amtrak train rolls into town, that’s when we breathe our sigh of relief.”

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