SEPTA Regional Rail
Encyclopedia
The SEPTA Regional Rail system consists of commuter rail service on thirteen branches to over 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and its suburbs. Service on most lines runs from 5:30 AM to midnight. The core of the Regional Rail system is the Center City Commuter Connection
composed of three Center City
stations in the "tunnel" corridor: the above-ground upper level of 30th Street Station
; and the underground Suburban Station; and Market East Station. All trains stop at these Center City stations, and most also stop at Temple University station
on the campus of Temple University
in North Philadelphia. Operations are handled by the SEPTA Railroad Division.
The 13 branches can be divided into those originally owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad
(PRR) (which would become Penn Central), and those of the Reading Company
(RDG). Before the Center City Commuter Connection
opened in November 1984, the Pennsylvania Railroad commuter lines and the Reading commuter lines were two completely separate railroads. Each had a separate Center City terminal, with the PRR lines terminating at Suburban Station, while the RDG lines terminated at Reading Terminal
.
Reading Terminal was replaced by Market East Station, which is part of the Center City Commuter Connection and sits partially under the former Reading Terminal. The Center City Commuter Connection united the two systems by turning the two terminal stations into through-stations, resulting in a more efficient system with most inbound trains from one line continuing on as outbound trains on another line (some limited/express trains terminate on one of the stub-end tracks at Suburban Station.)
Prior to July 25, 2010, each PRR line was paired with a RDG branch and numbered from R1 to R8, except for R4, so that one route number described two lines, one on the PRR side and one on the RDG side. This was found to be less beneficial than originally thought, especially for newer riders, as finding which train, as one had to remember the terminus or direction in addition to the R-number. Along with changes in train dispatching that lead to fewer trains following both sides of the same route, SEPTA decided to drop the R-number route designators. The color-coded designations for each route were also eliminated.
Former Pennsylvania Railroad lines:
Former Reading Company lines:
, 29 are in Delaware County
, 16 are in Bucks County
, 10 are in Chester County
, and six are outside the state of Pennsylvania. Passenger boardings within Philadelphia account for 61% of all trips on a typical weekday in 2003, with 45% from the three Center City stations and Temple University station.
, General Electric
and St. Louis Car Company
"Silverliner" electric multiple unit
(EMU) self-operated cars. SEPTA also uses push-pull equipment consisting of coaches built by Bombardier
and Pullman Standard, hauled by AEM-7
or ALP-44
electric locomotives identical to those used by Amtrak
and New Jersey Transit
(NJT) on its electrified rail services for express and rush-hour service. The "Silverliner" coaches, first used by the PRR 1958 as the "Pioneer III
," for a prototype intercity EMU alternative to the GG1-hauled trains, were purchased by SEPTA in 1963 as "Silverliner II" units for both the PRR and Reading lines and were built by the Budd Corporation in Philadelphia. In 1967, the PRR took delivery of the St. Louis-built "Silverliner III" cars, which featured left-hand side controls (railroad cars traditionally have right-hand side controls) and flush toilets (since removed), and were used primarily for Harrisburg
-Philadelphia service. Both the Silverliner II and III cars were designated under the PRR MP85 class.
The bulk of the fleet, the "Silverliner IV", were built by General Electric
in Philadelphia and Erie, PA with Budd components, and were delivered in 1974–76, prior to the formation of Conrail. The "Silverliner II", "Silverliner III", and "Silverliner IV" cars are used on all Regional Rail lines, while the Bombardier push-pull equipment is used exclusively for Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line
, Paoli/Thorndale Line
, and Trenton Line peak express service. The push-pull equipment is used only for express runs because its slow acceleration, compared to the Silverliner EMU equipment, making it less suitable for local service with close station spacing and frequent stops and starts. Some "Silverliner III" cars were even converted for exclusive Airport Line use – they featured special luggage racks (where the old toilet closets were located, and are still in use to this day), yellow window paintings, and the "PHL" logo used for the Philadelphia International Airport
. Currently, all cars, regardless of the model, have a blended red and blue SEPTA window logos, and (required by Amtrak for operations on both the Northeast
and Keystone Corridor
s) flashing "ditch lights," which are switched on at grade crossings and when "deadheading" through stations. SEPTA also owns 2 "Arrow II" EMU cars built by Budd and once operated by New Jersey Transit
for its electrified service to and from New York City
and Hoboken Terminal
. The "Arrow II" car is nearly identical to that of the "Silverliner IV", but lacks the distinctive dynamic brake roof "hump" on the car, and has a "diamond" pantograph
instead of the "T" pantograph used on the "Silverliner". The "Arrow II" are used as part of work trains, such as catenary inspection and leaf removal.
With the exception of the "Pioneer III" (Silverliner I) coaches, which have since been retired and (except for one, which is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
in nearby Strasburg, Pennsylvania
) scrapped, all three Silverliner models are compatible with one another. SEPTA is currently undergoing the process of retiring the "Silverliner II" and "Silverliner III" cars and replacing them with the "Silverliner V" model.
A total of 120 new "Silverliner V" cars are to be built, with the first three entering service on October 29, 2010. The cost for all 120 cars is $274 million, and they will be constructed facilities in South Philadelphia
and South Korea
by Hyundai Rotem, with the entire fleet to enter service by the end of 2011.
Resembling a "stretched" Market-Frankford Line
M-4 car or the M8
cars used by the Metro-North Railroad
, the "Silverliner V" cars will have three doors on each side: one each a quarter length from each end of the cars for boarding and alighting at stations with either high or low-level platforms, and an additional door adjacent to one of the quarter-point doors used at high level platforms for faster arrivals and departures at the major Center City zone stations (University City, 30th Street, Suburban/Penn Center, Market East, and Temple University). They also feature wider aisles and seats, and dedicated areas for wheelchairs and power scooters. In place of the glass-reinforced plastic
placards denoting the train route, the train route and destination will be displayed on new colored LED
panels on both the front and sides of the train, and improved PA systems will allow the automated system to announce station names. The new trains feature enhanced security, with CCTV cameras that are able to broadcast over a proprietary wireless network to the Command Center at SEPTA's headquarters.
In addition to the new "Silverliner V" cars, the "Silverliner IV" cars have been upgraded with silicone
-based transformers (the original transformers used PCBs
) and now sport new red-colored pantographs that will allow both the "Sliverliner IV" and "Silverliner V" cars to look aesthetically and functionally more alike.
All current SEPTA equipment is compatible with the power supplies on both the ex-PRR (Amtrak-supplied) and ex-RDG (SEPTA-supplied) sides of the system. The entire system uses 12,000-volt/25 Hz overhead catenary lines that were erected by the PRR and RDG railroads between 1915 and 1938, with the system "phase break" being located at the northern entrance to the Center City commuter tunnel between the Market East Station and the Temple University
Station.
SEPTA's railroad reporting mark
SEPA is the official mark for their revenue equipment, though it can rarely be found on any noticeable external markings. SPAX can be seen on non-revenue work equipment including boxcars, diesel locomotives, and other rolling stock.
The following is a list of rolling stock used on passenger service by SEPTA:
at 12 kV with a frequency of 25 Hz. The system on the former PRR side is owned and operated by Amtrak, part of the electrification of the Northeast Corridor. The electrification on the RDG side is owned by SEPTA
. The Amtrak system was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1915 and 1938. The SEPTA-owned system was originally built by The Reading Railroad starting in 1931.
(PRR) and the Reading Company
(RDG) to continue commuter rail services in the Philadelphia region.
to their busiest lines. The system used is an overhead catenary trolley wire that is energized at 11,000 V
single-phase AC
at 25 Hertz (Hz), very uncommon by today's standards as regular American households use double-phase AC at 60 Hz. The PRR started using this system on the Paoli line in 1915, the Chestnut Hill West line in 1918, and the Media/West Chester and Wilmington lines in 1928. Both the PRR and RDG continued their electrification projects into the 1930s, replacing trains pulled by steam locomotives with electric multiple unit
cars and locomotives. PRR electrification reached Trenton and Norristown in 1930. RDG began electrified operation in 1931 to West Trenton, Hatboro (extended to Warminster
in 1974) and Doylestown, and in 1933 to Chestnut Hill East and Norristown. The notable exception was the line to Newtown, which was the Reading's only suburban route not electrified.
Carrying passengers had been unprofitable for the railroads since about 1950, due to the rise in automobile
ownership and the building of the Interstate Highway System
. Because of this, the city of Philadelphia undertook a partnership with the RDG and PRR in the late 50s to subsidize commuter service. This, however, was not enough to counter the deterioration of the railroad infrastructure. The city did purchase new commuter equipment starting in the 1960s, the Silverliners. The railroads were losing money in general and were keen to get rid of their passenger operations so that they could focus on more profitable freight service. Plus, the noticeable neglect of their passenger service was becoming an issue with commuters and local governments.
On February 1, 1968, the PRR merged with the New York Central railroad to become the Penn Central (PC) in an effort to remain solvent. Two years later, on June 21, 1970, PC filed for bankruptcy.
In 1971, the RDG filed for bankruptcy after being unprofitable for several years mostly due to the selling of its minority stakes after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) was absorbed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O) in the 1960s. The B&O used the Reading's tracks from Philadelphia to Jersey City, New Jersey
for its Washington-New York service, but eliminated passenger service north of Baltimore in 1958.
(later an Amtrak
executive), was not a smooth one. SEPTA attempted to impose transit (bus and subway driver's) pay scales and work rules, which was met by resistance by the BLE
(an experiment was already in place on the diesel-only Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line, which used City Transit Division employees instead of traditional railroad employees as a bargaining chip). As the January 1, 1983 deadline approached, the unions stated they agreed to work even if new union contracts were not in place by the new year. SEPTA had spent most of December 1982 preparing riders for the likelihood of no train service come the new year. Even with the unions' offers to continue working, SEPTA insisted that a brief shutdown of service would still be necessary, arguing that it would not know until the eleventh hour how many Conrail employees would actually come to work for SEPTA. In addition, SEPTA claimed that these employees would have to be qualified to work on portions of the system unfamiliar to them.
A lawyer who regularly commuted from Newtown
on the Fox Chase Rapid Transit line filed a class action lawsuit against SEPTA to force the agency to keep trains running. The judge who heard the case, while agreeing that SEPTA probably would not be able initially to operate a full schedule, ordered the agency to keep as much train service running as possible. This resulted in limited service after January 1, 1983 on all the former RDG lines and the heavily patronized former PRR Paoli line
. Full service was gradually restored over the next several weeks.
The unions then surprised SEPTA on March 15, 1983 by going on strike, still without contracts, in an action timed to coincide with an expected City Transit Division strike. At the time, the City Transit Division was chafing at SEPTA for discontinuing diesel service on the Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line on January 14, 1983, as personnel were paid higher salaries for traveling a considerable distance to operate trains based in Newtown. SEPTA, however, settled with the transit union shortly before its strike deadline, a move that rail unions took as a betrayal. The rail unions had hoped that with both the railroads and City Transit shut down, the unions could extract whatever settlement they desired. The railroad strike lasted 108 days, and service did not resume until July 3, 1983, when the last holdout union agreed to a contract to settle from the other rail unions.
In the end, SEPTA would treat the unions as proper railroad workers vs. transit operators, but their pay scale remains lower than that of other Northeast commuter railroads, such as NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad. This resulted in lower ridership, which took over 10 years to rebuild.
cars and locomotives. This situation is unique in North America, as all other commuter rail agencies throughout the continent operate with either a combination of diesel and electric motive power, or entirely diesel trains.
Under contract to SEPTA, Conrail operated four routes throughout the 1970s on the former Reading lines. These services originated from Reading Terminal:
Most train equipment was either Budd Rail Diesel Car
s, or locomotive-hauled push-pull trains with former RDG FP7
s.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDOT) eliminated funding to operate trains that operated outside of SEPTA's service area (the 5-county region), diverting the funds instead to highway projects. Coupled with the Reagan Administration's policy abolishing federal operating subsidies for mass transit, SEPTA was not allowed to allocate any funding outside of the 5-county region, resulting in public hearings held during the week of January 26, 1981.
Via a flyer distributed to soon-to-be-displaced riders, the Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (DVARP) urged passengers to contact Governor Dick Thornburgh
, who ordered PennDOT to eliminate train service. Thornburgh later fired PennDOT Deputy Secretary of Transportation Ed Tennyson for refusing to carry out the governor's order. Tennyson stated that such a move was illegal on Thornburgh's part, as the elimination of such extensive passenger service would result in additional automobile combustion and pollution.
DVARP also argued that the only reason SEPTA had to eliminate diesel service was "further reduce the number of riders using these trains so they can justify replacement bus service. A train rider is not a bus rider." DVARP added that SEPTA needed to "work out a solution to the funding problem rather than just quit! It's hard to improve a train after it's gone".
Another factor was the omission of ventilation fans in the design of the Center City Commuter Tunnel
that opened in 1984. DVARP advocated for the inclusion of ventilation fans that would allow diesel exhaust fumes to exit tunnels and stations. SEPTA deemed the option unfeasible throughout the planning process.
DVARP later characterized the termination of the diesels as "SEPTA's worst railroad mistake." The end of diesel service resulted in over 150 route miles lost, much of it through regions whose populations exploded throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
opened for service. The tunnel, which had been first discussed in the 1950s, is an underground connection between PRR and RDG lines; previously, PRR commuter trains would terminate at Suburban Station and RDG at Reading Terminal. The connection converted Suburban Station into a through-station and rerouted RDG trains down a steep incline and into a tunnel which turns sharply west near the new Market East Station. Converting the terminals into through stations was seen as increasing efficiency and reducing the number of tracks needed for the trains.
On April 28, 1985, the Airport Line opened, providing service from Suburban Station via 30th Street Station to the Philadelphia International Airport
. This line runs along Amtrak's NEC to a bridge which carries it over the NEC and onto Reading trackage which passes close to the airport. At the airport, a new bridge carries it over Interstate 95
and into the airport terminals between the baggage claim in arrivals and the check-in counters in departures.
SEPTA management was criticized for the severe cutbacks the agency deemed necessary at the time. Noted international transit expert and University of Pennsylvania
professor Vukan Vuchic (who also designed the former R-numbering system for SEPTA) commented that he had never seen a city the size of Philadelphia "cut transit services quite as drastically as SEPTA. For a system that is already obsolete, any more cutbacks would be disastrous—and likely spell doom for transit in the Philadelphia region."
DVARP also commented that SEPTA purposely truncated service, stating that while other commuter railroad counterparts "in North America expand their rail services, SEPTA is the only one continuing to cut and cut and cut. The only difference between SEPTA and its railroad and transit predecessors is that SEPTA eliminates services to avoid rebuilding assets, while its predecessors (PRR, RDG and Conrail) kept service running while deferring maintenance."
between the Center City Commuter Connection
and Wayne Junction, SEPTA undertook a 10-month, $354 million project to overhaul the viaduct in 1992 and 1993. Labeled "RailWorks," by SEPTA, the project, spurred by an emergency bridge replacement project in 1983 shortly after the tunnel opened, resulted in the replacement of several dilapidated bridges, the installing of new continuous-welded rail and overhead catenary, the construction of new rail stations at Temple University
and North Broad Street
, and the upgrading of signals.
Built by the Reading Company and opened in 1898 along with Reading Terminal
, the Reading Viaduct is a series of bridges and embankments that allows trains to run on elevated railroad tracks, separated from road traffic and pedestrians. The 1983 bridge replacement, over Columbia (now Cecil B. Moore
) Avenue near Temple University, was in such poor condition that the bridge inspector actually saw the structure sag every time a train passed over the bridge; further inspection revealed that the bridge was in imminent danger of collapsing. The viaduct was completely shut down during each phase, with the R6 Norristown, R7 Chestnut Hill East, and R8 Fox Chase lines suspended during the shutdown. Other Reading lines only came as far into the city as the Fern Rock Transportation Center, where riders had to transfer to the Broad Street Subway. The number of subway trains needed to carry both regular Broad Street Subway riders, as well as passengers transferring to the subway because of RailWorks, exceeded the capacity of the above-ground two-track stub-end Fern Rock Station of the Broad Street line. In 1993 a loop track was added around the Fern Rock Yard which northbound trains use to approach the station from the rear. The loop avoids a switch which had caused the bottleneck.
During RailWorks, SEPTA ran several diesel trains during peak-hours from the Reading side branches, along non-electrified Conrail trackage, to 30th Street Station. Upon the completion of RailWorks, the Reading Viaduct became the "newest" piece of railroad owned by SEPTA, although other projects have since allowed improved service on the ex-Reading side of the system.
Part of the planning for the Center City Commuter Connection
was to decide on how trains would be routed through the tunnel and which branches would be paired up. The original plan for the system was made by University of Pennsylvania
professor Vukan Vuchic, based on the S-Bahn
commuter rail systems in Germany
. Numbers were assigned to the PRR-side lines in order from south (Airport) to northeast (Trenton), and the RDG-side matches were chosen to roughly balance ridership, to attempt to avoid trains running full on one side and then running mostly empty on the other. The following lines were recommended:
In addition to the Center City Commuter Connection, it was assumed that SEPTA would build one more connection, the Swampoodle Connection
. This would allow PRR-side trains from Chestnut Hill West to join the RDG Norristown line instead of the PRR mainline at North Philadelphia station
. The Chestnut Hill West line and the Norristown line run adjacent to each other at that point, in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Swampoodle
. The Swampoodle Connection was never built, leading (among other factors) to the following changes:
One of the assumptions in this plan was that ridership would increase after the connection was open. Instead, ridership dropped after the 1983 strike. While recent rises in oil prices have resulted in increased rail ridership for daily commuters, many off-peak trains run with few riders. Pairing up the rail lines based on ridership is less relevant today than it was when the system was implemented.
At a later time, R1 was applied to the former RDG tracks, shared with the R2 and R5 lines to Glenside
, and R3 to Jenkintown
, and R1-Airport trains ran to Glenside rather than becoming R3 trains to West Trenton. In later years, SEPTA became more flexible, and now a decent number of trains change route designations downtown to cope with differences in ridership on various lines.
After the original service patterns were introduced, the following termini changed:
In 1992, ridership dipped again due to economic factors and due to SEPTA's RailWorks project, which shut down half of the railroad over two periods of several months each in 1992 and 1993. A mild recession in 1992–94 also dampened ridership, but a booming economy in the late 1990s helped increase ridership to near the peak level of 1980.
In 2000, ridership started a slight decline due to the slow economy, but in 2003 ridership started increasing again. The average weekday passenger counts have not increased at the same rate as the total annual passenger counts, which may mean that weekend ridership is increasing.
In 2008, Regional Rail ridership hit an all time high of over 35 million. In 2009, it was down 1% of this high.
The ridership on the Railroad Division per fiscal years 1979–2008:
, New Jersey Transit
, MARC Train
, Virginia Railway Express
and Metro-North Railroad
do. The operation of the dormant Fox Chase-Newtown segment of the Fox Chase Line
as a transit operation from 1981–1983—utilizing City Transit personnel instead of members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)—was the most notable example of "transitizing" (i.e. lower pay scale, frequent headways, turnstiles, electrified-only) a traditional railroad line.
In the late 1990s, SEPTA resisted the commuter rail model used throughout North America when designing the Schuylkill Valley Metro
project, initially preferring a light rail alternative for the 62 miles (99.8 km) line and then shifting to an unprecedented "Metrorail" model when fatal flaws were found in the light rail plan. DVARP called SEPTA's notion of bypassing traditional commuter rail "radical." SEPTA's bias against conventional commuter rail on shared track — long the standard operating scenario for all other commuter railroads in North America — forced project costs over $2 billion and led to the rejection by the Federal Transit Administration
as being too costly.
Prior to the 1983 takeover of commuter operations, SEPTA considered running the former Reading Company side of the system from traditional railroad operations to transit-type operations, but dismissed it as unfeasible for the short term. If converted to a transit-like operation , the regional rail system would operate outside of the U.S. railroad network, freeing it from most railroad-oriented federal regulations, including railroad work rules, federal safety equipment inspection requirements, and Railroad Retirement.
(PA-TEC) commented in 2010 that the trails were hastily constructed—such as the Pennypack Trail Extension (gravel vs. pavement, single access points)—in order to erase any presence of a railway. As of 2011, the following former routes are acting as interim rail trails:
As traffic congestion in the Delaware Valley grew throughout the 1990s, resuming passenger service on SEPTA's unused lines was seen as a tool to battle the trend. No other transit agency in North American has converted their unused rail lines into trails in the capacity that SEPTA has. Public transit advocates—most notably PA-TEC—voiced their opposition in 2011 to the removal of the tracks as there are no notable instances in the U.S. of a rail trail converting back to rails.
Suggestions by PA-TEC to convert the lines into rails with trails
were seen by SEPTA officials as a safety hazard. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia also agreed that while trails serve a good purpose, "there is sufficient right-of-way available to support both future rail service and maintain trail usage. If there is insufficient right-of-way within the corridor to do both, then a relocation or rerouting of the trail to preserve the non-motorized route is necessary."
In 2010, John Pawson, author of Delaware Valley Rails: The Railroads and Rail Transit Lines of the Philadelphia Area questioned why SEPTA is heavily involved with rail trails instead of public transit. Pawson, who was head of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Regional Citizens Committee until February 2011, stated that the creation of the Pennypack Trail on the Fox Chase/Newtown line is a "relatively cheap and quick process" but that "cheapness is its only advantage." Pawson added that "the trail as built essentially runs from nowhere to nowhere. A relatively high-grade piece of infrastructure has been diverted (temporarirly, one would hope) to a relatively low-grade purpose. It's like taking over an expressway to use for someone's driveway."
Pawson concluded by saying "there is no need to pull up any more track. This real creek-side Pennypack Trail through Montgomery County and the restoration of the rail line in that county and beyond could be considered as a single valid political issue. Various groups including rail and trail proponents and others should work together for a joint project."
SEPTA rejected PA-TEC's request, believing the benefits of such "signage was deemed non-existent, since SEPTA's rights to the out-of-service rights-of-way (ROW) are clearly protected as matters of real estate/railroad law, as well as the individual lease with the County. The same would apply to any other recreational trails presently being used by municipalities over SEPTA out-of-service railroad ROW's." SEPTA concluded that the expense of installing signs, "no matter how small, for the sole purpose of demarcating SEPTA's otherwise well established legal ownership rights in the ROW, cannot be financially justified." This position was echoed by Rina Cutler, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor of Transportation.
PA-TEC responded in the press by calling SEPTA's response "an act resembling Pontius Pilate
", stating that SEPTA was "going against their enabling legislation per Pennsylvania State Law." PA-TEC added that SEPTA "has washed their hands of the (Fox Chase/Newtown) line by refusing to associate their name with it in public. Without any analysis, SEPTA has rejected a taxpayer funded federal study that provides specific recommendations that best preserve dormant railways."
The transit advocacy group added that they are "concerned that SEPTA is creating an additional constituency resistant to putting rails on a (SEPTA) owned ROW, in this case the trail users," concluding that "the trail use will create an additional avenue of resistance even for those who would never be trail users. NIMBY
s... will be avid trail users, not for the sake of the trail, but to prevent rail use."
Center City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
composed of three Center City
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
stations in the "tunnel" corridor: the above-ground upper level of 30th Street Station
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
; and the underground Suburban Station; and Market East Station. All trains stop at these Center City stations, and most also stop at Temple University station
Temple University (SEPTA station)
Temple University station is an above-ground SEPTA Regional Rail station located at the eastern edge of the Temple University campus at 915 West Berks Street between 9th and 10th Streets, in North Philadelphia.-Station:...
on the campus of Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in North Philadelphia. Operations are handled by the SEPTA Railroad Division.
The 13 branches can be divided into those originally owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR) (which would become Penn Central), and those of the Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
(RDG). Before the Center City Commuter Connection
Center City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
opened in November 1984, the Pennsylvania Railroad commuter lines and the Reading commuter lines were two completely separate railroads. Each had a separate Center City terminal, with the PRR lines terminating at Suburban Station, while the RDG lines terminated at Reading Terminal
Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
.
Reading Terminal was replaced by Market East Station, which is part of the Center City Commuter Connection and sits partially under the former Reading Terminal. The Center City Commuter Connection united the two systems by turning the two terminal stations into through-stations, resulting in a more efficient system with most inbound trains from one line continuing on as outbound trains on another line (some limited/express trains terminate on one of the stub-end tracks at Suburban Station.)
Lines
There are 13 lines in the Regional Rail system, with seven on the former PRR side and six on the former RDG side.Prior to July 25, 2010, each PRR line was paired with a RDG branch and numbered from R1 to R8, except for R4, so that one route number described two lines, one on the PRR side and one on the RDG side. This was found to be less beneficial than originally thought, especially for newer riders, as finding which train, as one had to remember the terminus or direction in addition to the R-number. Along with changes in train dispatching that lead to fewer trains following both sides of the same route, SEPTA decided to drop the R-number route designators. The color-coded designations for each route were also eliminated.
Former Pennsylvania Railroad lines:
- Airport Line: terminates at the Philadelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
. - Chestnut Hill West LineChestnut Hill West LineThe Chestnut Hill West Line , is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill...
: terminates in the Chestnut HillChestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaChestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Boundaries:Chestnut Hill is bounded as follows:...
section of Philadelphia. - Cynwyd LineCynwyd LineThe Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County.Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Branch, service was truncated on October 25, 1986 from Ivy Ridge to its current terminus at Cynwyd....
: terminates in Bala CynwydBala Cynwyd, PennsylvaniaBala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1 . It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community...
and operates on weekdays only. Until 1986, trains continued on to Ivy Ridge station in northwestern Philadelphia. - Media/Elwyn LineMedia/Elwyn LineThe Media/Elwyn Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia west to Elwyn in Delaware County.Originally known as the Media/West Chester Branch, service was truncated on September 19, 1986 from West Chester to its current terminus at Elwyn. Service expansion beyond Elwyn...
: terminates in ElwynElwyn (SEPTA station)Elwyn is the southern terminus of the SEPTA Media/Elwyn Line. Until 1986, service continued west to West Chester. Services was suspended due to poor track conditions...
. Until 1986, trains continued on to West ChesterWest Chester, PennsylvaniaThe Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...
. SEPTA is considering restoring service to Wawa, about three miles (5 km) west of Elwyn; however, this project is on hold, pending approval of the Fiscal Year 2011 Capital Budget - Paoli/Thorndale LinePaoli/Thorndale LineThe Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
: some trains terminate at MalvernMalvern, PennsylvaniaMalvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census. The main road through the borough is King Street, although the borough is also bordered by Paoli Pike on the south, and is near US 30 on the north. The primary cross street is Warren...
and the others go to ThorndaleThorndale, PennsylvaniaThorndale is a census-designated place in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,407 at the 2010 census. Thorndale is the commercial and administrative center of Caln Township. The community's main street is Business U.S. Route 30...
. - Trenton Line: terminates in Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. This line offers a connection to New York Penn Station via New Jersey TransitNew Jersey TransitThe New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
's Northeast Corridor LineNortheast Corridor LineThe Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail operation run by New Jersey Transit along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It is the successor to commuter services provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad along the section between Trenton, New Jersey and New York Penn Station...
. - Wilmington/Newark Line: terminates in Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, DelawareWilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, with some weekday trains continuing to Newark, DelawareNewark, DelawareNewark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...
. The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) subsidizes Delaware service.
Former Reading Company lines:
- Chestnut Hill East LineChestnut Hill East LineThe Chestnut Hill East Line , is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill...
: terminates in the Chestnut HillChestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaChestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Boundaries:Chestnut Hill is bounded as follows:...
section of Philadelphia. - Fox Chase LineFox Chase LineThe Fox Chase Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system.Originally known as the Fox Chase/Newtown Branch, service was truncated in January 1983 from Newtown to its current terminus in Philadelphia at Fox Chase due to unreliable train equipment and low ridership...
: terminates in the Fox ChaseFox Chase, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaFox Chase is a neighborhood in the Northeast Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The origin of the name comes from The "Fox Chase Inn" which opened in 1705...
section of Philadelphia. Until 1983, connecting diesel trains continued to Newtown, PennsylvaniaNewtown, Bucks County, PennsylvaniaNewtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is entirely surrounded by Newtown Township, from which...
. - Lansdale/Doylestown LineLansdale/Doylestown LineThe Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown in Bucks County.-Route:The Lansdale-Doylestown segment of the R5 line utilizes what is known as the "SEPTA Main Line", a four-track line that has been owned by SEPTA since 1983...
: terminates at DoylestownDoylestown, PennsylvaniaDoylestown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 8,380. The borough is the county seat of Bucks County.- History :...
. On weekdays, approximately half of the local trains terminate at LansdaleLansdale, PennsylvaniaLansdale is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Early in the 20th century, its industries included agricultural implement works, a canning factory, foundries, brickyards, a silk mill, and manufacturers of cigars, stoves, shirts, rope, iron drain pipe,...
while the remainder of the local trains, and some expresses, continue on to Doylestown. - Manayunk/Norristown LineManayunk/Norristown LineThe Manayunk/Norristown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to the Elm Street station in Norristown, Montgomery County.-Route:...
: terminates at Elm Street in NorristownNorristown, PennsylvaniaNorristown is a municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, northwest of the city limits of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. The population was 34,324 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
. - Warminster LineWarminster LineThe Warminster Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail. It serves stations between its namesake town, Warminster, and Center City, Philadelphia...
: terminates in WarminsterWarminster Township, PennsylvaniaWarminster Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 32,682 at the 2010 census.The town was named for the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, England.-Geography:...
. - West Trenton LineWest Trenton Line (SEPTA)The West Trenton Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to West Trenton, New Jersey.-Route:The West Trenton Line connects Center City, Philadelphia with the West Trenton section of Ewing, New Jersey...
: terminates at the West Trenton stationWest Trenton (SEPTA station)West Trenton is the northern terminus of the SEPTA West Trenton Line. It is officially located at Grand & Railroad Avenues in Ewing, New Jersey, however this address only applies to the southbound station house on the west side of the tracks...
in Ewing, New Jersey.
Stations
There are 153 active stations on the Regional Rail system , of which 51 are in the city of Philadelphia, 41 are in Montgomery CountyMontgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
, 29 are in Delaware County
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
, 16 are in Bucks County
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
, 10 are in Chester County
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
, and six are outside the state of Pennsylvania. Passenger boardings within Philadelphia account for 61% of all trips on a typical weekday in 2003, with 45% from the three Center City stations and Temple University station.
| County | Stations | Boardings in 2003 | Boardings in 2001 |
| Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,... |
51 | 60 967 | 61 970 |
| Montgomery County Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part... |
41 | 17 228 | 18 334 |
| Delaware County Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties.... |
29 | 8 310 | 8 745 |
| Bucks County Bucks County, Pennsylvania - Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by... |
16 | 5 332 | 5 845 |
| Chester County Chester County, Pennsylvania -State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were... |
10 | 5 154 | 5 079 |
| Outside Pennsylvania | 6 | 2 860 | 3 423 |
| total | 153 | 99 851 | 103 396 |
Fleet
SEPTA uses a mixed fleet of Budd CompanyBudd Company
The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and St. Louis Car Company
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...
"Silverliner" electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
(EMU) self-operated cars. SEPTA also uses push-pull equipment consisting of coaches built by Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
and Pullman Standard, hauled by AEM-7
EMD AEM-7
The AEM-7 is a B-B electric locomotive that is used in the United States on the Northeast Corridor between Washington DC and Boston and the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. They were built by Electro-Motive Division from 1978 to 1988...
or ALP-44
ALP-44
The ABB ALP-44 is an electric locomotive which was built by Asea Brown Boveri between 1990 and 1996 and are in operation on the New Jersey Transit and SEPTA railway lines.-New Jersey Transit:...
electric locomotives identical to those used by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
(NJT) on its electrified rail services for express and rush-hour service. The "Silverliner" coaches, first used by the PRR 1958 as the "Pioneer III
Pioneer III (railcar)
The Budd Company Pioneer III electric multiple unit coach was delivered in 1958 as a high-speed self-contained coach that could be used for long-distance commuter or short-distance intercity travel in the Northeast U.S., where most Class I passenger railroads were electrified. Only six were ever...
," for a prototype intercity EMU alternative to the GG1-hauled trains, were purchased by SEPTA in 1963 as "Silverliner II" units for both the PRR and Reading lines and were built by the Budd Corporation in Philadelphia. In 1967, the PRR took delivery of the St. Louis-built "Silverliner III" cars, which featured left-hand side controls (railroad cars traditionally have right-hand side controls) and flush toilets (since removed), and were used primarily for Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
-Philadelphia service. Both the Silverliner II and III cars were designated under the PRR MP85 class.
The bulk of the fleet, the "Silverliner IV", were built by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in Philadelphia and Erie, PA with Budd components, and were delivered in 1974–76, prior to the formation of Conrail. The "Silverliner II", "Silverliner III", and "Silverliner IV" cars are used on all Regional Rail lines, while the Bombardier push-pull equipment is used exclusively for Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line
West Trenton Line (SEPTA)
The West Trenton Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to West Trenton, New Jersey.-Route:The West Trenton Line connects Center City, Philadelphia with the West Trenton section of Ewing, New Jersey...
, Paoli/Thorndale Line
Paoli/Thorndale Line
The Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
, and Trenton Line peak express service. The push-pull equipment is used only for express runs because its slow acceleration, compared to the Silverliner EMU equipment, making it less suitable for local service with close station spacing and frequent stops and starts. Some "Silverliner III" cars were even converted for exclusive Airport Line use – they featured special luggage racks (where the old toilet closets were located, and are still in use to this day), yellow window paintings, and the "PHL" logo used for the Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
. Currently, all cars, regardless of the model, have a blended red and blue SEPTA window logos, and (required by Amtrak for operations on both the Northeast
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
and Keystone Corridor
Keystone Corridor
The Keystone Corridor is a Federal Railroad Administration "designated high speed corridor" with a 349-mile railroad line between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a top speed of...
s) flashing "ditch lights," which are switched on at grade crossings and when "deadheading" through stations. SEPTA also owns 2 "Arrow II" EMU cars built by Budd and once operated by New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
for its electrified service to and from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is one of the New York Metropolitan area's major transportation hubs. The commuter-oriented intermodal facility, is located on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey...
. The "Arrow II" car is nearly identical to that of the "Silverliner IV", but lacks the distinctive dynamic brake roof "hump" on the car, and has a "diamond" pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
instead of the "T" pantograph used on the "Silverliner". The "Arrow II" are used as part of work trains, such as catenary inspection and leaf removal.
With the exception of the "Pioneer III" (Silverliner I) coaches, which have since been retired and (except for one, which is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.The museum is located on the east side of Strasburg along Pennsylvania Route 741...
in nearby Strasburg, Pennsylvania
Strasburg, Pennsylvania
Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It developed as a linear village along the Great Conestoga Road, stretching about two miles along path later known as the Strasburg Road...
) scrapped, all three Silverliner models are compatible with one another. SEPTA is currently undergoing the process of retiring the "Silverliner II" and "Silverliner III" cars and replacing them with the "Silverliner V" model.
A total of 120 new "Silverliner V" cars are to be built, with the first three entering service on October 29, 2010. The cost for all 120 cars is $274 million, and they will be constructed facilities in South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
by Hyundai Rotem, with the entire fleet to enter service by the end of 2011.
Resembling a "stretched" Market-Frankford Line
Market-Frankford Line
The Market–Frankford Line is a rapid transit line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority .-Route:The Market–Frankford Line begins at 69th Street Transportation Center, in Upper Darby...
M-4 car or the M8
M8 (railcar)
The M8 is an electric multiple unit railroad car built by Kawasaki for use on the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad. It will replace the current fleet of 240 M2's which are nearing 40 years old and the 54 M4's which entered service in 1987.-Design:...
cars used by the Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
, the "Silverliner V" cars will have three doors on each side: one each a quarter length from each end of the cars for boarding and alighting at stations with either high or low-level platforms, and an additional door adjacent to one of the quarter-point doors used at high level platforms for faster arrivals and departures at the major Center City zone stations (University City, 30th Street, Suburban/Penn Center, Market East, and Temple University). They also feature wider aisles and seats, and dedicated areas for wheelchairs and power scooters. In place of the glass-reinforced plastic
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
placards denoting the train route, the train route and destination will be displayed on new colored LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
panels on both the front and sides of the train, and improved PA systems will allow the automated system to announce station names. The new trains feature enhanced security, with CCTV cameras that are able to broadcast over a proprietary wireless network to the Command Center at SEPTA's headquarters.
In addition to the new "Silverliner V" cars, the "Silverliner IV" cars have been upgraded with silicone
Silicone
Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant and rubber-like, they are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications , cookware, and insulation....
-based transformers (the original transformers used PCBs
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
) and now sport new red-colored pantographs that will allow both the "Sliverliner IV" and "Silverliner V" cars to look aesthetically and functionally more alike.
All current SEPTA equipment is compatible with the power supplies on both the ex-PRR (Amtrak-supplied) and ex-RDG (SEPTA-supplied) sides of the system. The entire system uses 12,000-volt/25 Hz overhead catenary lines that were erected by the PRR and RDG railroads between 1915 and 1938, with the system "phase break" being located at the northern entrance to the Center City commuter tunnel between the Market East Station and the Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
Station.
SEPTA's railroad reporting mark
Reporting mark
A reporting mark is a two-, three-, or four-letter alphabetic code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on the North American railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely...
SEPA is the official mark for their revenue equipment, though it can rarely be found on any noticeable external markings. SPAX can be seen on non-revenue work equipment including boxcars, diesel locomotives, and other rolling stock.
The following is a list of rolling stock used on passenger service by SEPTA:
Electric Multiple Units
| Year | Make | Model | Numbers | Total | Hp Horsepower Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the... |
Tare Tare weight Tare , from the Middle French word tare "wastage in goods, deficiency, imperfection" , from Italian tara, from Arabic tarah, lit. "thing deducted or rejected," from taraha "to reject" weight, sometimes called unladen weight, is the weight of an empty vehicle or container... (Ton Short ton The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S... /t Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... ) |
Seats | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Budd Budd Company The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century.... |
Silverliner II | 201–209, 211–219, 251–256, 258–264, 266–269, 9001–9017 |
52 of 56 active | 624 | 50.7/46.1 | 124–127 | 200 series cars are former Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.... cars, original number sequence 201–219 and 251–269. 9000 series cars are former Reading Railroad cars. |
| 1967 | St. Louis Car St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:... |
Silverliner III | 220–223, 225–239 | 19 of 20 active | 624 | 50.7/46.1 | 122 (232–239 seat 90) | Former Pennsylvania Railroad cars used on what is now the Keystone Service Keystone Service Amtrak's Keystone Service provides frequent passenger train service along the Amtrak-owned Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Station in New York via 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. It is... with left-side cabs, instead of standard right-side cabs; 232–239 formerly dedicated cars for the R1 Airport Line. |
| 1974–76 | GE | Silverliner IV | 101–188, 306–399, 417–460 (married pairs) 276–305, 400–416 (single cars) |
231 of 232 active | Not known | 62.5/56.8 | 125 | 400-series units are cars renumbered from lower series or from Reading Railroad cars 9018–9031 when PCB Polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx... transformers were replaced with silicone transformers. |
| 2010– | Rotem | Silverliner V Silverliner V -Overview:The cars feature expanded interiors and windows, additional entrances, and screens used to display information about the service. They are all ADA compliant and meet FRA safety requirements.... |
701–738 (single cars) 802–882 (married pairs) |
12'of 120 active | 62.5/56.8 | 110 | Replacements for 70 older cars; will also add capacity. First three cars entered revenue service October 29, 2010; all to be in service by 2011. |
Push-Pull Passenger Cars
| Year | Make | Model | Numbers | Total | Tare Tare weight Tare , from the Middle French word tare "wastage in goods, deficiency, imperfection" , from Italian tara, from Arabic tarah, lit. "thing deducted or rejected," from taraha "to reject" weight, sometimes called unladen weight, is the weight of an empty vehicle or container... (Ton Short ton The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S... /t Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... ) |
Seats | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Pullman Standard | Comet I | 2460–2461(cab cars) 2590–2595 (trailers) |
2 cabs, 6 coaches | 50/45.4 | 118 (cab car) 131 (trailers) |
Cars originally built for NJDOT New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey. It is headed by the Commissioner of Transportation... for service on the Erie Lackawanna's commuter trains. Purchased from NJ Transit 2008 for added seating. |
| 1987 | Bombardier Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany.... |
SEPTA I | 2401–2410 (cab cars) 2501–2525 (trailers) |
10 cab cars 25 trailers |
50/45.4 | 118 (cab cars) 131 (trailers) |
|
| 1999 | Bombardier | SEPTA II | 2550–2559 | 10 trailers | 50/45.4 | 117 | These cars have a center door, and are used in push-pull service. |
Locomotives
| Year | Make | Model | Numbers | Total | Hp Horsepower Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the... |
Tare Tare weight Tare , from the Middle French word tare "wastage in goods, deficiency, imperfection" , from Italian tara, from Arabic tarah, lit. "thing deducted or rejected," from taraha "to reject" weight, sometimes called unladen weight, is the weight of an empty vehicle or container... (Ton Short ton The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S... /t Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... ) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | EMD | AEM-7 EMD AEM-7 The AEM-7 is a B-B electric locomotive that is used in the United States on the Northeast Corridor between Washington DC and Boston and the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. They were built by Electro-Motive Division from 1978 to 1988... |
2301–2307 | 7 | 7,000 | 101/91.9 | |
| 1995 | ABB | ALP-44 ALP-44 The ABB ALP-44 is an electric locomotive which was built by Asea Brown Boveri between 1990 and 1996 and are in operation on the New Jersey Transit and SEPTA railway lines.-New Jersey Transit:... |
2308 | 1 | 7000 | 99.2/90.2 | Delivered as a result of a settlement agreement for late delivery of N-5 cars. |
Electrification
All lines used by SEPTA are electrified with overhead catenary supplying alternating currentAlternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
at 12 kV with a frequency of 25 Hz. The system on the former PRR side is owned and operated by Amtrak, part of the electrification of the Northeast Corridor. The electrification on the RDG side is owned by SEPTA
SEPTA's 25 Hz Traction Power System
SEPTA operates a 25 Hz traction power system in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that it inherited from the Reading Railroad. This system is separate but similar to the system designed by the Pennsylvania Railroad which is now operated by Amtrak. SEPTA's trains can run over either...
. The Amtrak system was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1915 and 1938. The SEPTA-owned system was originally built by The Reading Railroad starting in 1931.
Yards and maintenance facilities
SEPTA has four major yards and facilities for the storage and maintenance of regional rail trains:- Frazer Yard, in Frazer, PA, along the Paoli/Thorndale LinePaoli/Thorndale LineThe Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
; services push-pull trainPush-pull trainPush–pull is a mode of operation for locomotive-hauled trains allowing them to be driven from either end.A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via some form of remote control, such as multiple-unit train control, to a vehicle equipped with a control cab at the other...
sets. - Overbrook Maintenance Facility, near Overbrook stationOverbrook (SEPTA station)Overbrook Station is an above-ground commuter rail station located in Overbrook at the edge of the City of Philadelphia at 63rd Street and City Line Avenue...
on the Paoli/Thorndale Line; Services EMUs - Powelton Yard, adjacent to 30th Street Station30th Street Station30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
- Roberts Yard, adjacent to Wayne JunctionWayne Junction (SEPTA station)Wayne Junction is a SEPTA Regional Rail station located at 4481 Wayne Avenue, extending along Windrim Avenue to Germantown Avenue, bordering the Nicetown and Germantown neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Station:...
History
SEPTA was created to provide government subsidies to passenger railroads and transit operations, and in 1966 had contracts with the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR) and the Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
(RDG) to continue commuter rail services in the Philadelphia region.
The Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company
The PRR and RDG operated both passenger and freight trains along their tracks in the Philadelphia region. To improve the efficiency of their commuter passenger lines, both companies added electrificationRailway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
to their busiest lines. The system used is an overhead catenary trolley wire that is energized at 11,000 V
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
single-phase AC
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
at 25 Hertz (Hz), very uncommon by today's standards as regular American households use double-phase AC at 60 Hz. The PRR started using this system on the Paoli line in 1915, the Chestnut Hill West line in 1918, and the Media/West Chester and Wilmington lines in 1928. Both the PRR and RDG continued their electrification projects into the 1930s, replacing trains pulled by steam locomotives with electric multiple unit
Multiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
cars and locomotives. PRR electrification reached Trenton and Norristown in 1930. RDG began electrified operation in 1931 to West Trenton, Hatboro (extended to Warminster
Warminster Township, Pennsylvania
Warminster Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 32,682 at the 2010 census.The town was named for the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, England.-Geography:...
in 1974) and Doylestown, and in 1933 to Chestnut Hill East and Norristown. The notable exception was the line to Newtown, which was the Reading's only suburban route not electrified.
Carrying passengers had been unprofitable for the railroads since about 1950, due to the rise in automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
ownership and the building of the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
. Because of this, the city of Philadelphia undertook a partnership with the RDG and PRR in the late 50s to subsidize commuter service. This, however, was not enough to counter the deterioration of the railroad infrastructure. The city did purchase new commuter equipment starting in the 1960s, the Silverliners. The railroads were losing money in general and were keen to get rid of their passenger operations so that they could focus on more profitable freight service. Plus, the noticeable neglect of their passenger service was becoming an issue with commuters and local governments.
On February 1, 1968, the PRR merged with the New York Central railroad to become the Penn Central (PC) in an effort to remain solvent. Two years later, on June 21, 1970, PC filed for bankruptcy.
In 1971, the RDG filed for bankruptcy after being unprofitable for several years mostly due to the selling of its minority stakes after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) was absorbed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) in the 1960s. The B&O used the Reading's tracks from Philadelphia to Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
for its Washington-New York service, but eliminated passenger service north of Baltimore in 1958.
Conrail
In 1976, Conrail took over the railroad-related assets and operations of the bankrupt PRR and RDG railroads, including the commuter rail operations. Conrail provided commuter rail services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA assumed operations.SEPTA Takeover and Strike
The transition from Conrail to SEPTA, overseen by General Manager David L. GunnDavid L. Gunn
David L. Gunn is a transportation system administrator who has headed several significant railroads and transit systems in North America....
(later an Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
executive), was not a smooth one. SEPTA attempted to impose transit (bus and subway driver's) pay scales and work rules, which was met by resistance by the BLE
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on May 8, 1863, as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. A year later, its name was changed to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, sometimes referred to as the Brotherhood of Engineers...
(an experiment was already in place on the diesel-only Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line, which used City Transit Division employees instead of traditional railroad employees as a bargaining chip). As the January 1, 1983 deadline approached, the unions stated they agreed to work even if new union contracts were not in place by the new year. SEPTA had spent most of December 1982 preparing riders for the likelihood of no train service come the new year. Even with the unions' offers to continue working, SEPTA insisted that a brief shutdown of service would still be necessary, arguing that it would not know until the eleventh hour how many Conrail employees would actually come to work for SEPTA. In addition, SEPTA claimed that these employees would have to be qualified to work on portions of the system unfamiliar to them.
A lawyer who regularly commuted from Newtown
Newtown (SEPTA station)
Newtown is a closed station and terminus of SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on Penn Street in Newtown Borough, Pennsylvania.-History:In the railroad's original plans, the line was to continue to the north, but this expansion was never built. Newtown Station was built in 1873 and torn down in...
on the Fox Chase Rapid Transit line filed a class action lawsuit against SEPTA to force the agency to keep trains running. The judge who heard the case, while agreeing that SEPTA probably would not be able initially to operate a full schedule, ordered the agency to keep as much train service running as possible. This resulted in limited service after January 1, 1983 on all the former RDG lines and the heavily patronized former PRR Paoli line
Paoli/Thorndale Line
The Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
. Full service was gradually restored over the next several weeks.
The unions then surprised SEPTA on March 15, 1983 by going on strike, still without contracts, in an action timed to coincide with an expected City Transit Division strike. At the time, the City Transit Division was chafing at SEPTA for discontinuing diesel service on the Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line on January 14, 1983, as personnel were paid higher salaries for traveling a considerable distance to operate trains based in Newtown. SEPTA, however, settled with the transit union shortly before its strike deadline, a move that rail unions took as a betrayal. The rail unions had hoped that with both the railroads and City Transit shut down, the unions could extract whatever settlement they desired. The railroad strike lasted 108 days, and service did not resume until July 3, 1983, when the last holdout union agreed to a contract to settle from the other rail unions.
In the end, SEPTA would treat the unions as proper railroad workers vs. transit operators, but their pay scale remains lower than that of other Northeast commuter railroads, such as NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad. This resulted in lower ridership, which took over 10 years to rebuild.
The end of diesel routes
SEPTA's current regional rail system is entirely run with electric-powered multiple unitMultiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
cars and locomotives. This situation is unique in North America, as all other commuter rail agencies throughout the continent operate with either a combination of diesel and electric motive power, or entirely diesel trains.
Under contract to SEPTA, Conrail operated four routes throughout the 1970s on the former Reading lines. These services originated from Reading Terminal:
- AllentownAllentown, PennsylvaniaAllentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
via BethlehemBethlehem, PennsylvaniaBethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, QuakertownQuakertown, PennsylvaniaQuakertown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,979. The borough is south of Bethlehem and north of Philadelphia, making Quakertown a border town of both the Delaware Valley and Lehigh Valley metropolitan areas...
and LansdaleLansdale, PennsylvaniaLansdale is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Early in the 20th century, its industries included agricultural implement works, a canning factory, foundries, brickyards, a silk mill, and manufacturers of cigars, stoves, shirts, rope, iron drain pipe,...
. Allentown-Quakertown service ended 1979; Bethlehem-Quakertown service ended July 1, 1981; Quakertown-Lansdale service ended July 27, 1981. - PottsvillePottsville, PennsylvaniaPottsville is the only city in and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,549 at the 2000 census. The city lies along the west bank of the Schuylkill River, north-west of Philadelphia...
via ReadingReading, PennsylvaniaReading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
and NorristownNorristown, PennsylvaniaNorristown is a municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, northwest of the city limits of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. The population was 34,324 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
, ended July 27, 1981. - Newark, New JerseyNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
(to Newark Penn Station) via West Trenton. Service past West Trenton ended July 1, 1981; replacement New Jersey TransitNew Jersey TransitThe New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
connecting service continued until 1983. - Fox Chase-Newtown service initially ended July 1, 1981; it was re-established on October 5, 1981 as the Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line, which then ended on January 14, 1983.
Most train equipment was either Budd Rail Diesel Car
Budd Rail Diesel Car
The Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar. In the period 1949–62, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
s, or locomotive-hauled push-pull trains with former RDG FP7
EMD FP7
The EMD FP7 was a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for...
s.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...
(PennDOT) eliminated funding to operate trains that operated outside of SEPTA's service area (the 5-county region), diverting the funds instead to highway projects. Coupled with the Reagan Administration's policy abolishing federal operating subsidies for mass transit, SEPTA was not allowed to allocate any funding outside of the 5-county region, resulting in public hearings held during the week of January 26, 1981.
Via a flyer distributed to soon-to-be-displaced riders, the Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (DVARP) urged passengers to contact Governor Dick Thornburgh
Dick Thornburgh
Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S...
, who ordered PennDOT to eliminate train service. Thornburgh later fired PennDOT Deputy Secretary of Transportation Ed Tennyson for refusing to carry out the governor's order. Tennyson stated that such a move was illegal on Thornburgh's part, as the elimination of such extensive passenger service would result in additional automobile combustion and pollution.
DVARP also argued that the only reason SEPTA had to eliminate diesel service was "further reduce the number of riders using these trains so they can justify replacement bus service. A train rider is not a bus rider." DVARP added that SEPTA needed to "work out a solution to the funding problem rather than just quit! It's hard to improve a train after it's gone".
Another factor was the omission of ventilation fans in the design of the Center City Commuter Tunnel
Center City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
that opened in 1984. DVARP advocated for the inclusion of ventilation fans that would allow diesel exhaust fumes to exit tunnels and stations. SEPTA deemed the option unfeasible throughout the planning process.
DVARP later characterized the termination of the diesels as "SEPTA's worst railroad mistake." The end of diesel service resulted in over 150 route miles lost, much of it through regions whose populations exploded throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Expansion
In November 1984, the Center City Commuter ConnectionCenter City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
opened for service. The tunnel, which had been first discussed in the 1950s, is an underground connection between PRR and RDG lines; previously, PRR commuter trains would terminate at Suburban Station and RDG at Reading Terminal. The connection converted Suburban Station into a through-station and rerouted RDG trains down a steep incline and into a tunnel which turns sharply west near the new Market East Station. Converting the terminals into through stations was seen as increasing efficiency and reducing the number of tracks needed for the trains.
On April 28, 1985, the Airport Line opened, providing service from Suburban Station via 30th Street Station to the Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
. This line runs along Amtrak's NEC to a bridge which carries it over the NEC and onto Reading trackage which passes close to the airport. At the airport, a new bridge carries it over Interstate 95
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida and serving some of the most populated urban areas in the country, including Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore,...
and into the airport terminals between the baggage claim in arrivals and the check-in counters in departures.
Shrinking service
The end of diesel trains between 1979 and 1983 was the beginning of SEPTA's downsizing era. A lack of operating funds, coupled with SEPTA's desire to avoid maintaining lines in need of significant maintenance, resulted in additional service cutbacks throughout the 1980s:- R3 West ChesterWest Chester (SEPTA station)West Chester is a train station located on Market Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's West Chester Branch line...
service was truncated to Elwyn on September 19, 1986 due to unsatisfactory track conditions west of Elwyn. - R6 Ivy Ridge service was truncated to Cynwyd on May 17, 1986, due to concerns about the Manayunk BridgeManayunk BridgeThe Manayunk Bridge is a historic bridge in Pennsylvania across the Schuylkill River and adjacent Schuylkill Canal between Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County and the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia.-History:...
over the Schuylkill RiverSchuylkill RiverThe Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
. - R8 diesel service between Fox Chase and Newtown ended on January 14, 1983 due to failing diesel train equipmentBudd Rail Diesel CarThe Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar. In the period 1949–62, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
SEPTA was not interested in rehabilitating. Though this service was initially terminated on July 1, 1981 (along with diesel services to Allentown and Pottsville), SEPTA reinstated service on October 5, 1981, using operators from the city transit division (the service was known as the experimental Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line). This caused a rift in unions within the organization, adding to the March 1983 strike that lasted 108 days.
SEPTA management was criticized for the severe cutbacks the agency deemed necessary at the time. Noted international transit expert and University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
professor Vukan Vuchic (who also designed the former R-numbering system for SEPTA) commented that he had never seen a city the size of Philadelphia "cut transit services quite as drastically as SEPTA. For a system that is already obsolete, any more cutbacks would be disastrous—and likely spell doom for transit in the Philadelphia region."
DVARP also commented that SEPTA purposely truncated service, stating that while other commuter railroad counterparts "in North America expand their rail services, SEPTA is the only one continuing to cut and cut and cut. The only difference between SEPTA and its railroad and transit predecessors is that SEPTA eliminates services to avoid rebuilding assets, while its predecessors (PRR, RDG and Conrail) kept service running while deferring maintenance."
RailWorks
As a result of decades of deferred maintenance on the Reading ViaductReading Viaduct
The Reading Viaduct is the common name for an abandoned railroad viaduct in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway...
between the Center City Commuter Connection
Center City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
and Wayne Junction, SEPTA undertook a 10-month, $354 million project to overhaul the viaduct in 1992 and 1993. Labeled "RailWorks," by SEPTA, the project, spurred by an emergency bridge replacement project in 1983 shortly after the tunnel opened, resulted in the replacement of several dilapidated bridges, the installing of new continuous-welded rail and overhead catenary, the construction of new rail stations at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and North Broad Street
Broad Street (Philadelphia)
Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is nearly 13 miles long.It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95...
, and the upgrading of signals.
Built by the Reading Company and opened in 1898 along with Reading Terminal
Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
, the Reading Viaduct is a series of bridges and embankments that allows trains to run on elevated railroad tracks, separated from road traffic and pedestrians. The 1983 bridge replacement, over Columbia (now Cecil B. Moore
Cecil B. Moore
Cecil Bassett Moore was a Philadelphia lawyer, civil rights activist who led the fight to integrate Girard College, president of the local NAACP, and member of Philadelphia's City Council....
) Avenue near Temple University, was in such poor condition that the bridge inspector actually saw the structure sag every time a train passed over the bridge; further inspection revealed that the bridge was in imminent danger of collapsing. The viaduct was completely shut down during each phase, with the R6 Norristown, R7 Chestnut Hill East, and R8 Fox Chase lines suspended during the shutdown. Other Reading lines only came as far into the city as the Fern Rock Transportation Center, where riders had to transfer to the Broad Street Subway. The number of subway trains needed to carry both regular Broad Street Subway riders, as well as passengers transferring to the subway because of RailWorks, exceeded the capacity of the above-ground two-track stub-end Fern Rock Station of the Broad Street line. In 1993 a loop track was added around the Fern Rock Yard which northbound trains use to approach the station from the rear. The loop avoids a switch which had caused the bottleneck.
During RailWorks, SEPTA ran several diesel trains during peak-hours from the Reading side branches, along non-electrified Conrail trackage, to 30th Street Station. Upon the completion of RailWorks, the Reading Viaduct became the "newest" piece of railroad owned by SEPTA, although other projects have since allowed improved service on the ex-Reading side of the system.
Original route numbering plan
From 1984 to 2010, the regional rail lines were numbered from R1 to R8, with the notable omission of R4. The reasons for this were rather complicated, going back to the original planning stages.Part of the planning for the Center City Commuter Connection
Center City Commuter Connection
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
was to decide on how trains would be routed through the tunnel and which branches would be paired up. The original plan for the system was made by University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
professor Vukan Vuchic, based on the S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
commuter rail systems in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Numbers were assigned to the PRR-side lines in order from south (Airport) to northeast (Trenton), and the RDG-side matches were chosen to roughly balance ridership, to attempt to avoid trains running full on one side and then running mostly empty on the other. The following lines were recommended:
- R1 Airport to West Trenton
- R2 Marcus Hook to Warminster
- R3 Media/West Chester to Chestnut Hill West
- R4 Bryn Mawr (on the same tracks as the R5 Paoli) to Fox Chase
- R5 Paoli to Lansdale/Doylestown – express from Center City to Bryn Mawr, with R4 running local
- R6 Ivy Ridge to Norristown
- R7 Trenton to Chestnut Hill East
In addition to the Center City Commuter Connection, it was assumed that SEPTA would build one more connection, the Swampoodle Connection
Swampoodle Connection
The Swampoodle Connection was a proposed connection of the present-day Chestnut Hill West Line with the Manayunk/Norristown Line in the Swampoodle neighborhood in Philadelphia...
. This would allow PRR-side trains from Chestnut Hill West to join the RDG Norristown line instead of the PRR mainline at North Philadelphia station
North Philadelphia (SEPTA Regional Rail station)
North Philadelphia, formerly Germantown Junction Station, is a railroad station on the Northeast Corridor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is an above-ground station at 2900 North Broad Street in the city's North Philadelphia section...
. The Chestnut Hill West line and the Norristown line run adjacent to each other at that point, in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Swampoodle
Allegheny West, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Allegheny West is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of Philadelphia. It is named after an association formed by Pep Boys and Tasty Baking Company, among others, and the community bordering East Falls, Strawberry Mansion and Germantown...
. The Swampoodle Connection was never built, leading (among other factors) to the following changes:
- R3 could not go to Chestnut Hill West, so R3 trains from Media/West Chester instead went to West Trenton along the R1. Service to Chestnut Hill West was picked up by the R8.
- R4 was dropped; The R5 Paoli runs local along its entire length most of the time, and Fox Chase became half of the R8.
- R8 was added for Fox Chase to Chestnut Hill West service, using the former R4-Fox Chase and R3-Chestnut Hill West halves.
One of the assumptions in this plan was that ridership would increase after the connection was open. Instead, ridership dropped after the 1983 strike. While recent rises in oil prices have resulted in increased rail ridership for daily commuters, many off-peak trains run with few riders. Pairing up the rail lines based on ridership is less relevant today than it was when the system was implemented.
At a later time, R1 was applied to the former RDG tracks, shared with the R2 and R5 lines to Glenside
Glenside (SEPTA station)
Glenside is a SEPTA Regional Rail station along the SEPTA Main Line at the intersections of Easton Road and Glenside Avenue in Glenside, Pennsylvania. At Carmel Junction, immediately west of Glenside station, the Warminster Line splits from the Lansdale/Doylestown Line.-External links:***...
, and R3 to Jenkintown
Jenkintown-Wyncote (SEPTA station)
Jenkintown–Wyncote is a SEPTA Regional Rail station along the SEPTA Main Line. It is located at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and West Avenue in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.-Station:...
, and R1-Airport trains ran to Glenside rather than becoming R3 trains to West Trenton. In later years, SEPTA became more flexible, and now a decent number of trains change route designations downtown to cope with differences in ridership on various lines.
After the original service patterns were introduced, the following termini changed:
- R2 – Marcus Hook was extended to Wilmington and Newark
- R3 – West Chester was cut back to Elwyn
- R5 – Paoli was extended to Downingtown and Parkesburg, then later cut back to Downingtown, and later re-extended to Thorndale
- R6 – Ivy Ridge was cut back to Cynwyd
Ridership
When Conrail handled operations on SEPTA's behalf, overall ridership peaked in 1980 with over 373 million unlinked trips per year. The Regional Rail Division carried over 32 million passengers in 1980, a level which was not to be exceeded again for decades. Regional Rail ridership subsequently declined in 1982 after SEPTA ceased operating diesel service. It then sharply decline by half after SEPTA assumed operations in 1983, hitting a new low of just under 13 million passengers. There were several factors that contributed to this severe drop:- a drawn-out strike by the railroad unions
- discontinuing service to many stations (over 60) and outlying points
- increased fares during a period of decreasing gasoline prices increasing automobile usage
- SEPTA management's unfamiliarity with operating a commuter railroad (a point loudly promoted by displaced Conrail employees after the 1983 takeover)
In 1992, ridership dipped again due to economic factors and due to SEPTA's RailWorks project, which shut down half of the railroad over two periods of several months each in 1992 and 1993. A mild recession in 1992–94 also dampened ridership, but a booming economy in the late 1990s helped increase ridership to near the peak level of 1980.
In 2000, ridership started a slight decline due to the slow economy, but in 2003 ridership started increasing again. The average weekday passenger counts have not increased at the same rate as the total annual passenger counts, which may mean that weekend ridership is increasing.
In 2008, Regional Rail ridership hit an all time high of over 35 million. In 2009, it was down 1% of this high.
The ridership on the Railroad Division per fiscal years 1979–2008:
| Fiscal year | Ridership |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 31,539,688 |
| 1980 | 32,194,460 |
| 1981 | 27,109,824 |
| 1982 | 21,826,854 |
| 1983 | 12,856,207 |
| 1984 | 15,960,307 |
| 1985 | 18,788,437 |
| 1986 | 22,522,596 |
| 1987 | 22,932,834 |
| 1988 | 23,797,289 |
| 1989 | 24,143,591 |
| 1990 | 24,381,416 |
| 1991 | 23,312,199 |
| 1992 | 21,128,888 |
| 1993 | 19,185,111 |
| 1994 | 20,875,493 |
| 1995 | 22,558,492 |
| 1996 | 22,545,896 |
| 1997 | 23,012,000 |
| 1998 | 24,805,000 |
| 1999 | 25,088,000 |
| 2000 | 29,437,000 |
| 2001 | 28,671,000 |
| 2002 | 28,300,000 |
| 2003 | 28,058,200 |
| 2004 | 28,234,986 |
| 2005 | 28,632,658 |
| 2006 | 30,433,000 |
| 2007 | 31,712,000 |
| 2008 | 35,454,000 |
Transit mindset
Since SEPTA assumed full regional rail operations from Conrail in 1983, management has been accused by transit planners and passenger rail proponents of willfully having little understanding of traditional railroad operations or ridership. In 1998, DVARP commented that SEPTA tends to view its commuter rail operations in transit terms rather than something different, as counterparts such as MetraMetra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
, New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
, MARC Train
MARC Train
MARC , known prior to 1984 as Maryland Rail Commuter Service, is a regional rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration , a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract...
, Virginia Railway Express
Virginia Railway Express
The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
and Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
do. The operation of the dormant Fox Chase-Newtown segment of the Fox Chase Line
Fox Chase Line
The Fox Chase Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system.Originally known as the Fox Chase/Newtown Branch, service was truncated in January 1983 from Newtown to its current terminus in Philadelphia at Fox Chase due to unreliable train equipment and low ridership...
as a transit operation from 1981–1983—utilizing City Transit personnel instead of members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)—was the most notable example of "transitizing" (i.e. lower pay scale, frequent headways, turnstiles, electrified-only) a traditional railroad line.
In the late 1990s, SEPTA resisted the commuter rail model used throughout North America when designing the Schuylkill Valley Metro
Schuylkill Valley Metro
The Schuylkill Valley Metro was a proposal for a 62-mile railway system that would link Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the city of Reading, Pennsylvania in central Berks County, USA, using the SEPTA Manayunk/Norristown Line and Cynwyd Line, as well as two current freight-only rights-of-way owned...
project, initially preferring a light rail alternative for the 62 miles (99.8 km) line and then shifting to an unprecedented "Metrorail" model when fatal flaws were found in the light rail plan. DVARP called SEPTA's notion of bypassing traditional commuter rail "radical." SEPTA's bias against conventional commuter rail on shared track — long the standard operating scenario for all other commuter railroads in North America — forced project costs over $2 billion and led to the rejection by the Federal Transit Administration
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT...
as being too costly.
Prior to the 1983 takeover of commuter operations, SEPTA considered running the former Reading Company side of the system from traditional railroad operations to transit-type operations, but dismissed it as unfeasible for the short term. If converted to a transit-like operation , the regional rail system would operate outside of the U.S. railroad network, freeing it from most railroad-oriented federal regulations, including railroad work rules, federal safety equipment inspection requirements, and Railroad Retirement.
PA Rail
In 1995, several proposals were drafted by state legislators to create a state rail passenger service authority that would oversee all commuter rail operations throughout the commonwealth. The goal was to relieve SEPTA of its management duties while the commonwealth concentrated on growing the currently constrained Regional Rail network. SEPTA's services would be utilized to operate the trains only.Rail trails
Beginning in 2005, SEPTA started to convert many derelict railway lines under their ownership into walking trails. Rail proponents, such as the Pennsylvania Transit Expansion CoalitionPennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition
The Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition is a network of transit advocates who promote responsible investment in transit expansion. The organization's goal is to work with local transit organizations to redirect limited transportation funding to investment in expanding rail-based transit in...
(PA-TEC) commented in 2010 that the trails were hastily constructed—such as the Pennypack Trail Extension (gravel vs. pavement, single access points)—in order to erase any presence of a railway. As of 2011, the following former routes are acting as interim rail trails:
| Rail line | Trackage type | Former stations affected | Township | Dismantled | Electrified/Diesel | Trail name | Length | Service suspension date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Chase/Newtown Fox Chase Line The Fox Chase Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system.Originally known as the Fox Chase/Newtown Branch, service was truncated in January 1983 from Newtown to its current terminus in Philadelphia at Fox Chase due to unreliable train equipment and low ridership... |
single | Walnut Hill Walnut Hill (SEPTA station) Walnut Hill is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line, located on Moredon Road in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.-History:... |
Abington Township Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Abington Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 55,310 in as of the 2010 census.Abington Township is one of Montgomery County's oldest communities dating back to before 1700 and being incorporated in 1704. It is home to some of the county's... |
June 2008 | Diesel | Pennypack Trail Extension | 2.4 mi (3.9 km) | January 14, 1983 | |
| Cynwyd Cynwyd Line The Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County.Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Branch, service was truncated on October 25, 1986 from Ivy Ridge to its current terminus at Cynwyd.... |
double | Barmouth Barmouth (SEPTA station) Barmouth is a derelict train station located at the end of East Levering Mill Road in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Schuylkill Branch, and later became a part of SEPTA's Cynwyd Line.... , Manayunk East Manayunk (SEPTA station) Manayunk is a station located along the SEPTA Norristown Line. It is located at Cresson & Carson Streets in the Manayunk neighbourhood of Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... , Ivy Ridge Ivy Ridge (SEPTA station) Ivy Ridge is a station located along the SEPTA Manayunk/Norristown Line in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in a minimalist design similar to that of Narberth Station on the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line.... |
Lower Merion Township | June 2009 – June 2010 | Electric | Cynwyd Heritage Trail Ivy Ridge Trail |
3.5 mi (5.6 km) | October 25, 1986 | |
| Bethlehem/Quakertown North Pennsylvania Railroad North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company formed in 1855, and served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania.-History:... |
double | Coopersburg, Center Valley, Hellertown, Bethlehem | Lower Saucon Upper Saucon |
October 2008 | Diesel | Saucon Rail Trail | 8.9 mi (14.3 km) | July 1, 1981 | |
| Chester Creek Chester Creek Branch The Chester Creek Branch railroad line ran from Lamokin Street in Chester, Pennsylvania to Lenni in Middletown Township, until 1972. It was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad , and later by Penn Central. The branch diverged from the Northeast Corridor main line near the now-defunct SEPTA Lamokin... |
single | Lenni Lenni (SEPTA station) Lenni is a derelict train station located on the corner of Station Lane and Lenni Road in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's West Chester Line... , Knowlton, Chester Transportation Center Chester Transportation Center The Chester Transportation Center is a SEPTA bus and train station in Chester, Pennsylvania. The outside portion of the ground level serves SEPTA City Transit Division Route 37, and Suburban Transit Division Routes 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, and 119.... |
Middletown Township Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Middletown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,064 at the 2000 census. The Pennsylvania State University has an undergraduate satellite campus located in the north-central portion of the township, while Neumann College, a private... |
TBD | Diesel | Chester Creek Rail Trail | 9.5 mi (15.3 km) | June 1972 | SEPTA did not operate passenger trains on this line. Trains were last operated by the Penn Central in June 1972. Ownership on the line transferred to SEPTA in 1978 for future transporation use. |
Suggestions by PA-TEC to convert the lines into rails with trails
Rails with trails
Rails with trails are a small subset of rail trails in which a railway right-of-way remains in use by trains yet also has a parallel recreational trail. Hundreds of kilometers of RWTs exist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Western Australia.- United States :In the United States the...
were seen by SEPTA officials as a safety hazard. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia also agreed that while trails serve a good purpose, "there is sufficient right-of-way available to support both future rail service and maintain trail usage. If there is insufficient right-of-way within the corridor to do both, then a relocation or rerouting of the trail to preserve the non-motorized route is necessary."
In 2010, John Pawson, author of Delaware Valley Rails: The Railroads and Rail Transit Lines of the Philadelphia Area questioned why SEPTA is heavily involved with rail trails instead of public transit. Pawson, who was head of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is the metropolitan planning organization for the Delaware Valley. Created in 1965 by an interstate compact, DVRPC is responsible for transportation and regional planning in the greater Philadelphia area.-History:The first evidence of regional...
Regional Citizens Committee until February 2011, stated that the creation of the Pennypack Trail on the Fox Chase/Newtown line is a "relatively cheap and quick process" but that "cheapness is its only advantage." Pawson added that "the trail as built essentially runs from nowhere to nowhere. A relatively high-grade piece of infrastructure has been diverted (temporarirly, one would hope) to a relatively low-grade purpose. It's like taking over an expressway to use for someone's driveway."
Pawson concluded by saying "there is no need to pull up any more track. This real creek-side Pennypack Trail through Montgomery County and the restoration of the rail line in that county and beyond could be considered as a single valid political issue. Various groups including rail and trail proponents and others should work together for a joint project."
Rail-trail signage controversy
In March 2011, PA-TEC requested that SEPTA consider demarking their four dormant railroad lines acting as rail trails with signage. PA-TEC was willing to work with the transit agency on this project, in hopes of maintain a high profile for the dormant rail corridors. Their request was based on a federal study completed by the National Transportation Research Board in 2007, which stated that such signage gives "notice to adjacent landowners and the public generally that an interim period of low-impact or recreational use does not proscribe future development of active passenger or freight rail activity. Provisions may include large, conspicuous signage along the trail alignments and/or disclosure requirements for adjoining property sale transactions that make clear the potential future use of the [rail] corridors in question."SEPTA rejected PA-TEC's request, believing the benefits of such "signage was deemed non-existent, since SEPTA's rights to the out-of-service rights-of-way (ROW) are clearly protected as matters of real estate/railroad law, as well as the individual lease with the County. The same would apply to any other recreational trails presently being used by municipalities over SEPTA out-of-service railroad ROW's." SEPTA concluded that the expense of installing signs, "no matter how small, for the sole purpose of demarcating SEPTA's otherwise well established legal ownership rights in the ROW, cannot be financially justified." This position was echoed by Rina Cutler, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor of Transportation.
PA-TEC responded in the press by calling SEPTA's response "an act resembling Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
", stating that SEPTA was "going against their enabling legislation per Pennsylvania State Law." PA-TEC added that SEPTA "has washed their hands of the (Fox Chase/Newtown) line by refusing to associate their name with it in public. Without any analysis, SEPTA has rejected a taxpayer funded federal study that provides specific recommendations that best preserve dormant railways."
The transit advocacy group added that they are "concerned that SEPTA is creating an additional constituency resistant to putting rails on a (SEPTA) owned ROW, in this case the trail users," concluding that "the trail use will create an additional avenue of resistance even for those who would never be trail users. NIMBY
NIMBY
NIMBY or Nimby is an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard". The term is used pejoratively to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them. Opposing residents themselves are sometimes called Nimbies...
s... will be avid trail users, not for the sake of the trail, but to prevent rail use."
Timeline
- 1966: SEPTA begins contracts with the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and the Reading CompanyReading CompanyThe Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
to subsidize commuter lines. - 1974–1976: SEPTA orders and takes delivery of Silverliner IV M.U.s
- 1976: Conrail takes over bankrupt railroads and continues providing commuter services for SEPTA.
- 1979: Diesel service between Bethlehem-Allentown is discontinued. R2 Naamans Road Station closes.
- 1980: 52nd Street Station closes. Service extended from Cynwyd to new high-level station at Ivy RidgeIvy Ridge (SEPTA station)Ivy Ridge is a station located along the SEPTA Manayunk/Norristown Line in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in a minimalist design similar to that of Narberth Station on the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line....
. - July 1, 1981: Diesel service from Fox Chase-Newtown, Quakertown-Bethlehem and Norristown-Pottstown/Reading/Pottsville is discontinued due lack of funding from PennDOT, approved by Governor Dick ThornburghDick ThornburghRichard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S...
. R2 Baldwin Station closes. R5 Exton Station opens. Fares increased. - July 29, 1981: Lansdale-Quakertown diesel shuttle discontinued.
- October 5, 1981: Diesel service between Fox Chase-Newtown resumes as the Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line.
- January 1, 1983: SEPTA assumes full operation of commuter lines from Conrail.
- January 14, 1983: Diesel service from Fox Chase-Newtown—SEPTA's last diesel operated line—is discontinued due to failing train equipment; service replaced with busses until electrification is completed (as of 2010, electrification has not occurred). R5 Downingtown Station opens. R8 Westmoreland Station closes.
- March 15, 1983: BLET calls a strike that lasts 108 days.
- July 3, 1983: Strike ends: normal rail service resumes.
- November 6, 1984: Service to Reading TerminalReading TerminalThe Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
ends in anticipation of the opening of the Center City Commuter Connection six days later. - November 12, 1984: The Center City Commuter ConnectionCenter City Commuter ConnectionThe Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad...
opens. - November 16, 1984: The Columbia Avenue (now Cecil B. Moore Avenue) bridge near old Temple UniversityTemple UniversityTemple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
Station found to be unsafe, putting all four tracks out of service north of Market East Station. - December 1984: Temporary bridge opens, allowing service to resume north of Market East Station.
- April 28, 1985: R1 service to Philadelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
begins. - May 17, 1986: R6 service between Cynwyd-Ivy Ridge is discontinued.
- September 16, 1986: R3 service between Elwyn-West Chester is discontinued.
- 1990: R5 service extended from Downingtown to Coatesville and Parkesburg.
- 1990: Reading-era "Blueliner" and PRR-era Pioneer III/Silverliner I M.U.s retired.
- March 12, 1992: New Fern Rock Station opens, replacing both the old Fern Rock and Tabor stations.
- 1992: First phase of RailWorks, a project to reconstruct several bridges and viaducts on the former Reading Company's main line in North Philadelphia, shuts down the railroad between Market East and Fern Rock stations for six months.
- May 2, 1993: Second and last phase of Railworks begins.
- September 9, 1993: Second and last phase of Railworks ends.
- November 10, 1996: R5 service to Parkesburg is truncated to Downingtown. Fellwick, Fishers, Fulmor, and Shawmont Stations close.
- March 21, 1997: Parking added to Exton StationExton (SEPTA station)Exton Station is a commuter rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia atWalkertown Road, Exton, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service, Pennsylvanian , and Paoli/Thorndale Line trains....
, adding 116 spaces at a cost of $300,000. - 1997: Eastwick Station opens on the R1 Airport line.
- 2002: SEPTA announces the planned building of 104 new "Silverliner V" m.u. cars to replace aging Budd-built "Silverliner II" and St. Louis Company-built "Silverliner III" cars. New cars, identical to the GE-built "Silverliner IV" cars, will have wider seats and a center-opening door for easier boarding or departing at high-level platform stations in Center City.
- 2003: R2 Lamokin and R7 Wissinoming stations close.
- 2006: SEPTA approves contract for Hyundai Rotem to build 104 new "Silverliner V" cars. SEPTA also started negotiations with Wawa Food MarketsWawa Food MarketsWawa Inc. is a chain of convenience store/gas stations located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, near the community...
to purchase land in Wawa, PennsylvaniaWawa, PennsylvaniaWawa is an unincorporated community located in Middletown Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Named for the Ojibwe word for "goose" ,Wawa was originally known as Grubb's Bridge...
to build a new Park-and-Ride facility for a planned restoration of service between Elwyn and Wawa on Media/Elwyn LineMedia/Elwyn LineThe Media/Elwyn Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia west to Elwyn in Delaware County.Originally known as the Media/West Chester Branch, service was truncated on September 19, 1986 from West Chester to its current terminus at Elwyn. Service expansion beyond Elwyn...
. - July 2008: single track in Abington Township section of former Fox Chase-Newtown line is removed for Pennypack Trail Extension.
- October 2008: double track between Coopersburg and Hellertown section of former Quakertown-Bethlehem line is dismantled for a trail.
- June 2009: double track between Cynwyd and Pencoyd Viaduct section of former Cynwyd-Ivy Ridge line is dismantled for Cynwyd Heritage Trail.
- February 2010: First three Silverliner V cars arrive in Philadelphia, as well as nine shells to be assembled at the Hyundai Rotem plant.
- June 2010: double track between Pencoyd Viaduct and high-level Ivy Ridge Station along former Cynwyd-Ivy Ridge line is dismantled for Ivy Ridge Trail.
- July 25, 2010: R-numbering system is dropped and each branch is named after its primary termini.
- October 29, 2010: First set of Silverliner V cars begin revenue service, following a press event at Suburban Station.
External links
- SEPTA.org – SEPTA official website
- Silverliner V Technical Specification PDF
- NYCsubway.org – SEPTA Regional Rail Lines
- PENNWAYS – Center City Commuter Connection
- Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC)
- Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers (DVARP)
- Stan's Railpix: SEPTA Photo Pages.
- SEPTA Train Schedules: effective August 28, 2011
- SEPTA Regional Rail Schedule (unofficial)
- Service expansion proposal from Fox Chase to Newtown website