Kanjorski, Specter, Casey, Carney, Send Letter to Rendell Urging Action on NEPA Rail to New York

From the Press Room of Arlen Specter Guess Arlen really is trying to endear himself with the Republicans. Maybe he is going to switch parties before the next election.

Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 -


Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11), Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), and Congressman Christopher P. Carney (PA-10) sent a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell urging him to form a Tri-State Authority between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York to oversee the management of the proposed project to provide rail services between Northeastern Pennsylvania and New York City. The Congressional delegation expressed their concern that the current sponsor of the project, New Jersey Transit, has made only minor progress in moving forward, and has not sufficiently promoted the interests of Pennsylvania. In addition, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and other leaders in the state of New York have expressed interest in extending the line from Scranton to Binghamton and Syracuse.

By creating a Tri-State Authority, this entity could become the sole sponsor of the project, helping to advance the project more rapidly. In the letter, the Members request that Governor Rendell work with the states of New Jersey and New York to create such an authority, and that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) actively support the entity.

The Honorable Edward G. Rendell

Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Office of the Governor

Main Capitol

Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Governor Rendell:

The purpose of this letter is to reaffirm our strong support for restoring passenger rail service between Northeastern Pennsylvania and the New York City metropolitan area, commonly known as the Lackawanna Cut-Off Passenger Rail Restoration Project. Furthermore, we respectfully request you work with the states of New Jersey and New York to form a Tri-State Authority to oversee management of this project. The creation of a balanced Tri-State partnership will ensure that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will receive maximum benefit as this project moves forward. We appreciate your attention to this matter.

As you know, the Lackawanna Cut-Off Passenger Rail Restoration Project involves re-establishing commuter rail service from Northeastern Pennsylvania to the New York City metropolitan area. There is a dire need for this service to help alleviate traffic congestion as many of our constituents commute to New York City on Interstate 80. In addition, the proposed rail will serve as a tremendous economic development initiative by allowing consumers in New York and New Jersey to visit attractions in Northeastern Pennsylvania including Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and other recreation areas in the Poconos, Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton and the newly-opened casinos in Luzerne and Monroe Counties.

For the past 20 years, several agencies in New Jersey have been the primary project sponsor with New Jersey Transit (NJT) currently the primary sponsor. As a result, the only significant progress made to date has been within the state of New Jersey. Moreover, it is our understanding that on numerous occasions in the past, NJT failed to report the necessary information about the Pennsylvania portion of the rail line to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as required for the environmental assessment of the project. Based on conversations with officials from FTA, it is our understanding this project is nearing the end of the environmental assessment phase and will move into the preliminary engineering phase shortly.

In order to ensure that the Pennsylvania portion of the rail line continues to move forward in a timely fashion, we believe the creation of an impartial Tri-State Authority is necessary. Once created, the Tri-State Authority would become the primary project sponsor. Moreover, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) must actively support this proposed Tri-State Authority. Strong involvement from PennDOT will ensure the Commonwealth receives its fair share of the economic benefit of this project.

In closing, please know that we remain committed to doing what is necessary at the federal level to advance this project. We look forward to continuing to work with you on this or any other matter of importance to our shared constituency. Thank you for consideration of our views.


Sincerely,

Paul E. Kanjorski Arlen Specter
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Robert P. Casey Jr. Christopher P. Carney
Member of Congress Member of Congress