- Chestnut Hill West Line
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Chestnut Hill West Line
Overview Type Commuter rail line System SEPTA Regional Rail Status Operating Termini Chestnut Hill West
Temple UniversityDaily ridership 5,626 Website septa.org Operation Operator(s) SEPTA Technical Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Standard gauge Electrification Catenary Route map The Chestnut Hill West Line (formerly called R8 Chestnut Hill West), is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail (commuter rail) system. The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill. It is one of two lines that serve these Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods, the other one being the Chestnut Hill East Line.
Contents
History
The Chestnut Hill West Line branches off from Amtrak's Northeast Corridor at North Philadelphia station and runs entirely within the City of Philadelphia. Its terminal is named Chestnut Hill West to distinguish it from the end of the Chestnut Hill East Line (a competing line of the Reading Company until 1976). Some stations are less than half a mile apart, a characteristic more commonly seen in an urban rapid transit system rather than a commuter rail line. The line runs roughly parallel to the Chestnut Hill East, and the two terminals are rather close.
The line was originally opened June 11, 1884 by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad, and was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad until 1968. The Penn Central operated it until 1976, turning operations over to Conrail until 1983, when SEPTA took over. The Chestnut Hill West Line was originally to be numbered the R3 due to the proposed Swampoodle Connection bringing it into the Reading Company side of the Center City Commuter Connection.
Electrified service began on March 30, 1918.
In June 1987, inspectors found the 103-year-old Cresheim Valley bridge (Bridge 5.44, its distance in miles from North Philadelphia Station) to be unsafe and condemned it. Service was terminated at Allen Lane with shuttle buses serving St. Martin's, Highland and Chestnut Hill West. Funding for a replacement bridge was not obtained until March 1988, and the replacement bridge opened December 1989. SEPTA also took advantage of this closure to initiate rail and catenary replacement on the line.
Name change
On July 25, 2010 SEPTA renamed the service from the R8 Chestnut Hill West to simply the Chestnut Hill West Line as part of system-wide service change that eliminated the R-number naming and makes the Center City stations the terminus for all lines. This also ended the combined R8 Fox Chase/R8 Chestnut Hill West service, but many trains from Chestnut Hill West to Center City still continue on to Fox Chase, and vice versa.[1]
The Chestnut Hill West makes the following station stops, after leaving 30th Street Station:
Zone Milepost Station Boardings City Notes C 4.7 North Philadelphia 149 Philadelphia flag stop; also Trenton Line, Amtrak 1 5.5 Westmoreland 0 station closed 6.5 Midvale freight siding 6.8 Queen Lane 482 7.4 Chelten Avenue 380 high-level platforms 2 7.9 Tulpehocken 158 8.4 Upsal 388 8.6 Clive reverse crossover 9.0 Carpenter 355 9.4 Allen Lane 279 high-level platforms 9.6 Cresheim reverse crossover (out of service) 10.2 St. Martins 223 10.7 Highland 60 11.3 Chestnut Hill West 442 high-level platforms Boardings are for fiscal year 2009. Data for North Philadelphia includes Trenton Line boardings.
From SEPTA Annual Service Plans:
Fiscal year Average weekday Annual passengers FY 2010 5,626 1,597,237[2] FY 2009 5,060 1,437,578[3] FY 2008 5,596 1,588,700[4] FY 2005 5,216 1,470,921 FY 2004 4,965 1,393,701 FY 2003 5,437 1,459,000 FY 2001 n/a 1,556,000 FY 2000 n/a 1,631,000 FY 1999 n/a 1,474,000 FY 1997 n/a 1,576,059 FY 1996 n/a 1,568,560 FY 1995 4,968 1,513,926 FY 1994 5,623 1,592,462 FY 1993 3,990 1,564,842 Note: n/a = not available External links
- SEPTA – Chestnut Hill West line schedulePDF
- Railroad History Database
- Reading Company Routes and Mileages
References
SEPTA City Transit Division Market–Frankford Line • Broad Street Line • Subway–Surface Trolley Lines (Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36) • Route 15 • Trackless trolleys • City surface routesSuburban Division Regional Rail Main Line • Airport Line • Chestnut Hill East Line • Chestnut Hill West Line • Cynwyd Line • Fox Chase Line • Lansdale/Doylestown Line • Manayunk/Norristown Line • Media/Elwyn Line • Paoli/Thorndale Line • Trenton Line • Warminster Line • West Trenton Line • Wilmington/Newark LineMajor stations Frankford Transportation Center • Fern Rock Transportation Center • Market East Station • Norristown Transportation Center • Olney Transportation Center • Suburban Station • 30th Street Station • 69th Street Transportation CenterFormer services Route 23 trolley • Route 56 trolley • Route 60 trolley • Elwyn-West Chester service • Cynwyd-Ivy Ridge service • Fox Chase Rapid Transit LineMass transit in the Delaware Valley Transit buses SEPTA: Philadelphia • Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties
Reading: Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority
New Jersey Transit: Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County suburban service • Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County local service • Long-distance local routes from Philadelphia
DART First State: New Castle CountyCommuter rail SEPTA Regional Rail: Airport Line • Chestnut Hill East Line • Chestnut Hill West Line • Cynwyd Line • Fox Chase Line • Lansdale/Doylestown Line • Manayunk/Norristown Line • Media/Elwyn Line • Paoli/Thorndale Line • Trenton Line • Warminster Line • West Trenton Line • Wilmington/Newark Line
New Jersey Transit: Atlantic City Line • ACESRapid transit and light rail SEPTA: Broad Street Line • Market–Frankford Line • Norristown High Speed Line • Subway–Surface trolleys • Route 15 • Routes 101 and 102
Delaware River Port Authority: PATCO Speedline
New Jersey Transit: River Line
Other: Greenline (proposed)Related Organizations Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission • Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) • National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) • Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (DVARP)Categories:- SEPTA Regional Rail
- Pennsylvania Railroad lines
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