Montco Residents Ready For Restoring Train Service

NORRISTOWN —For residents of western Montgomery County, the restoration of a passenger train from Philadelphia to Reading can’t come soon enough.

Residents testified Wednesday in an hour-long public hearing before the Montgomery County commissioners about the difficulty commuting on Route 422 in traffic to work in Philadelphia.

“We need this train,” state Rep. Joseph Ciresi, a Democrat representing western Montgomery County, said before giving out train trinkets to the commissioners. “It will bring back our fourth city of Pennsylvania, which is Reading. We tried it before and we didn’t have the population on Route 422 that we have today.”

Ciresi, who represents Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove and Perkiomen townships, and the boroughs of Pottstown, Royersford and Trappe, said the train has always been his priority.

Scott France, director of the Montgomery County planning commission, said the county received letters of support from 17 state representatives and 11 state senators.

Franz said the impetus of the train restoration now is that federal funding is available to help support the project.

Montgomery, Berks, and Chester counties are in the process of forming the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority.

The formation of an authority is required by law to proceed with the restoration of the train service, which has been a goal of all three counties.

All three counties are hosting public hearings this month. The Berks County public hearing is scheduled Thursday, and the Chester County hearing is next Friday.

The residents said it’s necessary to provide access to the job market in Philadelphia.
Oliver Kennedy, a Limerick Township resident, said that consumers will benefit from having train service available.

“You are aware that gas prices are going up and will continue to go up,” he said. “The expense is a lot to ask of people going to and from work.”

Daniel K. Kerr, Limerick township manager, said the township has acquired land in the village of Linfield for a train stop.

“We are in full support of the train,” he said. “We are working on a master plan for Linfield village. The benefits of this train are significant.”

Lawrence Ryan of Norristown said that he enjoyed train rides years ago before the passenger train closed.

“This opportunity happened before and no one was willing to put up the money,” he said.
Gerald Connelly, a Limerick Township resident opposed to the train restoration, said if it was feasible it would have been years ago.

“The big problem is that if the passenger rail was a viable enterprise it would have investors,” he said.

The Federal Railroad Administration was allocated $66 billion in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year to restore the service.

France said Amtrak has informally agreed to provide bus service along the route until the train is ready to open.