Schuylkill River Passenger Rail: Difference between revisions

The Schuylkill Valley Metro was a proposal for a 62-mile railway system that would link Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the city of Reading, Pennsylvania in central Berks County, USA, using the SEPTA Manayunk/Norristown Line and Cynwyd Line, as well as two current freight-only rights-of-way owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The plan, rejected by the Federal Transit Administration, is currently without funding, and the probability that SEPTA will ever construct it is unknown.

The Schuylkill Valley Metro (SVM) has its roots in the old Philadelphia/Germantown/Norristown railroad in the early 19th century, which later became the Reading Railroad. The line served as a long-distance passenger and freight line between Philadelphia, Reading, and Harrisburg, nearly paralleling the old Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad—later incorporated as the main east-west line of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR).

Prior to 1976, the SVM line, which was electrified between Reading Terminal and Norristown in 1933, ran parallel to the PRR's Schuylkill Branch (which was also electrified to Norristown, in 1930 as part of the PRR's main electrification project), which connected Philadelphia, via the East-West Mainline, with Norristown, Reading, and Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia and suburban counties began providing public funds under contract with PRR and RDG for continuation and improvement of regional rail service. Because the Reading's Norristown line was considered the stronger of the two, PRR service was cut back to Manayunk in 1960.

After both the Reading, and Penn Central, the PRR's successor company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ownership of both lines eventually passed to Conrail in 1976. Thereafter, all freight activity shifted to the SVM line. Commuter service on the former Penn Central line was extended from Manayunk to Ivy Ridge in order to serve a new park-and-ride lot, but was curtailed in 1986 to the Cynwyd station in Lower Merion Township. SVM service to Reading, which used electric multiple-unit cars between Reading Terminal and Norristown, and diesel-electric "push-pull" cars from Norristown to Reading, continued in operation until SEPTA ceased funding in 1981, two years prior to taking over all of the electrified Philadelphia area commuter rail service.

Since its termination in 1981, the population shifted from Philadelphia itself out to the suburbs, with some residents commuting over 60 miles from Reading and its suburbs to Philadelphia on a daily basis. Although the completion of bypasses for U.S. Highway 422, U.S. Highway 202, and Interstate 76 allows travelers to reach Philadelphia without a traffic-control device, the increased number of automobiles has placed a strain on these three highways. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, under former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker, along with U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach of the state's 6th Congressional district, have placed pressure on the federal government to give funding for the new SVM project. No concrete plans have been approved.

In August 2006, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced that funding for the SVM project would not be forthcoming and that it should be considered dead.^[1] This has angered people in a Tri-County Chamber of Commerce, and a grassroots campaign apparently led to Rendell softening his "can't-do" stance: currently, he feels that combining public with private funding might contribute to the project or a scaled-down version of it.^[2] A key problem, according to Rendell, is that the downsizing of federal transit funds has made meeting the cost/benefit ratios that the Federal government wants for Federally funded projects practically impossible; thus, the need for some private-sector funding.

In December 2007, Montgomery County authorized a new study that may revive the project and scheduled public meetings. The study will look at possible funding sources.^[3]

The new SVM system, while identical in many ways to the old SVM line from the Reading days, would be completely different in many aspects. First, the line would use both sides of the former SEPTA R6 lines; the former PRR Schuylkill Branch between Suburban Station and Ivy Ridge (Cynwyd Line), and the former Reading's main line between Market East Station and Norristown (Manayunk/Norristown Line), before merging on the old Reading Main Line west of the current Norristown station. A new spur, called the Cross-County Segment, would split off at Port Kennedy (near Valley Forge), and would allow SVM trains to access King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and the Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern, Pennsylvania, using the former PRR/Penn Central Trenton Cut-Off (now Norfolk Southern's Morrisville Line) used by the former PRR as a freight-only bypass around Philadelphia, although an alternative would be to have the Cross-County segment serve only King of Prussia with SEPTA extending the existing Norristown High-Speed Line to King of Prussia, via the Trenton Cut-Off.

Unlike the old SVM, which used separate electric m.u. coaches and diesel push-pull trains, the new SVM would be entirely electric, with power being supplied by Amtrak, SEPTA, and (between Norristown and Reading) the Exelon Corporation, the successor company to the former Philadelphia Electric Company, later PECO Energy. Existing catenary wires, powered at 12 kV, 25 Hz AC, would be used on the old lines, with new high-tension catenary poles, powered at 25 kV, 60 Hz AC, and similar to the system utilized on the Northeast Corridor north of New Haven, Connecticut, would be employed west of Norristown.

With the electrification of the entire line, the SVM would utilize new electrical multiple-unit (m.u.) cars known as "MetroRail" cars. Identical in appearance and operation to the new "Silverliner V" m.u. coaches SEPTA has just recently ordered from Rotem, MetroRail cars would differ from the current Silverliner coaches in that the entire trainset (with one to four coaches) would be operated by only a motorman (much like that Norristown High Speed Line, the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Subway), but would allow operations on the heavily-traveled Keystone Corridor (used by both Amtrak and SEPTA for intercity and commuter service) and on the Norfolk Southern Railway-owned freight line between Norristown and Reading in conjunction with NS rolling stock. Also, unlike the new "Silverliner V" order, the SVM MU cars would not have provisions for both high-level and low-level platform operations, mainly due to both ADA regulations and the lack of a train crew; thus requiring SEPTA to rebuild the existing platforms for SVM operations. Because the trains are operated only by a motorman, passengers wishing to board the train would purchase and validate their tickets at the station prior to boarding, a procedure similar to that on the nearby RiverLINE system operated by New Jersey Transit. Enforcement of regulations would be the responsibility of SEPTA Transit Police between Philadelphia and Norristown, and by Pennsylvania State Police between Norristown and Reading.

The SVM plans included stations currently used by SEPTA, along with new stations north of Norristown. As the SVM cars would only have motormen, and to allow compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, all existing and new stations would be built with high-level platforms. The stations are as follows:

SVM Main Line (Philadelphia-Reading)

• Market East Station
• Suburban Station
• 30th Street Station
• 52nd Street
• Wynnefield
• Bala
• Cynwyd
• Manayunk (upper)
• Ivy Ridge (upper)
• Conshohocken
• Norristown Transportation Center
• Port Kennedy (lower)
• Phoenixville
• Royersford
• Limerick (Township)
• Pottstown
• Exeter (Township)
• Reading
• VF Factory Outlet
• Wyomissing

SVM Cross-County Segment (Philadelphia-Great Valley)

• 30th Street Station
• Suburban Station
• Market East Station
• Temple University
• North Broad Street
• Allegheny
• Manayunk (lower)
• Ivy Ridge (lower)
• Miquon
• Conshohoken
• Norristown Transportation Center
• Port Kennedy (upper)
• King of Prussia (at Court & Plaza mall complexes)
• Cassett Road
• Great Valley (near Great Valley Corporate Center)
• Glenloch (near Exton)

Planners intended to operate trains at 15-minute intervals during peak travel times, Mondays to Fridays, and at 30-minute intervals at all other times. Norfolk Southern Railway trains would have been able to use most of the system at all hours, but would have been restricted to overnight movements at some locations after SVM ceased operations at night between Midnight and 6 a.m.

After a rating of "Not Recommended" by the FTA for the original plan, the Montgomery County Planning Commission initiated the R6 Extension Study as an alternative approach. This study would likely utilize conventional commuter equipment in shared operations with freight trains.^[4] Unlike the SVM, the R6 Extension Study would only see electrification extended as far as King of Prussia (with SEPTA extending the Norristown High Speed Service as mentioned above) and no major reconstruction of any platforms. Any service west of King of Prussia would require new construction and the purchasing of extra push-pull consists hauled by hybrid locomotives similar to those on order by NJ Transit for its proposed Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel service to and from New York Penn Station. Funding for the R6 Extension Study would be provided by revenue made by a proposed plan to toll U.S. Route 422 between Pottstown and King of Prussia.

Another alternate approach, officially known as the Greenline, proposes to serve the towns of Oaks and Phoenixville via a new connection at the current Paoli/Thorndale Line at Paoli Station.

Noted transit expert John Pawson, author of Delaware Valley Rails: The Railroads and Rail Transit Lines of the Philadelphia Area, made a pointed argument as to why the SVM has continually been pushed by elected officials given its many obstalces. In a November 2010 communication sent to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Regional Citizens Commitee, Pawson stated the following:

Tax policy and political ideology should not distort and stifle the rail system. Other major metropolitan areas that enjoy radial commuter rail services are gradually extending their networks. We have been stymied by planned absurdities such as the Schuylkill Valley and Cross County Metros that are political constructs.

If we grant that the two very largest U.S. rail networks, those around New York City and Los Angeles, are generally out of scale for our needs and our consideration, we arrive at three other multiple-route networks that are near our scale level, those radiating from downtown Chicago, Boston, and Washington (see Commuter rail in North America). Researching their routes shows that their respective average route lengths measured from the center city terminal to outer terminal are about 40, 32, and 61 miles.

By contrast, the 13 routes of our network by SEPTA's figures average just 21.5 miles. The shortest extendable route ends within city limits just 11.6 miles out, at Fox Chase. Too many citizens and commuters in our region are not being served by our contracted network. If other regions can afford their more extensive services, so can we.

A former Montgomery County chief planner infamously, publicly, and repeatedly stated that "those who want to work in Philadelphia should live there, not here". This anti-regional bias likely resulted from this state's anomaly of the City Wage Tax and its related tax legislation. Tax revenues are sent to Philadelphia whether one works or lives there; the governments of the bedroom suburban communites are shut out of the tax revenue.

This unusual set of circumstances apparently is what has led to those past strange rail service proposals, the Schuyulkill Valley and Cross County Metros. These constructs would have served to put residences and most jobsites both in the suburban counties, making the workers using the lines taxable. This is an odd and disturbing misapplication of the Land Use Planning principle that was contrived predominantly to serve governmental tax needs rather than the citizens' actual needs to commute between residential and job locations.^[5]

• http://www.svmetro.com/svm/