2 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

From the somewhere-in-the-Philadelphia, PA-area Intelligencer, 6/29/07:

A photograph projected on a screen showed a two-car commuter train stopping at the Quakertown train station in the 1970s.

In order to take a similar photo in the next five or so years, it would cost from $101 million to $240 million, according to a presentation Wednesday night at the restored train station at East Broad and Front streets.

The story is here.

[Sloan]

 

 

SEPTA, DVRPC looking into extending passenger rail service

A rail line that has not carried passengers for decades has caught the attention of SEPTA officials and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. 

SEPTA and DVRPC have begun to study the feasibility of restoring passenger rail service from Lansdale toward Quakertown, possibly to a midpoint in West Rockhill Township.

http://www.thereport...er-rail-service

[KevinKorell]

It seems to me that the biggest stumbling block is the capital improvements necessary to provide the service.  A forced change at Lansdale between electric and diesel will, according to the study, add between 10 and 15 minutes to the trip -- which might discourage some daily commuters.  Electrifying the line beyond the junction in Lansdale of course drives up the cost of the project.

 

The positive side to any extension over this line is that it would not add to congestion on the ex-Reading SEPTA trunk line between there and Center City.  Since the Doylestown branch (between Lansdale and Doylestown) is basically a single track line about half the trains turn at Lansdale anyhow. So those trains can be extended over the restored Bethlehem branch.