PA: Pottstown studying station options for return of passenger rail

When passenger rail service between Reading, Pottstown, Phoenixville and Philadelphia returns via Amtrak, Pottstown intends to be ready.

That's what Borough Manager Justin Keller told members of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority Monday, which met in person at the Pottstown campus of Montgomery County Community College.

"Although this may not be happening at as fast a pace we we would like," Keller acknowledged, "we nevertheless want to ensure that when passenger rail does return to Pottstown, we'll be ready to embrace the opportunities it will provide."

Toward that end, Keller introduced Andrew Svekla, a project manager with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, to give an overview of the Pottstown Station Study, which the DVRPC is undertaking.

The study is in its early stages and has two major goals, said Svekla.

The first is to assess infrastructure needs for a rail station, including a location; and the second is to "help establish a shared vision for the station area" — primarily what sort of transit-oriented design elements would best suit Pottstown to maximize the impact of the station.

"How much parking will be needed? Can the existing station still play a role? Those are the kinds of questions we're looking to answer," he said.

Over the coming summer, the DVRPC staff will engage with the public about its vision for both the half-mile area around the station and the wider 1-mile to 3-mile radius. The study will produce a "vision plan" by the summer of 2026, he said.

In the meantime, progress is being made on the federal process required to obtain funding and approval from Washington, said Tom Frawley, the authority's executive director.

The project is being undertaken in four phases and the authority is "on the cusp" of moving to the second and final step of the first phase — the Corridor Identification and Development Program, said Frawley.

Having completed the "scoping exercise," the authority is about to begin step two of the first phase; Service Plan Development, which involves developing a plan that examines ridership and revenue forecasts, capital programming, and an operational analysis.

Hawley said Amtrak is anxious to begin that aspect once the Federal Railroad Administration signs off on the completion of step one, "and Amtrak is adamant we do this quickly."

He also said, given the uncertain nature of federal funding for any project in the current political climate, that he and the authority staff "have our finger on the pulse of the situation." He said the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, recently reviewed rail projects in other parts of the country and took no action.

"We've consulted with our representatives in the House and the Senate on both sides of the aisle, and at this point, we're not anticipating any issues," Frawley said.

He also said discussions with Norfolk Southern, the freight railroad which owns the tracks, are continuing and should not hold up progress on planning for the return of passenger rail. With four to six daily round-trips planned initially, Norfolk Southern will need to schedule its freight runs accordingly on the shared tracks.

David Hunter, the executive director of the Berks County Planning Commission, who heads up the marketing team, said anyone who has seen billboards promoting the plan for the return of passenger rail need not fret that public money is being spent to rent them.

He said Lamar Advertising, which owns most of the billboards in the area, is providing the space "for free."

Most authority meetings are virtual, and the next one is scheduled for May 19. The next in-person meeting will be held in Phoenixville on Oct. 27.

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