The Norfolk Southern railroad trestle and station in Easton is due for cosmetic upgrades. Mayor Sal Panto Jr. wants to see the city's tracks transporting passengers again. Express-Times Photo BRUCE WINTEREaston Mayor Sal Panto Jr. wants to form his own task force to study rail travel
A meeting date has not been set but Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr., his Phillipsburg counterpart Harry Wyant Jr. and Lafayette College President Daniel Weiss plan to form a new task force to further discuss rail travel.
Dissatisfied with the rail study commissioned by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. and conducted by Systra Consulting, the group believes the analysis was flawed because it projected only 800 daily passengers.
“I believe the study is not fully cognizant of all the factors that will go into both the cost of creating the service and the revenue that would support it,” Weiss said.
The regional transportation study released in April said passenger rail from High Bridge to Allentown would cost $659 million to build and might run an $11.7 million annual deficit.
Paul Sullivan, of Systra Consulting, indicated that construction costs are projected to be high because the lines would run on Norfolk Southern rights of way, and reconfiguration might be necessary to accommodate passenger rails.
Read Douglas B. Brill's full story: Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. says rail study ‘has holes,’ plans own task force.