PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern Railroad announced it set new records in 2022 for freight traffic and excursion passenger ridership. Revenue freight traffic rose over 4,000 carloads and the railroad carried over 250,000 passengers on its excursion trains.
Reading & Northern, Pennsylvania’s largest privately-owned railroad, said the freight traffic increase was driven by anthracite coal shipments and the opening of its new Tunkhannock frac sand terminal. It now handles now handles over 34,000 carloads of freight annually.
As a result of the Russia invasion of Ukraine and the western countries embargo on Russian goods and raw materials, Reading & Northern saw a huge uptick in demand for Pennsylvania anthracite coal. Russia and the eastern portion of Ukraine were major international suppliers of anthracite. Without those sources demand grew for Pennsylvania anthracite. By the end of the year the railroad’s coal business increased by 2,624 carloads, almost 40 percent, with much of this additional traffic going to international markets.
To handle the surge in export business, R&N and Norfolk Southern worked to move coal in manifest trains, instead of traditional unit train service. This shift allowed more regular shipments to export terminals and eliminated the need for NS to provide power and crews to move unit trains. The railroad was able to make the plan work because it had purchased over 550 rapid discharge cars for the export market.
Reading & Northern’s domestic coal business continued to increase as more electric arc furnace facilities expanded and came on-line. Steel mills are increasingly looking to use anthracite as their charge carbon. To meet the demand, the company purchased additional cars and in expanded its rail-truck transfer network. With new steel facilities opening in Texas and Ontario, and continued growth in the export market, the railroad is forecasting double digit growth in 2023.
The Russian invasion also caused swings in the energy market. As a result, the demand for domestic sources of energy increased, which led to an increased demand for Marcellus Shale gas. In 2021, the company opened its $1 million Tunkhannock Marcellus Shale terminal run by Texas Sands. By the end of the year, the railroad had handled over 2,000 carloads of new business at the terminal and expects to triple that volume in 2023.
Reading & Northern also handles forest products, plastics, food products, metals and chemicals business. Those business segments contribute over 20,000 carloads a year, but in 2022 those market segments were generally flat as customers dealt with supply chain issues, inflationary pressures, staffing shortages and difficulties in getting equipment and parts.
Reading & Northern’s passenger business increased to over 250,000 riders for the first time in its history, an increase of more than 10%. Former Reading Co. 4-8-4 No. 2102 returned to service after a multi-million dollar rebuild and pulled several trips, with more planned in 2023. Owner/CEO Andy Muller, Jr. purchased three additional rail diesel cars and a passenger coach in 2022 for passenger operations. In 2023, there will be further expansion of passenger service as Jim Thorpe trains will be operated year-round. Later this year, the railroad will be begin excursion service from the Wilkes Barre/Scranton area out of Pittston.
This year Muller made a substantial real estate investment when he purchased the Nesquehoning Campus of eight buildings on nine acres along the railroad from KME for over $2 million. The Campus is already being used by many of the railroad’s departments as it offers a centralized location for equipment, parts and repairs.
In summarizing 2022, Muller said, “Our performance in 2022 was amazing. Faced with an unprecedented surge in business, our employees stepped up and handled the additional business perfectly. It was all hands on deck. That’s why I always say it starts with our employees. I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women of the Reading & Northern for what they did in 2022 to take care of our freight and passenger customers. On to 2023!”
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