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County Line station (SEPTA Regional Rail): Difference between revisions

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Coordinates: 40°09′53″N 75°03′36″W / 40.1648°N 75.0600°W / 40.1648; -75.0600
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PA-TEC's efforts have received overwhelming 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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeff|last=Werner|title=SEPTA: Reactivation of Newtown rail line a difficult prospect|work=Bucks Local News |date=March 5, 2010}}[http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2010/03/05/the_advance/news/doc4b91a1a5cdb26162857266.txt]</ref>
PA-TEC's efforts have received overwhelming 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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeff|last=Werner|title=SEPTA: Reactivation of Newtown rail line a difficult prospect|work=Bucks Local News |date=March 5, 2010}}[http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2010/03/05/the_advance/news/doc4b91a1a5cdb26162857266.txt]</ref>

The Newtown Branch Preservation Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the railroad line between Fox Chase and Newtown, is currently looking to restore the line for use as a seasonal [[heritage railway]].<ref>[http://www.newtownfoundation.org/ newtownfoundation.org]</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 20:10, 11 June 2012

This article is about the former station on an abandoned segment of the SEPTA Fox Chase line. For the existing station on the SEPTA Norristown High Speed Line, see County Line (SEPTA NHSL station).
County Line
SEPTA regional rail
File:AEF County Line Station, 1985 restored.jpg
The former County Line station viewed circa 1985. Note SEPTA signage hanging from canopy, installed in 1984—one year after service ceased on the line.
General information
Location511 County Line Road
Upper Southampton, PA
Coordinates40°09′53″N 75°03′36″W / 40.1648°N 75.0600°W / 40.1648; -75.0600
Owned bySEPTA
Line(s)
  Fox Chase Line
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Construction
Structure typestation shed (demolished)
History
ClosedJanuary 14, 1983
Electrifiedno
Previous namesReading Railroad
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
(closed 1966)
Template:SEPTA lines
Newtown
(closed 1983)

County Line is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on County Line Road near New Road in Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania near the County Line Industrial Park.

History

County Line Station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983[1], due to failing diesel train equipment SEPTA had no desire to repair.

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 County Line 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.

The station shed was demolished in the 1990s.[citation needed]

Resumption of train service

In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming the long-dormant passenger service. 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 overwhelming 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]

The Newtown Branch Preservation Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the railroad line between Fox Chase and Newtown, is currently looking to restore the line for use as a seasonal heritage railway.[5]

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]
  5. ^ newtownfoundation.org
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