According to a recent statement from SEPTA, the agency was to begin using five MARC railcars on Monday on the West Trenton and Trenton Regional Rail lines, increasing capacity on both lines and providing the ability to run two additional trains into and out of Philadelphia each day. The cars add nearly 1,900 seats on the Trenton and West Trenton lines.
The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official Elaine Elbich as stating there will be “a lot more mainline construction” on I-95 over the next eight to nine years. The Inquirer reports that SEPTA is paying MARC more than $830,000 to lease the cars for a year.
According to the PennDOT website, the agency is in the midst of a long-term, multi-phase project to rebuild and improve I-95 in the state, with five major construction projects already in various stages of design and construction. SEPTA General Manager Jeffery D. Knueppel, in the statement from SEPTA, urged commuters who normally use I-95 to “give SEPTA a try during the construction project.”
“The Trenton and West Trenton Lines offer convenient alternatives for drivers who need to get to Center City from Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County,” Knueppel says in the statement. “Instead of fighting the traffic, let SEPTA do the driving.”
The lease of the MARC cars is part of a partnership between PennDOT and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to provide travel alternatives for commuters during the I-95 project. According to the SEPTA statement, the Trenton and West Trenton lines cover a large portion of the I-95 corridor that is currently impacted by construction work. For scheduling information, visit www.septa.org.
That is correct the tracks end at bumping post in Fox Chase, and there are no overhead wires north of Lansdale, there never were. The Bethlehem service used ex-Reading RDCs.
It would have been very useful if the Fox Chase line still ran to Newtown, and if the Lansdale line also served Quakertown, but I don’t expect either of those to happen. For one thing, I believe the track to Newtown has been pulled up, and as fare as QTown is concerned, there is no catenary and it would have to be a diesel operation. the track from Lansdale to QTown is there and is active, but I just don’t believe passenger service is in the cards.
There is little to no public transit out of QTown, the only way I know of if you don’t have a car is to hire a taxi. That costs fifty dollars to get you to Lansdale.
The above comments are generic in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn shyster.