Bryn Athyn station: Difference between revisions
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Though rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The replacement bus service was far slower and less convenient than the train service it replaced, resulting in the shuttle bus being very unpopular. The travelling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service. |
Though rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The replacement bus service was far slower and less convenient than the train service it replaced, resulting in the shuttle bus being very unpopular. The travelling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service. |
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In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming passenger service by Bucks County officials |
In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming passenger service by Bucks County officials [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Montgomery County]] officials [[ , , Pennsylvania|]] to . Contrary to popular belief, Bryn Athyn officials have never opposed the return of regularly scheduled passenger service.<ref>[http://www.r8newtown.com/documents/1991_NewtownStudy.pdf r8newtown.com]</ref> |
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==Station building== |
==Station building== |
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Revision as of 22:54, 9 January 2010
Bryn Athyn | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEPTA regional rail | |||||||||||
 Bryn Athyn Station, 2006. Note still-present SEPTA signage hanging from canopy. | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 2586 Fetters Mill Road Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°07′49″N 75°04′15″W / 40.1302°N 75.0708°W | ||||||||||
| Owned by | SEPTA | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Lua error in Module:Adjacent_stations at line 430: "title" is missing from the data page. | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | 20 spaces | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1902 | ||||||||||
| Closed | January 14, 1983 | ||||||||||
| Electrified | no | ||||||||||
| Previous names | Reading Railroad | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Bryn Athyn is an unused train station located on Fetters Mill Road in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, not far from the Pennypack Creek. The station, built in 1902, was a stop on the Reading Railroad's Newtown Line.
History
Bryn Athyn Station later became a part of SEPTA's Fox Chase-Newtown Rapid Transit Line. The station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983 [1], due to failing train equipment resulting in a lack of ridership.
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 "temporarily suspended" at that time, and Bryn Athyn station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.
Though rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The replacement bus service was far slower and less convenient than the train service it replaced, resulting in the shuttle bus being very unpopular. The travelling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service.
In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming passenger service by Bucks County officials. Neighboring Montgomery County officials are supportive of re-thinking the rail corridor as well, though the belief within SEPTA management is that the section through Lorimer Park (the only sparsely populated section along the railway) will never generate enough riders to be feasible. In September 2009, the Southampton-based Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition began discussions with the towns along the railway, as well as SEPTA officials, to resume passenger service.[3] Contrary to popular belief, Bryn Athyn officials have never opposed the return of regularly scheduled passenger service.[4]
Station building
The building is now used as a post office and a community building. The former station canopy retains SEPTA signage installed in 1984—one year after train service had ended.
Collision
On December 5, 1921, the stretch of single track between Bryn Athyn and Southampton stations was the site of the Reading Railroad's deadliest accident at that time. Two trains met in a head-on collision, killing 27 and injuring 70.[5]
References
- ^ r8newtown.com
- ^ 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.
- ^ r8newtown.com
- ^ r8newtown.com
- ^ "21 Persons Killed in Reading Wreck". New York Times. December 6, 1921. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
External links
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