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Cynwyd Line

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Cynwyd Line
The Cynwyd Line at Wynnefield Avenue station in July 2005
Overview
StatusOperating
OwnerSEPTA
Termini
Stations3
Websitesepta.org
Service
TypeCommuter rail line
SystemSEPTA
Services1
Operator(s)SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stockElectric Multiple Units
Daily ridership722[1]
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationCatenary
Route map
Template:Infobox rdt

The Cynwyd Line is an active SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County.

Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Branch, service was truncated on October 25, 1986 at its current terminus at Cynwyd. Track between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge was dismantled between 2008 and 2010 for conversion as an interim rail trail, preventing service restoration for the foreseeable future.[2]

Route

The Cynwyd Line is the shortest and has the lowest ridership of all of the SEPTA Regional Rail lines. It was truncated on October 25, 1986 from Ivy Ridge to Cynwyd due to concerns about the concrete arch Pencoyd Viaduct over the Schuylkill River in the Manayunk section of the city. This bridge was shedding pieces of concrete due to spalling. Further investigation by Urban Engineers determined that the bridge was safe and only needed surface work to stop the spalling. In 1999, construction finished on a project to stabilize and refurbish the bridge, but train service did not resume as expected.

Electrified service was opened between Philadelphia and Norristown (Haws Avenue) on June 20, 1930. Plans for electrification beyond Norristown, to Phoenixville, were not carried out. Passenger service ended between Manayunk and Norristown on October 29, 1960 and the line beyond Manayunk was de-electrified, although the pylons remain. Service was extended from Manayunk to Ivy Ridge, to serve a new park-and-ride lot, on October 26, 1980, but then curtailed to Cynwyd exactly six years later. The line to Norristown and Pottsville, Pennsylvania as a long-distance line, was largely abandoned after the formation of Conrail in 1976 (the right-of-way has since been converted to a multi-purpose trail).

Since 2007, this route, similar to NJ Transit's Princeton Branch, is usually served by a single-car electric multiple unit train that departs from a terminal track in Suburban Station, stops at 30th Street Station, and continues along the Paoli/Thorndale Line as far as the 52nd Street Junction where it branches off on a single track line to Wynnefield Avenue in Philadelphia. It continues on to Bala station, on City Avenue (U.S. Route 1), and Cynwyd station, less than a mile northwest.

As of December 13, 2015, one Cynwyd train - originating in Warminster - operates entirely through the Center City tunnel. All other Cynwyd LIne trains originate or terminate at Suburban Station. One can transfer between this train and others at Suburban Station to go to or from Jefferson Station (formerly Market East Station) and former Reading RR points.

In the late 1990s and up to 2003, SEPTA funded a study called the Schuylkill Valley Metro which included plans to extend both sides of the R6 line to Pottstown, Reading and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The project suffered a major setback when it was rejected by the FTA New Starts program, which cited doubts about the ridership projections and financing assumptions used by the study.[3]

On October 29, 2010, the Cynwyd Line was where the Silverliner V rail cars made their first run in revenue service.[4]

Trackage removal between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge

Though there have been repeated calls to restore the "temporarily" discontinued service between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge, SEPTA permanently dropped plans for restoration in 2008 when all trackage north of Cynwyd to Ivy Ridge was removed between 2008 and June 2010 to make way for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail[5] and Ivy Ridge Trail.[6]

Name change

On July 25, 2010 SEPTA renamed the service from the R6 Cynwyd to simply the Cynwyd Line as part of system-wide nomenclature change which dropped the R-number naming.[7]

Station list

Boldface indicates a major station.

Zone Milepost Station Boardings[8] City/Township County Notes
1 4.0 52nd Street 0 Philadelphia Philadelphia station closed 1980
4.9 Wynnefield Avenue 79
2 5.7 Bala 115 Lower Merion Montgomery
6.1 Cynwyd 112 terminus since October 25, 1986. 1890 station building renovated; now houses Cynwyd Station Café.
Barmouth 0 station closed
7.8 Manayunk West 0 Philadelphia Philadelphia upper level; station closed 1986
8.5 Ivy Ridge 0 upper level; station closed 1986; high-level platforms; now Ivy Ridge Trail
? 9.6 Shawmont 0 Montgomery station closed 1960 by PRR
10.8 Miquon 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
12.4 Spring Mill 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
13.6 Conshohocken 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
15.1 Ivy Rock 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
15.9 Ernest 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
16.5 NORRIS 0 Montgomery interlocking
17.5 Norristown 0 Montgomery closed 1960 by PRR
18.1 Haws Avenue 0 Montgomery

Ridership

Fiscal year Average weekday Annual passengers
FY 2014 722 184,138[9]
FY 2013 661 168,459[10]
FY 2012 622 158,711[11]
FY 2011 601 153,201[12]
FY 2010 638 162,759[13]
FY 2009 660 167,216[14]
FY 2008 606 154,500[15]
FY 2005 506 129,090
FY 2005 506 129,090
FY 2004 465 118,575
FY 2003 480 112,200
FY 2001 n/a 125,000
FY 2000 n/a 114,000
FY 1999 n/a 117,000
FY 1997 n/a 87,116
FY 1996 n/a 78,674
FY 1995 248 78,800
FY 1994 274 n/a
Note: n/a = not available

References

  1. ^ Template:PDFlink
  2. ^ cynwydtrail.org/
  3. ^ fta.dot.gov
  4. ^ Geringer, Dan (October 30, 2010). "Mass appeal for SEPTA's new Silverliner V train". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  5. ^ cynwydtrail.org/
  6. ^ Ivy Ridge Green
  7. ^ "List of new SEPTA schedules".[failed verification]
  8. ^ "Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2014.
  9. ^ Template:PDFlink
  10. ^ Template:PDFlink
  11. ^ Template:PDFlink
  12. ^ Template:PDFlink
  13. ^ http://www.septa.org/reports/pdf/asp12.pdf
  14. ^ http://www.septa.org/reports/pdf/asp11.pdf
  15. ^ http://www.septa.org/reports/pdf/asp10.pdf
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