R7 (SEPTA)

The SEPTA R7 is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail (commuter rail) system. One end of the route serves the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with service in Bucks County along the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey, and the other end serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill. The route uses Amtrak's Northeast Corridor between Trenton and Philadelphia, and SEPTA trackage to Chestnut Hill. It is one of two lines that serve Chestnut Hill, the other being the R8 Chestnut Hill West.

As of 2005, most weekday R7 service continues through downtown. Some weekday and all weekend trains terminate downtown.

R7 Trenton

The R7 Trenton section uses Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, a 4-track railroad, from 30th Street Station via the Philadelphia Zoo (without stopping there,) then across North Philadelphia, before running parallel to I-95 for several miles. It crosses the Delaware River at Trenton, New Jersey before making its final stop at Trenton Rail Station, which is also served by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains. Electrified service between Philadelphia and Trenton was opened on June 29, 1930.

The R7 Trenton line usually has two push-pull electric-locomotive-hauled trains on the morning express runs and two on the evening express runs. Each train is usually made up of 6 coach trailers made by Bombardier.

Those wishing to travel from Philadelphia to New York could formerly have taken Amtrak's "Clocker" service, but can still take its "Regional". The R-7 Trenton service is coordinated with New Jersey Transit's (NJT) Northeast Corridor Service. This has proven to be a popular option for people travelling between Philadelphia and New York City, although the trip time is far more lengthly that Amtrak Regional service, the cost is a fraction of what Amtrak charges. NJT offfers through ticketing from stations along the NEC to SEPTA stations, and NJT maintains a Ticket Vending Machine (TVM) at the SEPTA concourse in the 30th Street Station that sells the joint NJT/SEPTA tickets.However, while joint NJT/SEPTA tickets can be purchased at NJT staffed stations, they cannot at SEPTA staffed stations.

List of stations

Stations that have existed on this line include:

Ridership

Ridership on the Chestnut Hill East line has declined 7% from 1995 to 2005. This line was shut down in 1992 and 1993 for the RailWorks project. From SEPTA Annual Service Plans:

External links

* [http://www.septa.org/service/sched/pdfs/R7.pdf Schedule]
* [http://www.phillyhistory.org phillyhistory.org—search on keywords "Wyndmoor Station" to see some photos from the 1930 elevation project]