October 15, 2015
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission/Facebook
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Road to Rail initiative is exploring the possibility of restoring rail service between the region and Philadelphia.
A plan to reconnect the Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia through rail service is getting a look.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) announced Tuesday that a coalition of local mayors have jumped on board to try and bring a passenger train system to the region.
The commission's Road to Rail initiative will consider adding rail service between the Lehigh Valley's three major cities – Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton – and improving existing services like buses.
The initiative will also explore reviving rail service from the region to New Jersey, New York and Harrisburg.
A train hasn't carried passengers from the Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia since 1981 when a SEPTA train ran from Bethlehem, according to a 2011 report from the LVPC, which indicated the likelihood of restoring similar service in the near future was "remote."
Philly.com reports that a number of obstacles still stand in the way of restoring a line between the two communities, including funding and new forms of transportation that inhabit the old line's rights-of-way.
Still, a rail line could create an "economic boom" for the two regions in the future, Becky Bradley, executive director of the LVPC, told Philly.com.
