Churchville (SEPTA station)

Churchville SEPTA regional rail
The former Churchville station depot in 2006. The station signage installed by SEPTA in 1984 remains 28 years after service ceased.
Station statistics
Address	Knowles Avenue and Bustleton Pike Churchville, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°11′06″N 75°00′49″W / 40.1849°N 75.0137°W / 40.1849; -75.0137Coordinates: 40°11′06″N 75°00′49″W / 40.1849°N 75.0137°W / 40.1849; -75.0137
Lines	Fox Chase Line
Levels	1
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Parking	25 spaces
Other information
Opened	1878, 1892
Closed	January 14, 1983
Electrified	no
Owned by	SEPTA
Formerly	Reading Railroad
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Southampton (closed 1983) toward 30th Street Station Fox Chase Line Newtown Holland (closed 1983) toward Newtown

Churchville is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on Knowles Avenue and Bustleton Pike in Churchville, Pennsylvania. The station, built in 1892, was a stop on the Reading Railroad's Newtown Line, and a replacement for another structure built in 1878.

History

Churchville Station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983^[1], due to failing diesel train equipment resulting in low ridership.

In addition, a labor dispute began within the SEPTA organization when the transit operator inherited 1,700 displaced employees from Conrail. SEPTA insisted on utilizing transit operators from the Broad Street Subway to operate Fox Chase-Newtown diesel trains, while Conrail requested that railroad motormen run the service. When a federal court ruled that SEPTA had to use Conrail employees in order to offer job assurance, SEPTA cancelled Fox Chase-Newtown trains.^[2] Service in the diesel-only territory north of Fox Chase was cancelled at that time, and Churchville Station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.^[3]

Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The traveling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999.

Resumption of train service

In the ensuing years since 1983, there has been heavy interest by both residents and politicians in resuming passenger service to Churchville.

In September 2009, the Southampton-based Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) began discussions with township officials along the railway, as well as SEPTA officials, about the realistic possibility of resuming even minimal passenger service to relieve traffic congestion in the region. Plans call for completing the electrification to Newtown, as originally planned in the late 1970s.

PA-TEC's efforts have received bipartisan support by both Bucks and Montgomery County officials, as well as at the state level, despite SEPTA's overall reservations. However, SEPTA has also confirmed they are willing to reestablish regular commuter service if strong political support exists in both counties.^[4]

Station building

Churchville Station has been restored and is now used as a private residence. SEPTA signage—installed in 1984, one year after train service had ended—remains in place at the station parking lot.^{[citation needed]}

Popular culture

Independent filmmaker Tom Quinn used the Churchville train station in his film Lusting For Dust Words.

References

1. ^ newtownline.pa-tec.org/history
2. ^ Tulsky, Fredric N. (January 29, 1982). "Conrail Staff Must Run Trains: court ruling bars SEPTA takeover". Philadelphia Inquirer.  SEPTA must use Conrail workers rather than its own personnel to run trains over the region's 13 commuter lines, a special federal court has ruled in a decision that offers some job assurance for 1,700 Conrail employees next year. The special court, in an opinion issued Wednesday, ruled that SEPTA had acted legally in October when it replaced Conrail workers with its former subway operators on the line.
3. ^ SEPTA Tariff No. 154; effective July 1, 2009
4. ^ Werner, Jeff (March 5, 2010). "SEPTA: Reactivation of Newtown rail line a difficult prospect". Bucks Local News. [1]

External links

• Newtown Line.pa-tec.org – Website advocating resumption of train service between Fox Chase and Newtown