PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The long-delayed expansion of Philadelphia’s Rail Park took a small step forward on Monday when a bill allowing the city to acquire needed land cleared a City Council committee.
Neighbors and parks advocates have wanted to turn the abandoned Reading Railroad Viaduct into a park for two decades. A quarter-mile section opened in 2018, but plans to extend it were blocked by Reading’s contention that — though the rail bed from 9th Street and Fairmount Avenue to the old Reading terminal had not been used since the commuter tunnel opened in 1984 — it was still a functioning train line.
Former Center City District Chief Paul Levy said it paid no taxes, skirted city codes and avoided losing the land to eminent domain until the city challenged the claim at the federal Surface Transportation Board…