Pennsylvania State Rail Plan

The 2025 State Rail Plan, currently in development, will serve as a guide for the advancement of the Pennsylvania freight and passenger rail system. The plan will replace the 2020 State Rail Plan and provide updates on rail development activity and information to support further investment in the rail system. The 2025 update will provide a current assessment of the state’s rail needs along with recommendations for policies, programs, processes, and projects to improve rail safety and service, and serve as a practical roadmap for future rail investment and policies.

The 2025 State Rail Plan is anticipated for completion in spring/summer 2025 and multiple opportunities will be available for stakeholder and public input throughout the planning process. Bookmark this site to check periodically for status updates and announcements.

Email us at RA-PDPASRP@pa.gov if you would like to be notified of upcoming public input opportunities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) hosted a virtual public meeting on December 10, 2024. An introduction of the Pennsylvania State Rail Plan update process and background on freight and passenger rail was presented during the first half of the meeting, followed by an interactive question and answer session between the project team and members of the public. 

PennDOT opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and introduced the project team. Presenters explained that PennDOT is currently in the process of developing the 2025 Pennsylvania State Rail Plan, which was last updated in 2020. A key component of the State Rail Plan is gathering input from the public and stakeholders on safety, passenger and freight rail, funding, policy, the environment, and economic development. Presenters indicated the meeting PowerPoint presentation, questions and answers, and the online survey would be available on the State Rail Plan website after the meeting. A QR code was also presented to direct meeting attendees to complete a public survey.  

There were 161 people in attendance at the virtual public meeting representing a variety of organizations. Attendees represented freight and passenger rail entities including Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority, Transtar, as well as local and county officials, state representatives, school districts, economic development organizations, port authorities, news organizations, and the general public. 

During the second half of the public meeting PennDOT’s project team responded to 23 questions that attendees posted to the virtual meeting chat. Approximately 15 additional questions were answered through the detailed Q&A document, which will be included in the final State Rail Plan document and is also available by request. 

Questions generally fell into the following four categories:  

1. Expanded Passenger Rail Service (16 questions): Commentors expressed support for expanded passenger service throughout the state and included a request to work with adjacent states to expand service. 
2. Physical Infrastructure Upgrades (5 questions): Generally, commentors expressed support for upgrades to stations and connectors to Amtrak.
3. Funding (4 questions): Questions focused on how projects received state or federal funding, and if adjacent rail freight facilities are eligible for funding. Adjacent facilities using or needing rail freight access may be eligible for PennDOT funding to facilitate use of rail. While a project is not required to be in the SRP to receive a state grant, it is strongly recommended. 
4. Safety/Environmental Concerns/Hazardous Materials (8 questions): Discussion focused on measures to reduce the risk of derailments and accidents, and during truck/facility transfers, which may result in hazardous spills. Questions also included at-grade crossings, safety around tracks, and reducing air emissions at rail yards. 

Other Questions (13 questions): 

These questions focused on general transportation needs, traffic impacts, and multimodal walking/biking trails adjacent to active tracks. 

PennDOT closed the virtual Public Meeting and stated that attendees could direct additional questions or comments to the PennDOT resource account at RA-PDPASRP@pa.gov. 

View the Virtual Public Meeting held on December 10, 2024 to learn more about the State Rail Plan update.