Reading & Northern Railroad, which operates passenger rail excursions to Jim Thorpe and other locations in the region, is interested in purchasing the rail line owned by Luzerne County’s Redevelopment Authority, a release said.
The release announcing Jim Raffa’s promotion to executive vice president of marketing and sales said Raffa “is taking a lead role in R&N’s effort to acquire the Luzerne County railroads owned by the Redevelopment Authority.”
It referenced media reports about the county’s interest in taking over the railroad from the authority and privatizing it to get the county out of the railroad business.
“Raffa will take the lead to ensure that R&N restores quality service to the freight customers if R&N is successful in buying the property,” the release said.
R&N CEO Andy Muller Jr. also has “publicly committed to bringing passenger excursion service to Wilkes-Barre,” it said, noting the company already serves the region with more than 340,000 riders on its trains in 2024.
A county council majority voted last month to initiate litigation against the county Redevelopment Authority over an outstanding debt related to its rail line.
The county wants the authority to turn over its railroad so it can be sold to recoup $3.28 million the authority still owes the county for the original acquisition of the line, according to letters between the county and authority.
While a delinquent loan was stated as a reason, it may be part of a broader push to put the track into private ownership, with the hope that it could retain commercial use but also add passenger rail service.
The redevelopment authority is a separate entity governed by a five-citizen, council-appointed board. However, the county has an interest in the rail line because prior commissioners loaned the authority funds in 2001 so the authority would not default on its mortgage and risk losing infrastructure that services businesses.
Since then, the authority must forward money it generates from the rail operation to the county to repay the loan. The authority still owes $1.475 million to the county community development business loan fund and $1.8 million to the county.
The authority’s rail holdings include the active track running near the historic downtown Wilkes-Barre train station that county council recently agreed to purchase, which houses the county tourism office.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo said she is only able to provide limited comment at this time on Reading & Northern’s release.
”We would like to express our appreciation for Reading and Northern’s interest in the Luzerne County rails. However, we want to emphasize that any potential sale of these assets must adhere to the statutory bid process and will ultimately require approval from the County Council,” Crocamo said.
“Due to pending litigation, I am unable to comment further on the Redevelopment Authority’s discussions with any potential buyers at this time,” Crocamo added.
In March, the county sent a cease-and-desist letter to the authority to temporarily halt any further action related to selling, transferring or disposing of railroad property owned by the authority.
Headquartered in Port Clinton, Reading & Northern is a privately held railroad company serving more than 80 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties — Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming, the release said.
Reading & Northern expanded its operations over the last 40 years and now handles nearly 40,000 carloads of freight, while its passenger department handles more than 300,000 riders annually.
The release said Raffa began his railroad career in 1989 with the Reading & Northern predecessor, Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad, as a trackman.
After the Reading & Northern Railroad was formed in December 1990, Raffa transitioned to coal traffic manager and real estate manager.
In 2007, Raffa accepted an ownership position with Lehigh Railway & Luzerne Susquehanna Railway. In 2020, after the sale of those rail lines to R.J. Corman Railroad Group, Raffa returned to Reading & Northern to manage its petro-chemical and minerals accounts, including the natural gas/Marcellus Shale business.
R.J. Corman serves as operator of the county line under an agreement with the redevelopment authority.
Redevelopment Authority Board Chairman Scott Linde had urged the county to “take a more measured approach” regarding future plans for the rail line, according to a May 19 letter to the county.
Linde had recapped that county commissioners and numerous state legislators sought the authority’s help to “preserve this vital service” at the urging of several businesses in 1996, when the rail operator at that time had announced it “unilaterally would cease rail freight services.”
County funding was needed for the purchase because the state did not provide all promised funding, Linde’s letter said.
Continued rail freight service is “vital” to 12 local businesses that receive and ship an average of 1,324 rail cars of products and materials annually, based on a 2024 car loading report provided to the state, Linde said.
More revenue may come to the county because the authority and its rail operator are “on the cusp of increasing rail shippers on the rail line,” which he Linde said has been “greatly improved” and made safer through additional warning systems, his letter said.