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Knowlton Assured No Freight Trains on Cutoff

July 31, 2026

A Lackawanna Passenger train sailing off the Paulins Kill Viaduct in the 1959. Photo courtesy of United Railroad Historical Society.

The reopening of the Lackawanna Cutoff railroad tracks across North Warren for proposed Amtrak service between Scranton and New York won’t happen until at least 2031, if it actually ever reopens, but Knowlton officials have been assured there will be no freight trains on the route.

In March, the Knowlton Township Committee submitted several letters to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, informally known as PennDOT, asking about the possibility of the tracks being used for freight trains, particularly those carrying hazardous materials.

In a meeting with PennDOT officials earlier in the year, Committee Member Adele Starrs said she was not satisfied with answers they supplied at the time, calling them “ambiguous” at best.

The proposed route of restored Amtrak service is shown as a jagged blue line between New York and Scranton, running through Blairstown. — The proposed route of restored Amtrak service between New York and Scranton. Map courtesy of Amtrak.

Starrs said PennDOT’s response to the March letter is much more informative. She said the agency told Knowlton officials there has been no discussion about freight service on the Cutoff, and there is no anticipation of freight service.

“The Cutoff has no online freight shippers and is not necessary as a connecting freight line between Northeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey because there is already an efficient freight-only route through Allentown, which was part of the reason the Cutoff was initially abandoned,” PennDOT wrote.

The Cutoff—the ubiquitous former rail line that looms more than 100 feet in places over Knowlton, Blairstown and Frelinghuysen—was abandoned shortly after the Erie Lackawanna Railway was absorbed by Conrail in 1976. At that time, it was deemed superfluous as Conrail also inherited several redundant lines from other railroads.

The prospect of freight trains returning to the line has long had local officials concerned. Although the resumption of service has been discussed for decades despite never coming to fruition, the current proposal, which is near final approval by Amtrak, already has funding earmarked, unlike past proposals that sputtered once it came down to money.

The proposed service would utilize upgraded existing tracks in Pennsylvania between Scranton and the Delaware Water Gap, 20 miles of restored tracks on the Lackawanna Cutoff between the Gap and Andover, and existing tracks owned and operated by New Jersey.

Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer

Contributing Writer

Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.