July 25, 2019 - Reading & Northern announces the promotions of Jonathan Barket to Vice President Communications and Signals and Matthew Collins to Assistant Vice President of Communications and Signals.
Jonathan Barket started working for the Reading and Northern Railroad sixteen years ago in 2003, working as a signal assistant within the Communications and Signal department. In 2007, Barket was named manager of Communications and Signals. In 2010, he received the title of Assistant Vice President of Communications and Signals. During his career, the C&S Department expanded from just three employees to nine, and adding over one hundred additional locations. While working with team members and RBMN, he continues to help design, engineer, and help install an aggressive plan to re-signal over one hundred miles adding to the safety and efficiency to RBMN. Additionally, he continues to update safety and technology at both crossings and signal locations throughout the RBMN system. Barket also oversees the communication system from the dispatching center, to radio bases, to handheld radios keeping the RBMN system running safely and efficiently.
Jonathan was born and raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Lebanon High School. Jonathan is married to Angela Barket and has one daughter, Lucy, and one stepson, Cole. Jonathan’s interests include camping, hiking, and model railroading.
Jonathan reports to Executive Vice President of Operations Tyler Glass.
Matthew Collins hired on to Reading & Northern (RBMN) in 2008, as a Signal Maintainer on the Lehigh Divison. In 2015 Matthew was named Signal Communications Manager in recognition of his dedication and redesigning work of the signal and radio communications networks. Then in 2018, he was appointed Director of Communications and Signals in recognition of his hard work and dedication to improving and building out the signal and communications systems across the railroad. In his tenure, he has overseen the construction of 10 interlockings and 23 signal and crossing locations.
Before coming to Reading & Northern Matthew served three and a half years in the US Army and reached the rank of Sergeant. After his enlistment, he attained a degree in Computer Information Systems at Luzerne County Community College. Matt is married to Noreen Collins and has one son, Ryan Collins. Outside of work, he spends as much time as possible with his family and actively supports his son with his Civil Air Patrol commitment.
Matthew report to Jonathan Barket
In announcing their recent promotions, President Wayne Michel said, “Both individuals have shown tremendous growth since joining our organization. They continue to innovate and blend the newest technology into our systems in order to provide a safer and more efficient system for our operations as well as the public. The list of projects is never ending and they have a fine team to lead as we move forward in this growing company.”
Reading & Northern Railroad, with its corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving over 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming). It has expanded its operations over the last 30+ years and now handles well over 30,000 carloads of freight and 120,000 excursion train riders over 340 miles of track. Reading and Northern operates both freight services and steam and diesel-powered excursion passenger services, owns almost 1,300 freight cars, and employs over 200 dedicated employees. Reading & Northern has repeatedly been honored as one of the premier railroads in the nation
Matthew Collins - Left
Jonathan Barket - Right