Aerial shot of our Delaware River railroad bridge, last year
Checking In with Matt Cartwright
It’s officially spring now, but over the years March has fooled us so many times, I’m not putting away the snow shovel just yet.
Marion and I have been keeping busy — she’s getting ready for an important trial, and I’ve been working hard at teaching a senior seminar on Congress up at Hamilton College, in upstate New York. I’ve also been doing the 36 hours of Continuing Legal Education credits I need to dust off my Pennsylvania law license, after 12 years of Inactive status.
And I was so honored to be appointed this year to the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority Board, which owns the freight rails in our area, and is working on reestablishing passenger rail service with New York City. We had that train service for over 100 years, and we need it back. Amtrak economists estimate that the new line will generate $84 million every year in additional economic activity for our area. That means more jobs, good jobs, and better paying jobs. We need them, and that’s why I worked with PNRRA for 12 years pushing that project. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law paved the way for us to get that new line, and at my request, Governor Josh Shapiro gave it his full backing.
The big news is that our project has now been accepted into Phase 2 of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID program. We’re one of only 5 new rail lines in the country that have made it so far. I joined the PNRRA board to keep that momentum going. I had my first board meeting with them this week, and things are looking good. I’ll keep you posted on that.
