In a month or two, the Federal Railroad Administration is expected to announce its decision about the Corridor Identification and Development Program, which would move passenger rail forward for the region.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation agreed to be the lead signatory on the application for the program and officially submitted the application on March 27, said Alexis Campbell, the press secretary for PennDOT. The application was also signed by the New Jersey Transit and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority.

The Corridor I.D. program is part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with the purpose of developing passenger rail services. According to U.S. Rep. Matthew Cartwright’s office, up to 80% of the funding for the passenger rail line from New York City to Scranton would come from the Federal Railroad Administration, if the application is approved.

“Northeastern Pennsylvania’s application was already a strong contender to receive Corridor I.D. designation, but the new support shown by the Amtrak report will help further our success in achieving corridor designation,” Cartwright said in a news release. “We have never been better positioned to connect Scranton to New York City by rail than we are right now. With PennDOT and New Jersey Transit all in and the strong Amtrak report, we have taken a great leap forward.”

Amtrak released its two-year study of the Scranton to New York Corridor project and determined that “Restoring and expanding this corridor with daily multi-frequency service would dramatically boost mobility and economic development for residents of Scranton and Northeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the broader Northeast region,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said.

The plan for the corridor includes:

• Three round trips per day. Each trip would take about two hours and 50 minutes, according to Amtrak’s study. Google maps found that by car, the trip takes about two and half hours on toll roads and three hours and 41 minutes on roads without tolls.

• The trains can travel at a maximum speed of 110 mph, and can transport about 470,000 riders per year.

• Stations would be located in Scranton, Mount Pocono, East Stroudsburg, Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Montclair, Newark and New York City.

The study also predicts that the passenger rail corridor could generate:

• $84 million in economic benefits through tourism and economic activity in the area;

• $20 million in benefits for the passengers by being able to be productive on the train instead of concentrating on driving;

• And $7 million in social benefits by decreasing traffic on the roadways and reducing pollution and crashes.

If the funding application is approved, Amtrak said final designs would need to be completed. It anticipates track improvements on the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority section will cost between $100 million and $175 million. This accounts for about 30% to 45% of the total cost of the project.

“Thanks to the bipartisan IIJA, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity do something transformational for Northeastern Pennsylvania’s economy,” Cartwright said.