- R3 (SEPTA)
The R3 is a route of the
SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail system. The formerPennsylvania Railroad end of the route serves the western suburbs ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania with service to Media, terminating in Elwyn inMiddletown Township, Pennsylvania , and the formerReading Company end serves the northern suburbs with service viaJenkintown, Pennsylvania , terminating at West Trenton inEwing, New Jersey . Service once extended further on both ends - west beyond Elwyn to West Chester and northeast beyond West Trenton toJersey City, New Jersey .R3 Media/Elwyn
The Media/Elwyn Line connects Center City Philadelphia with Elwyn, branching from the
Northeast Corridor atArsenal Interlocking , just south of 30th Street Station. The line, known officially as the "SEPTA West Chester Line," is a two-track line and was electrified in the 1920s, at the same time the present dayNortheast Corridor was electrified between Philadelphia andWilmington, Delaware . Electrified service to Media and West Chester was opened onDecember 2 ,1928 .between Media and Elwyn. The present crossings were built by the PRR in the early 1920s during the electrification project.
The line was originally built by the
West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad . The first section openedNovember 15 ,1853 , from Philadelphia to Burmont. OnOctober 19 ,1854 an extension to Media opened, and further extensions were built, culminating with the completion to West Chester onNovember 11 ,1858 . In the early 1880s thePennsylvania Railroad gained control, merging intoPenn Central in 1968 andConrail in 1976. SEPTA took over operations in 1983.As of 2005 , most R3 weekday Media/Elwyn trains continue through downtown as R3 West Trenton trains. All weekend trains terminate downtown.The R3 Elwyn makes the following station stops, proceeding west from 30th Street Station:
R3 West Trenton
The West Trenton Line connects Center City Philadelphia with the West Trenton section of
Ewing, New Jersey , where a branch formerly ran to downtown Trenton. Like all of theReading Company 's commuter lines, the West Trenton Line was electrified in the early 1930s and has a mix of at-grade and grade separated crossings. Electrified service to West Trenton (and to Hatboro, Lansdale and Doylestown) was opened onJuly 26 ,1931 . The line splits from theSEPTA Main Line at Jenkintown, running northeast. At Bethayres, it crosses over the remnants of the formerPhiladelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad , which once connected with the R8 Fox Chase line. At Oakford, the formerNew York Short Line Railroad , once part of the Reading's main line to West Trenton and Jersey City, merges. TheWest Trenton Railroad Bridge , aconcrete arch bridge , crosses theDelaware River to the final stop at West Trenton.Prior to 1983, the line continued north to Newark (Jersey City prior to the
Aldene Plan of the 1960's), usingBudd Company -built diesel-poweredmultiple-unit car s, but was dropped when SEPTA eliminated funding forConrail operations north of the electrified lines. Currently,New Jersey Transit is looking at starting a commuter service between West Trenton and Newark, allowing an alternative to the SEPTA/NJ Transit service on the nearbyNortheast Corridor line, as well as expanding rail service to currently unserved areas of Central New Jersey.The line north of the split at Jenkintown was originally built as the
National Railway project, opened onMay 1 ,1876 to provide an alternate to theUnited New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies 'monopoly over Philadelphia-New York City travel. From Jenkintown to the Delaware River it was built by theNorth Pennsylvania Railroad as a branch, while theNew Jersey section was built by theDelaware and Bound Brook Railroad , merging with theCentral Railroad of New Jersey at Bound Brook. In addition to thePhiladelphia and Reading Railway (later theReading Company ), which leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad onMay 14 ,1879 , theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad also used the line for passenger and freight service to New York City. In the mid-1900s, theNew York Short Line Railroad opened, providing a cutoff from thePhiladelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad (now the R8 Fox Chase line) to the main New York line at Oakford. That cutoff is no longer used, and the R3 West Trenton uses the original route via Jenkintown. In 1976 the Reading merged intoConrail , and in 1983 SEPTA took over operations.North of Neshaminy, track operations are controlled using
CSX radio frequencies.Currently, most weekday R3 trains continue through downtown to Media/Elwyn, while almost all weekend trains are paired with
R1 Airport service.The R3 West Trenton makes the following station stops, proceeding east from Market East Station:
List of stations:
Ridership on the West Trenton line has grown 30% between 1995 and 2005. Data from SEPTA Annual Service Plans:
External links
* [http://www.septa.org/service/sched/pdfs/R3WT.pdf SEPTA - R3 West Trenton] schedule (PDF)
* [http://www.septa.org/service/sched/pdfs/R3ME.pdf SEPTA - R3 Media/Elwyn] schedule (PDF)References
* [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database]
* [http://www.prrths.com/PRR_hagley_intro.htm PRR Chronology] (Christopher T. Baer)
* [http://www.dvrpc.org/transportation/capital/tip/tip-search/Detailpa05.asp?projid=60636&searchtype=MPMS DVRPC Project Page]
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