Rail to the Lehigh Valley - dare we hope?? (Allentown: contractors, costs)

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by moionfire

LANTA is NOT a good bus system, and light rail are better for economic development and attract a higher income base. You need both buses and light rail.

Also rail should be a federal issue. States can only borrow so many municipal bonds to raise money for its regional rail and commuter lines. Other countries are more advanced because their national governments take the lead in funding.

Right now, we need heavy intercity rail coming from NYC and Philadelphia before we can even talk about light rail in the Lehigh Valley. That’s the main priority and the only way the LV comes back is by introducing intercity rail back to the LV. Light rail for now is an afterthought and the LV won’t gain double digits if it just relies on highways and interstates alone. It needs intercity rai. And once that happens, then we can talk about the possibility of light rail.

As for LANTA, I’ve had the privilege of riding on some of their buses and it’s not a bad system. It does it’s job taking one to and from the cities into certain suburbs and there’s even one bus that goes from Allentown to Palmerton , which I think is pretty cool. For a smaller metro like the LV, LANTA works well and I’m not going to slam it because LANTA doesn’t have light rail.

The cities aren’t as dense as NYC, Phila, Boston, DC, and even smaller cities like Newark, Jersey City, and Providence, RI. It needs to get dense and once Allentown or Bethlehem reaches 10K/ sq mi, then we’ll talk about placing light rail in the LV. For right now, those cities need to grow.

[Tweb66]

I know this is super premature but all this would require new passenger rail stations and I wonder where they would put them. For Allentown, Downflake Lane popped into my head, there is room and so close to I-78. I think that's the rail that it would go along?

[Tweb66]

Looks like this is probably happening with the infrastructure bill passing.

[Diver4242]

I think the planners will factor all of this in, and hopefully not spend the money unless they'll be able to optimize the routes to make them attractive and feasible.

That said, some of us don't mind it taking some time. If I'm going to NYC for a sports event or concert, it's part of the fun and part of the journey. I'd much rather take a few hours to settle back in my seat, relax, read, listen to music, have a drink from the bar car, etc than deal with the stress, expense, wear and tear on the car, and more likely chance I'll be involved in an accident while driving. Not to mention the mess of city driving, parking, etc.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by Tweb66

Looks like this is probably happening with the infrastructure bill passing.

It's not happening. It takes >1 hour to get to NYC from Whitehouse Station, which is 50 miles closer to NYC than the Lehigh Valley. Nobody wants to take a 2.5 hour train ride to NYC from PA.

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by blazerj

It's not happening. It takes >1 hour to get to NYC from Whitehouse Station, which is 50 miles closer to NYC than the Lehigh Valley. Nobody wants to take a 2.5 hour train ride to NYC from PA.

Do you actually do that drive? Cause on paper vs reality is quite different Frankly I would be interested in train commuting. I drive from outside Jim Thorpe into the Bronx for work nearly daily. It’s almost always 3 hours or more in either direction. I’d love to sit back on a train into Manhattan then take the express bus up to the Bronx. I literally spend more time commuting most days than working. It’s 125 miles each way and on paper that’s 2 hours doing the speed limit on clear roads.

[Diver4242]

Originally Posted by blazerj

It's not happening. It takes >1 hour to get to NYC from Whitehouse Station, which is 50 miles closer to NYC than the Lehigh Valley. Nobody wants to take a 2.5 hour train ride to NYC from PA.

I would - again not for everyday commuting, but for leisure/weekend trips, concerts, sports events. I have a few clients that commute though, and they tell me sagas of many trips that take about that long in a car, and full of near-death experiences, car wear and tear, gas consumption, and stress. They'd like to have the option.

As well, part of this whole infrastructure thing is about optimizing those routes, perhaps with express options. The folks planning this stuff aren't stupid, they're professionals, and that's their job. Let's see what happens.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by charmed hour

Do you actually do that drive? Cause on paper vs reality is quite different Frankly I would be interested in train commuting. I drive from outside Jim Thorpe into the Bronx for work nearly daily. It’s almost always 3 hours or more in either direction. I’d love to sit back on a train into Manhattan then take the express bus up to the Bronx. I literally spend more time commuting most days than working. It’s 125 miles each way and on paper that’s 2 hours doing the speed limit on clear roads.

No and your commute is crazy (~30 hours/ week)!

I used to daily commute from the LV to Central Jersey (50 miles each way) and it took 45 minutes to 1:15 or so (depending on traffic/ accidents).

I also took the bus into NYC 1-3X per week for about a year. That wasn't great, but it was never "crowded" and I assume the demand for commuting into NYC has only decreased from ~2 years ago. I didn't even see the demand shoot up from when Bieber went bankrupt.

But my point still stands that a train would be at least 2 -2.5 hours each way and most people (not you) consider a daily commute of 4-5 hours as too much.

[toobusytoday]

I absolutely would take a two hour train to NYC vs a bus that costs $70 round trip from Hellertown and takes about an hour and a half. Yes, that's the current price on Ourbus. https://www.ourbus.com/

[Tweb66]

BTW, I can't see this not happening. For all those pooh poohing a planned route to NYC, there are like a hundred of Amtrak routes that make a hell of a lot much less sense. There are stops in counties that have a less than 1000 people. I think they can manage a few stops to LV. Frankly I am okay nixing the unprofitable routes that serve areas governed by people who hate Biden or anything government and spend the money where it makes sense. There is a reason why NY and NJ Republicans mostly voted for it, and like no one else did.