PA: Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority chooses new leaders

The group working toward the restoration of passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia has a new leader.

Chester County Commissioner Marian Moskowitz was unanimously chosen by the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority during a reorganizational meeting Monday to serve as the new chairwoman.

Chester County Commissioner Marian Moskowitz has been chosen as the new chairwoman of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority. ( BILL UHRICH/ READING EAGLE)

Moskowitz replaces Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach, whose two-year term at the helm of the authority came to a close. When the authority was established in 2022 it was decided that each county involved in the joint venture — Berks, Chester and Montgomery — would take turns leading the authority.

“I want to thank Christian for his leadership during these past few years,” Moskowitz said after being selected to her new post. “I believe that our authority has set a new way for counties throughout the commonwealth to work across party lines to make sure we’re doing what’s right for the good of our residents.

“And I think that’s something to be very proud of.”

Montgomery County Commissioner Thomas DiBello was selected to serve as vice chairman.

Phoenixville Mayor Peter Urscheler was chosen to serve as treasurer, and Scott France, director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, will serve as secretary.

The authority meets virtually on the fourth Monday of each month, except in situations when it interferes with holidays.

During the meeting, Thomas Frawley, executive director, said the authority has completed the first phase of a federal program that is providing a critical boost to the effort to restore train service and is on the verge of moving onto the second phase.

The second phase of the Corridor Identification and Development Program includes the development of a service plan that would examine ridership and revenue forecasts, capital programming and an operational analysis.

The service plan is just the beginning of what is likely to be a long process.

Once the plan is complete, the next phase will include preliminary engineering to demonstrate to the authority whether the project is feasible. And if it clears that hurdle, the project will move onto the implementation phase that includes the final design.

Also at the meeting, Frawley shared that Amtrak officials have reported an operating loss on its Reading-to- Pottstown-to- Philadelphia bus service.

Amtrak began offering the route that makes two trips back and forth each day in June 2022. Ridership on those routes is expected to provide some insight into the demand for transportation services between the two cities.

Frawley said the service is experiencing an annual operating loss of $260,000.

“We are working on different ideas to better promote and more efficiently operate the service,” he said. “We are very happy to hear Amtrak and the bus operator have identified about $60,000 a year in operating cost saving, and the authority has been contributing marketing support through our various social media platforms.”