At the close of 2016, regional railroad Reading & Northern (R&N) “had more employees, more track, more locomotives, more freight cars, more facilities and more customers than at any point in its history.”
R&N grew its merchandise traffic by 16% in 2016 with almost 20,000 carloads. Its tourist operations handled well over 100,000 visitors, the second time in its history that it reached the 100,000-passenger mark.
R&N added 10 miles of new track to its system in 2016, among the additions were acquisition of the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazleton, Pa., with more than three miles of new track construction. R&N forces and contractors installed more than 15,000 ties, replaced more than 20,000 linear feet of rail and built a dozen new turnouts. The locomotive fleet increased by 20% with the acquisition of six four-axle locomotives. The freight car fleet grew 16% to 1,179 cars, an increase of 162 units. Construction of six additional facilities have been completed or are under way. More than a dozen new customers have come on line, most with the Humboldt acquisition, and 21 new employees joined the railroad, bring the staff to more than 200.
Owner and CEO Andy Muller, Jr. noted that it has always been his strategy to reinvest in the company. “Business has been very good the past few years and in order to keep growing we invest in the railroad ahead of the demand,” he said. “That is why this year we bought more locomotives and freight cars and did an unprecedented amount of trackwork. I expect our railroad to grow. I expect our superior service will help our customers grow and as they grow we will benefit. I expect our reputation to encourage more businesses to locate along our lines. We will always take care of our customers and our employees. That is the cornerstone of our success.”
“It takes well-trained employees operating well-powered trains over well-maintained tracks to deliver the high quality service that our customers have learned to expect from Reading & Northern,” said President Wayne Michel. “We offer our customers guaranteed service windows and provide additional service at no cost to help them with their demands. Taking care of the customers is Job 1 at the Reading & Northern.”