For RBMN, Consecutive Record Years
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief of Railway Age | 1-4-24
Class II Reading & Northern, Pennsylvania’s largest privately owned railroad and four-time Railway Age Regional of the Year, in 2023 posted double-digit growth in both its freight and passenger excursion operations for the second year in a row. RBMN traffic eclipsed 37,000 freight carloads, up from 33,000 in 2022. Excursion ridership went from 250,000 riders in 2022 to more than 320,000.
RBMN attributed freight traffic growth to two primary factors. First, significantly more anthracite coal moved out of the Pennsylvania anthracite fields as the “Road of Anthracite” handled more than one million tons for the first time in its 33-year history. Second, RBMN’s new frac sand terminal in Tunkhannock, Pa. doubled volume in its second full year of operation. These two market segments contribute about half of RBMN’s traffic base, the remaining 50% of which includes forest products, petrochemicals and minerals, food and agricultural products, metals, and consumer products. In addition, RBMN owns a warehouse, various transload facilities and a trucking firm “that all support its core rail business.”
RBMN’s growth in passenger excursion ridership resulted from significant expansion of new services, especially the opening of the new Wilkes Barre/Scranton Regional Railroad Station in Pittston, as well as increased train starts and equipment. Additionally, iconic steam locomotive 2102, a former Reading Railroad T-1 4-8-4 Northern type, returned to excursion service, reviving the famous “Iron Horse Rambles.”
“It is fitting that in his 40th year in the railroad business, Andy Muller, Jr., our owner and CEO, would be named one of the innovators in the railroad industry,” said RBMN President Wayne Michel. “His accomplishments during the past 40 years are noteworthy, and the railroad’s record-breaking performance in 2023 is further evidence that his management philosophy works. Take care of your employees, focus on the customers and constantly invest in the business. Over the past three years Andy has invested heavily in the anthracite coal, frac sand and passenger business, and it is no surprise that is where our growth has occurred.”
- Andy Muller Jr on the cover of Railway Age’s “Most Influential Leaders”: 2023 edition (please click the picture for full periodical).
RBMN, with corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, Pa., serves more than 80 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Wyoming) on more than 400 miles of track. The railroad owns almost 1,800 freight cars and employs more than 350.
