Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

The Stroudsburgs have a lot of commerce in them combined. They are like their own metropolitan area but the towns are spread out. East Stroudsburg has the university, a pretty good downtown area, as well as a hospital. Not too far from the Stroudsburgs there is a lot of recreational activities-hiking, tubing, etc. There would be a lot of riders boarding these trains and getting off of them in E. Stroudsburg. It would be great to be able to get dropped off in Downtown E. Stroudsburg.

JoeG wrote: ↑Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:07 pm I guess n2cbo has been smoking those cigarettes not yet legal for recreational use in PA.

I DID say that it had a snowball's chance in hell didn't I... 8^)

it doesn't matter how fast the service is if there's no one living in these areas to take it lol…

but yeah sure, the traffic on 80 is so bad that it makes a ton of sense to spend, what, billions of dollars on this service to nowhere? lol…

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 04, 2020 2:01 pm

lensovet wrote: ↑Wed Mar 04, 2020 6:00 am Take it up with the census bureau I guess?

https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/tabl ... 0US4242540

As that table shows. lots of long distance commuters. Job situation in NEPA is not great, but it's a decent place to live overall. But I80 and I81 and I380 have been over saturated for many years.

not sure what kind of math you're using, but remember this:

- train to Hoboken would take over 3 hours
- from that table, 85% of people have a commute that's less than 35 minutes
- 2% have a commute that's 90+ minutes, a whopping total of 4500 people
- this is the entire metro area. looking at Scranton alone, we get 545 people with 90+ minute commutes.

but yeah, "lots" of long distance commuters for sure. people who have the means will move somewhere where there are jobs, not commute for 3+ hours. people who don't have the means aren't going to shell out $400+/month for this hypothetical service.

For decades people in NEPA including Scranton have commuted daily to NYC. Housing costs less there, it's calmer there, and families don't want to leave, but Scranton has not been loaded with good jobs since the mines and most factories closed. My dad once owned one of those factories, sold it to other family members (too long a story to tell here). Scranton Lace closed. Etc. There is tourism in and about Scranton, including the Yankees AAA farm team, good skiiing, Steamtown National Historic Site, Electric City, train excursions often on the same tracks in PA that will be needed. Some national companies have call centers there. But it needs a lot more good jobs than it has, so some people do long commutes. But on a train, with a tray table, they can also work during that commute.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 12:21 am For decades people in NEPA including Scranton have commuted daily to NYC. Housing costs less there, it's calmer there, and families don't want to leave, but Scranton has not been loaded with good jobs since the mines and most factories closed. My dad once owned one of those factories, sold it to other family members (too long a story to tell here). Scranton Lace closed. Etc. There is tourism in and about Scranton, including the Yankees AAA farm team, good skiiing, Steamtown National Historic Site, Electric City, train excursions often on the same tracks in PA that will be needed. Some national companies have call centers there. But it needs a lot more good jobs than it has, so some people do long commutes. But on a train, with a tray table, they can also work during that commute.

NJT trains with tray tables?

Sounds strange but it's a longer distance train, would be worth it.

alright, just wanted to confirm that we are in fantasy territory…

Northeastern PA, in general, doesn't have a good job market. There is retail, hospitality, tourism, and medical industries which probably dominate the working force of those working in Northeastern PA. Scranton probably has several office jobs since its a city and it's probably one of the better cities in Northeastern PA. It's way too long to commute five days a week each way from Scranton to NYC. Commuting from the Stroudsburg and Mt. Pocono isn't short either. I think more people do that than from Scranton, thanks to Martz running many buses.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 1:00 am Sounds strange but it's a longer distance train, would be worth it.

Didn't amtrak propose to go to Scranton a while ago? Or at least somewhere near that area? This was probably years if not decades ago if I'm not mistaken.

Only thing I've heard in that direction (and yes, I'd love Amtrak service, perhaps north-south, up to Southern Tier, across that to points west), was an an annual rail festival often held there, Amtrak sent a small train.

Amtrak has never promised Scranton service,maybe the southern tier service via Albany to Buffalo,but that never panned out as well.
Scranton is at best a regional business center,"back office location" for major companies.
They can get rail service at MN's WOH service at Port Jervis NY,a straight shot on I-84 to the state line

So drive a fairly long distance to take a train back almost the same way you came from? Port Jervis's main claim to fame is that it's an area where 3 states meet.

At least they HAVE train service both rush hour and mid-day off-peak, little congestion compared to I-80.
at 107 miles to the line and train service beats the M&E and the bus on Ii-80

People in Port Jervis do have the mythical Metro North service. Scranton could use service too.