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West Chester Branch

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West Chester Branch
Penn Central Silverliner at West Chester in 1970
Overview
Termini
Service
Services
  Media/Wawa Line
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

Legend
mi
SEPTA Main Line
0.90
 30th Street Station
Market Street tunnel
1.70
 Penn Medicine
2.30
Arsenal Interlocking
Northeast Corridor
3.20
 49th Street
4.40
 Angora
4.79
Cobbs Creek
5.40
 Fernwood–Yeadon
5.85
Newtown Square Branch
6.30
 Lansdowne
6.90
 Gladstone
7.11
Darby Creek
7.50
 Clifton–Aldan
8.10
 Primos
8.90
 Secane
9.10
Cane
9.90
 Morton
11.20
 Swarthmore
11.97
Crum Creek
12.30
 Wallingford
13.20
 Moylan–Rose Valley
14.00
 Media
Media Yard
14.41
Ridley Creek
15.00
 Elwyn
15.80
 Williamson School
16.60
 Glen Riddle
Chester Creek Branch
17.30
 Lenni
Lenni Yard
18.00
 Wawa
18.05
Chester Creek
18.14
Chester Creek
18.50
Chester Creek
18.62
Chester Creek
18.70
 Darlington
Glen Mills Quarry Yard
20.31
Chester Creek
20.39
 Glen Mills
West Chester Railroad
[1][2]
This diagram:

The West Chester Branch is a railway line in southeastern Pennsylvania. At its fullest extent, it connected with the Philadelphia–Washington Main Line (Northeast Corridor) at Arsenal Junction near the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia-Chicago Main Line near Frazer, Pennsylvania. It was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system (and later Penn Central) up until the formation of Conrail in 1976. Today, SEPTA operates the Media/Wawa Line commuter service as far west as Wawa, while the West Chester Railroad heritage railway operates between West Chester station and Glen Mills.

History

The branch was composed of rail lines built by two companies in the 19th century.

One portion, a 9-mile (14 km) line from West Chester to Malvern, was built after 1831 by the West Chester Railroad.[3] The PRR leased the line in 1859,[4] and moved the Malvern end to a junction at Frazer in 1880. The PRR acquired the West Chester Railroad in 1903.

The other portion, a 26-mile (42 km) line from Philadelphia to West Chester, was built by the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad (WC&P) between 1852 and 1858.[4]: 513  In 1880, the WC&P was purchased by the PRR-controlled Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PWB), which merged it the following year into the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad.[5]

As the PRR's West Chester Branch, the line offered commuter rail service between Philadelphia, Media, and West Chester, the county seat of Chester County. In the 1920s, the PRR electrified the Paoli and Chestnut Hill lines, then its Philadelphia-Washington Main Line to Wilmington and the West Chester Branch out to West Chester.[6]

The PRR ended passenger service from West Chester to Frazer in 1932 and removed those tracks in the early 1960s.[7] In 1971 and 1972, there were washouts on the nearby Chester Creek Branch and Octoraro Branch, due to heavy storms and Hurricane Agnes. Subsequently, the Penn Central (PC) ended service north of West Chester and parts of the nearby branches and removed some of the tracks.

Today, the right-of-way can still be seen in places.

Later years

The branch passed to Conrail in 1976, following the Penn Central's bankruptcy. SEPTA acquired it in 1979; Conrail continued to run commuter services under contract until 1983, when SEPTA took full control. SEPTA operated the line as its R3-Media/West Chester service until 1986, when service was truncated to Elwyn. Eighteen West Chester-Center City trains had operated on weekdays along with eleven West Chester-Media shuttle trains.[8] SEPTA restored rail service west of Elwyn to a new park and ride station in Wawa in 2022.[9]

As of 2022, SEPTA operates commuter rail operations on the line between Philadelphia and Wawa, while the West Chester Railroad operates a scenic excursion train on weekends between West Chester and Glen Mills. Occasional nocturnal freight service occurs via Amtrak to obtain track ballast from a quarry in Glen Mills.

Restoration of service study

In 2016 the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that it plans to study how much it would cost to restore SEPTA regional rail service to West Chester.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Railroad Division: Timetable No. 1" (PDF). SEPTA. January 17, 2000. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  2. ^ "FISCAL YEAR 2023 PROPOSED CAPITAL BUDGET" (PDF). SEPTA. April 22, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  3. ^ Jones, James A. "A Brief History of Transportation in West Chester". Accessed 2010-01-02.
  4. ^ a b Poor, Henry V. (1860). History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States of America. Vol. 1. New York: John H. Schultz & Co.
  5. ^ ICC valuation report of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad, filed June 30, 1918
  6. ^ Transportation History Sources (railsandtrails.com). "Pennsylvania Railroad Electrification." Accessed 2010-12-31.
  7. ^ Jones, James A. "Railroad and Stations in Chester County." Accessed 2011-01-02.
  8. ^ Rettew, Bill (16 June 2022). "Planning continues to reestablish Philly train service to West Chester". MassTransitMag.com. Local Daily News. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Elwyn to Wawa". septa.org. SEPTA. February 2016.
  10. ^ Monhollan, Candice (April 30, 2016). "SEPTA plans for feasibility study to restore rail service to West Chester". Daily Local News.

Further reading

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