PA: Railroad company promises $2M to fix rail track, add passenger service to Wilkes-Barre

While litigation continues over the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority’s 60-mile rail line, the Reading & Northern Railroad is promising to spend $2 million to fix the track between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston and to bring passenger rail to Wilkes-Barre with a new station.

“Let’s get the momentum going for this. Call your elected officials and the rail authority if you would like!” the Reading & Northern Railroad said in an full page ad that ran Sunday in The Citizens’ Voice.

The Reading & Northern Railroad said it would build a new station at the Market Square complex in downtown Wilkes-Barre with no taxpayer money, provide free parking at the new station for all guests who ride trains there and spend $425,000 installing crossing protection on East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The railroad company also said it would build a new station in downtown Pittston on land to be acquired from the city of Pittston, clean up litter on railroad property, hire a railroad police force to prevent trespassing and improve public safety.

Vehicles travel across the rairoad crossing on East Market St. in downtown Wilkes-Barre Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. ( SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us I really do,” county Council Chairman John Lombaro said.

The redevelopment authority owns the Luzerne & Susquehanna Line with 60 miles of track in and around Pittston, Wilkes-Barre and Hanover Twp. R.J. Corman Railroad Group LLC has operated the authority’s rail line for commercial freight since 2020 and has a contract with the authority’s subsidiary, the Luzerne County Rail Corp.

County council voted in May to initiate the litigation against the authority for being a “delinquent creditor.” The county sued the authority and Rail Corp. for not paying back $3.3 million owed to the county from loans used to the purchase the old Pocono Northeast Railroad.

“I would love to see us come to a resolution to this because we need to be utilizing the county’s infrastructure in order to best serve the people of Luzerne County,” Lombardo said Monday.

The county is seeking a court decision appointing a neutral third-party to take over control of the authority’s rail line and preventing the authority from selling or leasing its rail line. The Rail Corp. has postponed a plan to seek proposals for a new rail operator contract and extended the R.J. Corman contract through October 2026.

The county wants to “take possession of the Luzerne County Rail Corp.” and then “sell it and use the proceeds to repay the debt,” according to a May 15 county letter to the authority. In a June 9 letter to county council, Authority Executive Director Margaret Thomas said “maintaining public control of the county railroad assets is critical to upholding the railroad infrastructure and the local rail freight economy, including jobs and ancillary economic impact.”

The Luzerne & Susquehanna Line Source: R.J. Corman Railroad Group LLC

The Reading & Northern Railroad first expressed interest in buying the authority’s rail line back in June. It’s a privately held railroad company that operates in nine counties — Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming — and offers freight services and passenger excursion operations, including weekend excursions from Pittston to Jim Thorpe.

“I would love to see passenger rail come to other parts of Luzerne County,” Lombardo said. “It’s obviously something that’s been a big draw between Pittston city and Jim Thorpe. There’s also that stop in Mountain Top. And to have something in the county seat would be amazing, and I’d love to see it expand even further than that.”

On July 22, the Reading & Northern Railroad recorded a $365,000 purchase of a 0.7-acre property along the rail line in the Market Square complex in Wilkes-Barre.

“The Reading & Northern Railroad HAS NOT and WILL NOT ask for any taxpayer money!” the newspaper ad said.

Last week, the redevelopment authority voted to seek $1 million in state funding to repair or replace railroad crossings at intersections in Hanover Twp., Wilkes-Barre and Pittston.

County council appoints the five members who serve on the redevelopment authority. The authority has claimed it didn’t breach its loan agreement because “no property has been sold without” county approval and the authority has until October 2026 to repay the county.

R.J. Corman Railroad pays the Rail Corp. a percentage of its earnings from rail freight shipping. The percentage and other information in the contract is not consider public information because the Rail Corp. is a nonprofit corporation and the contract contains propriety information.

The Rail Corp. reported $234,027 in revenue and $268,026 in expenses in 2023, according a Form 900 tax filing from November 2024. It reported total assets valued at $856,636 and total liabilities of $416,042.

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