Schuylkill River Passenger Rail is a proposed passenger train service along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading, Pennsylvania, with intermediate stops in Norristown, King of Prussia, Phoenixville, and Pottstown. Passenger trains previously ran on this route from 1838 to 1981, when SEPTA discontinued service past Norristown on what is now known as the Manayunk/Norristown Line. Since then, various proposals have been made to restore full service to Reading. Interest around the route has grown in the 2020s. In 2021 Amtrak included the route in its 2035 expansion vision. In 2022 county governments formed the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority to further the development of the project. History Prior service The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad and the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company built the first rail line between Philadelphia and Reading in the 1830s. This became the Main Line of the Reading Company. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) built the competing Schuylkill Branch along a parallel route in the 1880s. In 1930, the PRR electrified the portion of its line between Philadelphia and Norristown. The Reading Company did the same in 1933. The City of Philadelphia and suburban counties began providing public funds under contract with the PRR and Reading Company for continuation and improvement of regional rail service. Because the Reading's Norristown line was considered the stronger of the two, PRR service was cut back to Manayunk in 1960. Conrail assumed operations of both lines in April 1976, resulting in all freight activity shifting to the former Reading Main Line. Commuter service on the former PRR line was extended from Manayunk to Ivy Ridge station in order to serve a new park-and-ride lot. Service to Reading used electric multiple-unit cars between Philadelphia's Reading Terminal and Norristown, and diesel-electric "push-pull" cars from Norristown to Reading. This operation continued until SEPTA ceased funding for the diesel section in 1981, two years prior to taking direct control of Philadelphia's commuter rail routes from Conrail. In 1986 service on the former PRR line was cut back from Ivy Ridge to Cynwyd station in Lower Merion Township. Schuylkill Valley Metro From 2000 to 2002, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, SEPTA, and other regional stakeholders studied the possible return of passenger rail service between Philadelphia and Reading, a project known as the Schuylkill Valley Metro (SVM). The SVM would use both sides of the former SEPTA R6 lines; the former PRR Schuylkill Branch between