Lackawanna Transit Center

Scranton
General information
Location30 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18503
Coordinates41°24′37″N 75°40′17″W / 41.41032°N 75.67135°W / 41.41032; -75.67135
Line(s)Pocono Mainline
Construction
ParkingYes
Other information
Station codeSRN (Amtrak)
Proposed services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station
Terminus Lackawanna Cut-Off Tobyhanna
toward New York Penn Station or Hoboken

Lackawanna Transit Center is the main bus station and a proposed train station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS).

Opened in 2015, the transit center features an indoor waiting area, covered bus bays, a park-and-ride lot, and pick-up/drop-off lanes. As of 2021, it is served by COLTS, Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA), Amtrak Thruway,[1] Greyhound Lines,[2] Martz Trailways,[3] New York Trailways, and Fullington Trailways.[4]

Located at the corner of Lackawanna and Cliff avenues in downtown Scranton, the transit center is close to Steamtown National Historic Site, the Electric City Trolley Museum, and the Marketplace at Steamtown. The site is also adjacent to the Pocono Mainline of the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, and is intended to accommodate proposed expansion of the bus station into an intermodal train and bus terminal with rail service to New York City via the Lackawanna Cut-Off.

History

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Lackawanna Transit Center took place on August 1, 2014. Plans for the project were said to have been "18 years in the making."[5] A ribbon-cutting occurred on November 20, 2015, and the station first served buses on December 7. The total cost came to $12.5 million.[6]

Proposed train station

From 1908 through 1970, passenger trains to Scranton used the Lackawanna Railroad's large station, now a Radisson hotel.[7] The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is an ongoing effort to revive passenger rail from New York to Scranton, with construction already underway on Phase I: an NJ Transit extension from Lake Hopatcong to Andover, New Jersey.[8][9] The bus station was built on the site that had long been considered for Scranton's new train station. In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for a potential New York–Scranton route.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Scranton, PA (SRN)". www.amtrak.com. Amtrak. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Scranton Bus Station in Scranton, Pennsylvania". www.greyhound.com. Greyhound. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Scranton, PA | Bus Stop". MartzTrailways.com. Martz Trailways. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Harrisburg-Scranton Line Run Schedule" (PDF). Fullington Trailways. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  5. ^ "COLTS Breaks Ground for Downtown Hub" (PDF). Lackawanna Luzerne Metropolitan Planning Organization. Summer 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  6. ^ Lange, Stacy (20 November 2015). "New Transit Center in Downtown Scranton". WNEP. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  7. ^ "National Register of Historical Places - PENNSYLVANIA (PA), Lackawanna County". Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  8. ^ "Lackawanna Cutoff". New Jersey Transit. October 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  9. ^ "NJ-ARP Annual Report 2008-2009" (PDF). November 19, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  10. ^ "New Jersey – Pennsylvania Lackawanna Cut-Off Passenger Rail Service Restoration Project Environmental Assessment" (PDF). U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, and New Jersey Transit in cooperation with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority: About Us". Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. Retrieved 2011-01-02.