Reading & Northern to restore Pennsylvania train station's platform

Reading & Northern Railroad (R&N) has finalized an agreement to return passenger-rail service to a 146-year-old train station in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

The agreement calls for the construction of a new passenger platform, R&N officials said in a press release issued last week.

The platform will be installed through a public-private partnership between the borough of Tamaqua and R&N. Construction is slated to begin in spring, with the first train rides offered in time for the community's Summerfest on June 21.

After the Summerfest, the railroad will host "ride-and-dine" trips from its new Reading Outer Station to Tamaqua. Trains will leave Reading in mid-afternoon and stop at the new Tamaqua train station, where riders disembark and dine at a local restaurant, railroad officials said.