On August 12, 2016, Northumberland County President Judge Charles Saylor ruled that Reading & Northern's lawsuit against the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) could go forward.
Overruling objections from the JRA, North Shore Railroad and Carload Express, Judge Saylor found that the Reading & Northern (RBMN) could proceed with its lawsuit to establish that JRA did not follow proper competitive bid procedures as set forth in Commonwealth law.
"Reading & Northern Railroad is extremely pleased that Judge Saylor ruled that we can proceed with our lawsuit against the Joint Rail Authority. We intend to vigorously pursue this legal action in order to prove that corruption and cronyism is at the heart of how JRA has operated for more than twenty years. Reading & Northern is delighted that we now have the opportunity to pull back the curtain on this rogue operation.” said RBMN President Wayne Michel.
RBMN intends to prove that JRA acted illegally in the design and implementation of the competitive bid process and that it went out of its way to keep RBMN out of the process because of the railroad’s “well-known support of privatization.”
Andy Muller, Jr., CEO and owner of Reading & Northern said, "The sad thing about this situation is that at the end of the day the operators became millionaires, the customers on the Board got great deals, consultants and lawyers got rich, but not one penny went to the taxpayers.”