Bethlehem or Reading - potential ridership

I've been to Bethlehem about twice. I've been to Reading about twice. Arguably, if 4x daily train service were in place I would go much more frequently, perhaps at the expense of some trips to other towns already served by SEPTA.

My northbound bus to Bethlehem was a red eye, and I was the only passenger. I don't know how the bus pools do during the day but do you think they would sustain enough passengers to start up a train? How about current bus ridership between here and Reading?

My fear is that the legislators will approve highway expansion before ever building us our train routes to either of these destinations.

i think to two potential new (OLD) lines have vastly different ridership needs.

for reading, that destination would be the end point of a train that would run through a corridor that is exploding in population and has a highway (422) that will not be able to handle all the traffic in the years to come.

bethlehem is part of the lehigh valley and unlike the 422 "suburbs" the LV is a pretty self-sufficient mtreo area. the area between say plymouth meeting and i-78 is not as dense as the 422 corridor (although the growth potential is certainly there). i'm not saying that rail service to PHL wouldn't be a great thing for the lehigh valley, but my guess is that the 422 corridor would benefit more with a rail connection to 30th street.

just my 2¢