PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad has made a $10 million offer to purchase about 60 miles of rail lines owned by the Luzerne County (Pa.) Redevelopment Authority — property currently the subject of litigation between the Authority and the county.
Reading & Northern owner and CEO Andy Muller Jr. made the offer in a Sept. 29 letter to Redevelopment Authority Chairman Scott Linde, saying the R&N is prepared to bring its passenger excursion operations to Wilkes-Barre, “but only if we are able to reach an agreement to purchase the line.” Muller’s letter says the trackage in question is not currently in physical condition allowing passenger service, and that the R&N has estimated it would cost at least $2 million for necessary improvements on the track connection to the railroad’s Pittston yard. “And we cannot do that work while someone else owns the underlying property.”
R.J. Corman Railroad Group currently operates the trackage as its Luzerne & Susquehanna Line under a lease set to expire in October 2026.
Muller’s letter promises to build a new Wilkes-Barre station on R&N property at the railroad’s expense, and to provide “exceptional freight service” while restoring “traffic levels to where they were three years ago and to aggressively market the line for growth.”
However, the Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre reports the Redevelopment Authority owes Luzerne County $3.3 million for a 1996 loan that helped fund the purchase of the lines formerly belonging to the Lehigh Valley and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads, among others. The county council voted in May to pursue litigation against the authority and subsidiary Luzerne County Rail Corp.; the Citizens’ Voice reports the county is seeking a court order blocking sale or lease of the rail operation; it seeks to take possession of the property and sell it to repay the debt. The authority says it has until October 2026 to repay the loan.
