100-768: The SEPTA Main Line is the section of the SEPTA Regional Rail system from the Zoo Interlocking in West Philadelphia to Lansdale Station in Lansdale, Pennsylvania . The line is 26.25 miles (42.25 km) long, and serves all 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines. Service on the Main Line segment between Glenside and Center City Philadelphia is given a special combined public timetable known as
200-794: A humid subtropical climate ( Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification .) The remainder of the Delaware Valley has a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Dfa .) PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University Snow amounts may vary widely year-to-year and normally do vary widely within the Delaware Valley. The region has two ski resorts, Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Longswamp Township, Berks County and Spring Mountain Adventures in central Montgomery County . Using
300-744: A desire to avoid maintaining deteriorating lines, SEPTA cut various services throughout the 1980s. R3 West Chester service was truncated to Elwyn on September 19, 1986, due to unsatisfactory track beyond. R6 Ivy Ridge service was truncated to Cynwyd on May 17, 1986, due to concerns about the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill River . Service to Cynwyd ended altogether in 1988, but fierce political pressure brought resumed service. R8 diesel service between Fox Chase and Newtown ended on January 14, 1983, after SEPTA decided not to repair failing diesel train equipment . The service
400-604: A frequency of 25 Hz. The system on the former PRR side is owned and operated by Amtrak , part of the electrification of the Northeast Corridor. The electrification on the Reading side is owned by SEPTA . The Amtrak system was originally built by the PRR between 1915 and 1938. The SEPTA-owned system was originally built by the Reading starting in 1931. The two systems are not electrically connected. After construction of
500-582: A major line involved hearings before the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the predecessor to the Surface Transportation Board , which moved at a glacial pace and was capricious in the matter of approval, requiring one railroad to continue operating a local train on a route covered by four other trains while allowing another to discontinue a well-patronized train that had no competing lines. In response,
600-749: A majority of Delaware's land mass and population. Wilmington is the most populous city in Delaware and the fifth-most populous municipality in the Delaware Valley. The lone Maryland county in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area is part of the region known as the Eastern Shore of Maryland . The following municipalities are all within the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and part of
700-600: A special event service for concerts at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden . Philadelphia's suburbs contain a high concentration of malls, the two largest of which have at least 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m ) of office space, and at least 600,000 square feet (56,000 m ) of retail. These are the King of Prussia mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is the largest in the U.S. (leasable sq. feet of retail space), and
800-506: A state agency operated as a leg of its corresponding Department of Transportation, SEPTA is not a state agency and is beholden primarily to the five local governments which comprise it. Williams questioned why there has never been any massive public push to force SEPTA to "clean up its act." He concluded that the crisis within SEPTA "merely reflects the broader problems of local provincialism and petty political squabbles which are so rampant within
900-418: A typical weekday, with 45% from the three Center City stations and Temple University station. SEPTA uses a mixed fleet of General Electric and Hyundai Rotem " Silverliner " electric multiple unit (EMU) cars, used on all Regional Rail lines. SEPTA also uses push-pull equipment: coaches built by Bombardier , hauled by ACS-64 electric locomotives similar to those used by Amtrak . The push-pull equipment
1000-491: A waiting room, as well as a 600-car parking garage. The station is expected to see 500 commuters on a typical weekday, as it will sit next to U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and serve the nearby corporate headquarters of convenience store chain Wawa. Bus service will connect the station to Painters Crossing and Concordville, Pennsylvania. Between 1979 and 1983, diesel locomotives were phased out. With insufficient operating funds and
1100-699: Is a formal administrative division. As of the 2020 U.S. census , the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area is the seventh-largest MSA in the nation with 6,245,051 people. The MSA includes: As of 2020, the Philadelphia–Reading–Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA is the nation's ninth-largest combined statistical area with a population of 7,379,700. Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area includes: When metropolitan areas were originally defined in 1950, most of
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#17327731126091200-565: Is a major metropolitan and tri-state region in Northeast United States that centers on Philadelphia , the 6th-most populous city in the United States , and spans part of three states: Southeastern Pennsylvania , Southern New Jersey , and Northern Delaware . With a core of metropolitan statistical area population of 6.288 million residents, while the combined statistical area population of 7.366 million (as of
1300-428: Is an underground connection between PRR and Reading lines; previously, PRR commuter trains terminated at Suburban Station and Reading at Reading Terminal. The connection converted Suburban Station into a through-station and rerouted Reading trains down a steep incline and into a tunnel that turns sharply west near the new Market East Station (now Jefferson Station). The conversion was meant to increase efficiency and reduce
1400-548: Is compatible with the power supplies on both the ex-PRR (Amtrak-supplied) and ex-Reading (SEPTA-supplied) sides of the system; the "phase break" is at the northern entrance to the Center City commuter tunnel between Jefferson Station and Temple University Station . SEPTA has five major yards and facilities for the storage and maintenance of regional rail trains: SEPTA was created to prevent passenger railroads and other mass transit services from disappearing or shrinking in
1500-477: Is now Amtrak 's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line . SEPTA Regional Rail [REDACTED] The SEPTA Regional Rail system ( reporting marks SEPA , SPAX ) is a commuter rail network owned by SEPTA and serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area . The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , its suburbs and satellite towns and cities . It
1600-726: Is one of the top five American venture capital hubs, credited to its proximity to the New York metropolitan area and its financial and tech and biotechnology ecosystems . At least two educational institutions, Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township, New Jersey , and Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Township, Pennsylvania , and a now defunct local newspaper, The Delaware Valley News in Frenchtown, New Jersey , are named for
1700-638: Is sometimes assigned to South Central Pennsylvania . The seven New Jersey counties in the CSA are in South Jersey . Atlantic County, Cape May County, and Cumberland County each form their own respective metropolitan statistical areas. Atlantic City , Cape May County, New Jersey , and the southern Jersey Shore , including Margate City , Ventnor City , the Wildwoods , and Sea Isle City , are major tourist destinations for people from inside and outside of
1800-727: Is the sixth-busiest commuter railroad in the United States. In 2016, the Regional Rail system had an average of 132,000 daily riders and 118,800 daily riders as of 2019. The core of the Regional Rail system is the Center City Commuter Connection , a tunnel linking three Center City stations: the above-ground upper level of 30th Street Station , the underground Suburban Station , and Jefferson Station . All trains stop at these Center City stations; most also stop at Temple University station on
1900-533: Is the official mark for their revenue equipment, though it is rarely seen on external markings. SPAX can be seen on non-revenue work equipment, including boxcars, diesel locomotives, and other rolling stock. The Silverliner coaches were first built by Budd in Philadelphia and used by the PRR in 1958 as a prototype intercity EMU alternative to the GG1 -hauled trains. Similarly designed cars were purchased in 1963 as
2000-471: Is the only one continuing to cut and cut and cut. The only difference between SEPTA and its railroad and transit predecessors is that SEPTA eliminates services to avoid rebuilding assets, while its predecessors (PRR, Reading and Conrail) kept service running while deferring maintenance." On November 16, 1984, the Columbia Avenue (now Cecil B. Moore Avenue) bridge near old Temple University Station
2100-529: Is used primarily for peak express service because it accelerates slower than EMU equipment, making it less suitable for local service with close station spacing and frequent stops and starts. As of 2012, all cars have a blended red-and-blue SEPTA window logo and "ditch lights" that flash at grade crossings and when "deadheading" through stations, as required by Amtrak for operations on the Northeast and Keystone Corridors . SEPTA's railroad reporting mark SEPA
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#17327731126092200-900: The Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey , which was the first enclosed mall on the East Coast. In addition, the Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, is a popular destination due to its proximity to Interstate 95 and because of the availability of tax-free shopping in Delaware. Malls, office complexes, strip shopping plazas, expressways, and tract housing are common sights, and more and more continue to replace rolling countryside, farms, woods, and wetlands. However, due to strong opposition by residents and political officials, many acres of land have been preserved throughout
2300-673: The Glenside Combined , allowing riders to see the schedules of all trains on the Main Line without having to look at multiple schedules. This is a partial legacy of SEPTA's former diametrical reorganization route number designations, which had the R1 Glenside designation for trains that terminated at the station, paired with the Airport Line . A contributing factor to the elimination of the R-number naming system came in
2400-549: The Media/Wawa Line , which previously ran to West Chester. On August 21, 2022, service was restored to Wawa Station, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the Elwyn station. The project included new track, catenary, signals, and communications equipment; and new structures, including a new station at Wawa with a large park and ride facility. The Wawa Station is ADA-compliant with high platforms, a ticket office, ticket vending machines, and
2500-513: The Schuylkill River , Lehigh River , and Brandywine Creek . U.S. government agencies have reached various definitions of the Delaware Valley and metropolitan Philadelphia. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan statistical area (MSAs), which are regions with relatively high population densities at their cores and close economic ties throughout their respective areas. MSAs are further combined into combined statistical areas (CSAs), reflecting commuting patterns. Neither
2600-489: The University of Pennsylvania , one of the nation's eight Ivy League universities. Other major universities and colleges in the region include Drexel University , Thomas Jefferson University , Rowan University , Villanova University , Saint Joseph's University , Temple University , Rutgers University–Camden , La Salle University , the University of Delaware , Stockton University , and others. Philadelphia and
2700-740: The revolutionary capital during the colonial era in which the Second Continental Congress gathered at Independence Hall and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence , authorized the formation of the Continental Army , and appointed George Washington its commander to resist the British . After the Continental Army's victory, Philadelphia served as the nation's first capital for most of
2800-411: The "Reading" side. This connection was never built, leading (among other factors) to the following changes: One of the assumptions in this plan was that ridership would increase after the connection was open. Instead, ridership dropped after the 1983 strike. While recent rises in oil prices have resulted in increased rail ridership for daily commuters, many off-peak trains run with few riders. Pairing up
2900-520: The -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical. The hardiness zone in the region ranges from 6b in higher areas of Berks and northern Bucks Counties to 8a in Atlantic City and Cape May. [1] Using the Trewartha climate classification system, which requires eight months to average at least 50 °F for the climate to be considered subtropical,
3000-400: The 18th century until 1800, when construction of Washington, D.C. was completed. The U.S. Constitution , the world's longest-standing body of federal law, was ratified at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1789. The Delaware Valley is one of the nation's leading regions for academia and academic research with a considerable number of globally-known and highly ranked universities, including
3100-466: The 1970s, all of which originated from Reading Terminal. The Allentown via Bethlehem , Quakertown , and Lansdale service was gradually cut back. Allentown–Bethlehem service ended in 1979, Bethlehem-Quakertown service ended July 1, 1981, and Quakertown–Lansdale service ended July 27, 1981. Pottsville line service to Pottsville via Reading and Norristown , also ended July 27, 1981. West Trenton service previously ran to Newark Penn Station ; this
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3200-564: The 2020 census), Delaware Valley is the eighth-largest metropolitan region in the United States and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world. In addition to Philadelphia, other major population centers in the Delaware Valley include Reading , Upper Darby Township , and Chester in Pennsylvania; Atlantic City , Camden , Vineland , and Cherry Hill in South Jersey; and Wilmington and Dover in Delaware. As of 2022,
3300-468: The Airport Line, was once paired with a former Reading line and numbered from R1 to R8 (except for R4), so that one route number described two lines, one on the PRR side and one on the Reading side. This was ultimately deemed more confusing than helpful, so on July 25, 2010, SEPTA dropped the R-number and color-coded route designators and changed dispatching patterns so fewer trains follow both sides of
3400-549: The Center City Commuter Connection, the two electrical systems now meet near Girard Avenue at a “phase break,” a short section of unpowered track, which trains coast across. The gap is necessary because the two electrical systems are not kept in synchronization with each other. The entire system uses 12 kV / 25 Hz overhead catenary lines that were erected by the PRR and Reading railroads between 1915 and 1938. All current SEPTA equipment
3500-866: The Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley and several areas bordering it, including the Lehigh Valley , are part of the Philadelphia media market, the fourth-largest media market in the nation as of 2023. The two main newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News , owned by the Philadelphia Media Network . Local television channels include KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WHYY-TV 12 (PBS), WPHL-TV 17 (MyNetworkTV), WTXF 29 (FOX), WPSG 57 (CW), and WPPX 61 ( Ion ). Radio stations serving
3600-506: The Delaware Valley are a biotechnology hub. As of 2024, metropolitan Philadelphia ranks as one of the Big Five U.S. venture capital hubs, facilitated by its proximity to both New York City's entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems and to the federal regulatory environment of Washington, D.C. Elsewhere in the Delaware Valley, South Jersey has emerged as an East Coast epicenter for logistics and major warehouses. Culturally ,
3700-411: The Delaware Valley. Older townships and large boroughs, such as Cheltenham , Norristown , Jenkintown , Upper Darby , and West Chester retain distinct community identities while engulfed in suburbia. Mid-Atlantic American English and its subset, Philadelphia English , are two common dialects of American English in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. Listing of the professional sports teams in
3800-609: The Delaware Valley. Other major municipalities in South Jersey include Cherry Hill and Camden , which is across the Delaware River , east of Philadelphia. Burlington , Camden , Gloucester , and Salem Counties comprise the Delware River Region, one of seven officially recognized tourism regions by the New Jersey Department of Tourism. The two counties of Delaware in the CSA constitute
3900-556: The Delaware Valley: The Delaware Valley has four distinct seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C (32 °F) January isotherm . Philadelphia and the New Jersey portion of the area, almost all of the Delaware and Maryland portions, most of Delaware County and lower Bucks County, lowland southern Chester County, and some southern and lowland areas of Montgomery County have
4000-665: The Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line on January 14, 1983, as personnel were paid higher salaries for traveling a considerable distance to operate trains based in Newtown. SEPTA, however, settled with the transit union shortly before its strike deadline, a move that rail unions took as a betrayal. The rail unions had hoped that with both the railroads and City Transit shut down, the unions could extract whatever settlement they desired. The railroad strike lasted 108 days, and service did not resume until July 3, 1983, when
4100-462: The PRR and Reading to continue commuter rail services in the Philadelphia region. The PRR and Reading operated both passenger and freight trains along their tracks in the Philadelphia region. Starting in 1915, both companies electrified their busiest lines to improve the efficiency of their passenger service. They used an overhead catenary trolley wire energized at 11,000 volts single-phase alternating current at 25 Hertz (Hz). The PRR electrified
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4200-708: The PRR's northeast corridor to New York City. Subsequently, the city purchased new trains. The success of the PSIC subsidy program resulted in its expanding throughout the five-county suburban area under the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Compact (SEPACT) in 1962. In 1966, SEPTA began contracts with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company to subsidize their commuter lines. Still,
4300-718: The Paoli line in 1915, the Chestnut Hill West line in 1918, and the Media/West Chester and Wilmington lines in 1928. Both railroads continued electrifying lines into the 1930s, replacing trains pulled by steam locomotives with electric multiple unit cars and locomotives. PRR electrification reached Trenton and Norristown in 1930. Reading began electrified operation in 1931 to West Trenton, Hatboro (extended to Warminster in 1974) and Doylestown; and in 1933 to Chestnut Hill East and Norristown. The notable exception
4400-411: The Pennsylvania and Reading trains had terminated in their respective terminals. Besides making transfers difficult, this led to congestion and reduced capacity. With the opening of the tunnel, Pennsylvania trains would run through the tunnel on to matched Reading lines, and vice versa. This would reduce congestion at the downtown stations, as very few trains would terminate or originate at them, and reduce
4500-498: The Philadelphia and Reading lines with an urban tunnel was first adopted by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission in 1960, under the leadership of Edmund Bacon . Such a tunnel would improve the connectivity of the network. The tunnel was constructed between 1976 and 1984 at a cost of $ 330 million. As part of the tunnel project SEPTA implemented a diametrical mode of operation. Heretofore
4600-425: The Philadelphia metropolitan area's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds US$ 518 billion, making it the tenth-largest metropolitan economy in the nation. The Delaware Valley has been influential in the nation's history and economy and home to many people and sites significant to American culture , history , and politics. Philadelphia is sometimes known as "The Birthplace of America" in reference to its role as
4700-513: The R3 and R4 would short turn at Wayne Junction or Suburban Station (as would some R7 trains), which cut against the diametrical principle. To correct this, Vuchich proposed the construction of a connection in the Swampoodle neighborhood between the ex-Pennsylvania Chestnut Hill West Line and the ex-Reading trunk line west of Wayne Junction as part of Stage 2, moving the Chestnut Hill West line to
4800-564: The Reading and PRR to subsidize service on both Chestnut Hill branches. This was not enough to reverse the deterioration of the railroad infrastructure. By 1960, the PSIC assisted with services reaching as far as the city border in all directions. PSIC subsidized trains to Manayunk on the PRR's Schuylkill Branch to Shawmont on the Reading Norristown line, to Fox Chase on the Reading Newtown line, and as far as Torresdale on
4900-475: The Reading lines and the heavily patronized PRR Paoli line . Full service was gradually restored over the next several weeks. The unions then surprised SEPTA on March 15, 1983, by going on strike, still without contracts, in an action timed to coincide with an expected City Transit Division strike. At the time, the City Transit Division was chafing at SEPTA for discontinuing diesel service on
5000-610: The SEPTA Main Line as it is defined today. SEPTA activated positive train control on the Main Line from Glenside to Fern Rock on December 12, 2016 and from Fern Rock to 30th Street on January 9, 2017. The term "Main Line" is also sometimes used on the SEPTA Regional Rail system to refer to the Paoli/Thorndale Line , which runs along the original main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad , which
5100-826: The Silverliner II, in 1967 as the Silverliner III, and the Silverliner IV in 1973. The Silverliner V, a more modern version of the railcar was introduced in 2010. A total of 120 cars were purchased for $ 274 million, and they were constructed in facilities located in South Philadelphia and South Korea by Hyundai Rotem . The cars were built with wider seats and quarter point doors for easier boarding or departing at high-level stations in Center City. The Silverliner V cars represent one-third of SEPTA's regional rail fleet. In late 2014, and
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#17327731126095200-431: The Trenton SMSA to form the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the same time, Cape May County, New Jersey was added to the Atlantic City SMSA. The "Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton" became obsolete one census later when Trenton, New Jersey was moved to the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA. The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Vineland CSA included the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden MSA and
5300-575: The Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton MSA. In 2000, Kent County, Delaware was designated the Dover MSA, and Kent County and Atlantic City were added to the Philadelphia CSA in 2010. As a result of new 2010 definitions, based on a threshold of 15% labor interchange between MSAs, two additional MSAs were added, Ocean City, New Jersey and Reading, Pennsylvania . The CSA to which they belong is known as Philadelphia-Reading-Camden. The Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area includes sixteen counties in four states. The five Pennsylvania counties in
5400-426: The area include: WRTI , WIOQ , WDAS (AM) , and WTEL . Philadelphia is heavily Democratic , having voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1936 . The surrounding suburban counties are key political areas in Pennsylvania, which itself is an important swing state in federal politics. South Jersey has consistently voted Democratic at the presidential level in recent years, although
5500-444: The area now in the Delaware Valley was split between four metropolitan areas, or standard metropolitan areas, as they were then called. The Philadelphia SMA included Philadelphia , Bucks , Chester , Delaware , and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania , and Burlington , Camden , and Gloucester counties in South Jersey . The Wilmington SMA included New Castle County in Delaware and Salem County in South Jersey. Berks County
5600-465: The bankrupt PRR and Reading railroads, including the commuter rail operations. Conrail provided commuter rail services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA assumed operations. The Regional Rail SEPTA inherited from Conrail and its predecessor railroads was almost entirely run with electric-powered multiple unit cars and locomotives. However, Conrail (the Reading before 1976) operated four SEPTA-branded routes under contract throughout
5700-634: The beginning of early 2015, SEPTA began the "Rebuilding for the Future" campaign that will replace all deteriorated rolling stock and rail lines with new, modernized, equipment, including ACS-64 locomotives, bi-level cars, and better signaling. The ACS-64 locomotives for push-pull trains arrived in 2018. SEPTA passenger rolling stock includes: Unit 304 repainted to Conrail heritage livery. Unit 276 repainted to Pennsylvania Railroad heritage livery. Unit 401 repainted to Penn Central heritage livery. All lines used by SEPTA are electrified with overhead catenary supplying alternating current at 12 kV with
5800-471: The campus of Temple University in North Philadelphia . Operations are handled by the SEPTA Railroad Division . Of the 13 branches, six were originally owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) (later Penn Central ), six by the Reading Company , while one was constructed under SEPTA in 1985. The PRR lines terminated at Suburban Station; the Reading lines at Reading Terminal . The Center City Commuter Connection opened in November 1984 to unite
5900-407: The check-in counters in departures. In 1990, R5 service was extended from Downingtown to Coatesville and Parkesburg. However, on November 10, 1996, R5 service to Parkesburg was truncated to Downingtown. In 2006, SEPTA started negotiations with Wawa Food Markets to purchase land in Wawa, Pennsylvania to build a new Park-and-Ride facility for a planned restoration of service between Elwyn and Wawa on
6000-420: The colony of New Sweden , though this was not officially recognized by the Dutch Empire which re-asserted control in 1655. The area was taken by the English in 1664. The name Delaware comes from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr , who had arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1610, just as original settlers were about to abandon it, and thus maintaining the English foothold on the North American continent. In
6100-405: The continuation to Lansdale (including the branch to Doylestown , now the Lansdale/Doylestown Line ) opened October 7. The short part of the Main Line from Wayne Junction northeast to north of Newtown Junction was built as a connection to the PG&N at Wayne Junction. On December 1, 1870, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway (later the Reading Company ) leased the PG&N. The North Penn
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#17327731126096200-463: The early 1700s, Huguenot refugees from France by way of Germany and then England began settling in the Delaware River Valley. Specifically, they left their mark in Hunterdon County, New Jersey ( Frenchtown ) and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania . Many residents commute to jobs and travel in Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, and the surrounding suburbs with the help of expressways , trains , and buses . There are currently no transit connections to Reading,
6300-399: The era. Commuter service requires large amounts of equipment, large numbers of employees to operate equipment and station sites, and large amounts of maintenance on track that see extremely heavy usage for only six hours a day, five days a week. Meanwhile, the rise in automobile ownership and the building of the Interstate Highway System chipped away at the steady patronage as population in
6400-449: The fact that few trains actually terminated there, instead continuing on to stations farther out. As of 2024, northbound trains on the Main Line that do not terminate at Glenside continue as Lansdale/Doylestown Line , Warminster Line , or West Trenton Line trains. The Main Line was mostly built by the North Pennsylvania Railroad . However, the oldest section was part of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad (PG&N),
6500-528: The first railroad in Philadelphia . The first section of it opened on June 7, 1832, from downtown to Germantown (now on the Chestnut Hill East Line). Later a new alignment was built to Norristown , leaving the old route from North Philadelphia to Germantown as a branch; this is now the Manayunk/Norristown Line. The PG&N south of Wayne Junction, the Ninth Street Branch , is now part of the Main Line. The North Pennsylvania Railroad (North Penn) opened south of Gwynedd (north of Glenside) on July 2, 1855, and
6600-501: The former R-numbering system for SEPTA, said he had never seen a city the size of Philadelphia "cut transit services quite as drastically as SEPTA. For a system that is already obsolete, any more cutbacks would be disastrous—and likely spell doom for transit in the Philadelphia region. This city would be the first in the world to do that." DVARP said that SEPTA purposely truncated service and that while other commuter railroad counterparts "in North America expand their rail services, SEPTA
6700-425: The last holdout union agreed to a contract to settle from the other rail unions. In the end, SEPTA would treat the rail unions workers as railroad workers rather than transit operators, but their pay scale remains lower than that of other Northeast commuter railroads, such as NJ Transit and the Long Island Rail Road . The strike resulted in lower ridership, which took over 10 years to rebuild. The idea of linking
6800-413: The metropolitan statistical area are collectively known as Southeastern Pennsylvania. In addition to Philadelphia, major municipalities in Southeastern Pennsylvania include the inner suburbs of Upper Darby Township and Bensalem Township . Berks County , which forms its own MSA and contains the CSA's second largest city, Reading , is occasionally not considered to be part of Southeastern Pennsylvania and
6900-462: The most inept of all the major transit agencies, though getting a handle on what exactly was the cause of its ills was historically difficult. Railpace Newsmagazine contributor Gerry Williams commented that understanding what routinely transpires in SEPTA upper management rarely made itself clearly known to the general public. Frequently, there were various hidden agendas working in the background, often working at cross purposes with one another. This
7000-472: The new year. SEPTA had spent most of December 1982 preparing riders for the likelihood of no train service come the new year. Even with the unions' offers to continue working, SEPTA insisted that a brief shutdown of service would still be necessary, arguing that it would not know until the eleventh hour how many Conrail employees would actually come to work for SEPTA. In addition, SEPTA claimed that these employees would have to be qualified to work on portions of
7100-405: The number of potential passenger transfers as each train reached more destinations. The original plan for the system was made by University of Pennsylvania professor Vukan Vuchic , based on the S-Bahn commuter rail systems in Germany . Numbers were assigned to the Pennsylvania lines in order from south (Airport) to northeast (Trenton); the Reading line matches were chosen to balance ridership,
7200-418: The number of tracks needed. On April 28, 1985, the Airport Line opened, providing service from Suburban Station via 30th Street Station to Philadelphia International Airport . This line runs along Amtrak's NEC, then crosses over onto Reading tracks that pass close to the airport. At the airport, a new bridge carries it over Interstate 95 and into the airport terminals between the baggage claim in arrivals and
7300-646: The original service patterns were introduced, the following termini changed: On July 25, 2010, the R-numbering system was dropped and each branch was named after its primary outer terminals. The 1980s and 1990s were difficult times for SEPTA. While the agency has spent most of its 50-year history staggering from crisis to crisis, the 1980s were a particularly low point. The era was defined by crippling strikes, engineer shortages, drastic service cuts and an abundance of mismanagement. State and local officials, commuters, and general observers were quick to brand SEPTA as
7400-443: The physical characteristics of the lines, and the location of yards. An additional consideration was avoiding crossovers on the trunk lines. and to attempt to avoid trains running full on one side and then running mostly empty on the other. Vuchic recommended seven lines: Stage 1, which represented the state of affairs when the tunnel opened in 1984, was hampered by an "imbalance" between the Pennsylvania lines and Reading lines. Both
7500-499: The rail lines based on ridership is less relevant today than it was when the system was implemented. At a later time, R1 was applied to the former Reading side, shared with the R2 and R5 lines to Glenside station , and R3 to Jenkintown , and R1-Airport trains ran to Glenside station rather than becoming R3 trains to West Trenton. In later years, SEPTA became more flexible in order to cope with differences in ridership on various lines. After
7600-519: The railroads made commuting unpleasant for passengers by neglecting the upkeep of equipment. Faced with the possible loss of commuter service, local business interests, politicians, and the railroad unions in Philadelphia pushed for limited government subsidization. In 1958, the city enacted the Philadelphia Passenger Service Improvement Corporation (PSIC), which consisted of a partnership with
7700-448: The region is home to the dialect or accent known as Philadelphia English , shares a unique cuisine known as Philadelphia cuisine , has played a formidable role in popular music, and is known for having one of the nation's most passionate and devoted sports cultures centered around its five professional sports teams . The Delaware Valley is geographically associated and proximate to the Delaware River and its three primary tributaries,
7800-639: The region is slightly more Republican-leaning than North Jersey and has voted for Republicans at the state and local level. New Castle County's Democratic lean and large share of Delaware's population has tended to make Delaware as a whole vote for Democrats, while the less populous Kent County is more competitive. Recent well-known political figures from the Greater Philadelphia area include current U.S. President Joe Biden , former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and late former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter . The following congressional districts of
7900-511: The region only has seven such months, so the area considered Cfa by Köppen is oceanic ( Do ) in the Trewartha system. As of 2021, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area has a gross domestic product of $ 477.58 billion, the tenth-largest among the nation's MSAs. The MSA's nominal gross domestic product of $ 431 billion is comparable to countries , such as Belgium , Iran , and Thailand . Metropolitan Philadelphia
8000-615: The region. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) serves all of the counties of the Delaware Valley MSA except for the counties in the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division. However, in addition to the Delaware Valley, DVRPC's jurisdiction includes Mercer County, New Jersey , which OMB classifies as the Trenton-Princeton, NJ MSA and part of the larger New York-Newark CSA . The valley
8100-482: The region. Passenger rail service was previously provided by for-profit companies, but by the 1960s the profitability had eroded, not least because huge growth of automobile use over the previous 30 years had reduced ridership. SEPTA's creation provided government subsidies to such operations and thus kept them from closing down. For the railroads, at first it was a matter of paying the existing railroad companies to continue passenger service. In 1966 SEPTA had contracts with
8200-405: The region." Williams later commented that "unfortunately, there does not seem to be any group out there influential enough to bring shame on SEPTA, and SEPTA just may be beyond shaming anyway." Service to Reading Terminal ended on November 6, 1984, in anticipation of the opening of the Center City Commuter Connection , which opened on November 12, 1984. The tunnel, first proposed in the 1950s,
8300-904: The same route. Former Pennsylvania Railroad lines Former Reading Company lines [REDACTED] There are 154 active stations on the Regional Rail system (as of 2016), including 51 in the city of Philadelphia , 42 in Montgomery County , 29 in Delaware County , 16 in Bucks County , 10 in Chester County , and six outside the state of Pennsylvania (two in Mercer County, New Jersey and four in New Castle County , Delaware ). In 2003, passengers boarding in Philadelphia accounted for 61% of trips on
8400-540: The second largest municipality in the region. Major: Secondary: The Cape May–Lewes Ferry crosses the mouth of the Delaware Bay between Cape May County, New Jersey and Sussex County, Delaware ; U.S. Route 9 uses this ferry. The Riverlink Ferry operates hourly ferry service over the Delaware River between the Camden Waterfront and Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia . They also operate
8500-576: The subsidies could not save the big railroads. The PRR attempted to stay solvent by merging with the New York Central Railroad on February 1, 1968, but the resulting company, Penn Central , went bankrupt on June 21, 1970. The Reading filed for bankruptcy in 1971. Between 1974 and 1976, SEPTA ordered and accepted the delivery of the Silverliner IVs. In 1976, Conrail took over the railroad-related assets and operations of
8600-511: The suburbs grew. When the Philadelphia suburbs were small towns, people lived close enough to a train station to walk to and from the trains. When the suburbs expanded into what had been fields and pastures, the trip to the station required an automobile, leading commuters to remain in their cars and drive all the way into the city as a matter of convenience. Both railroads shed a few minor money-losing routes, but more major pruning efforts ran into public opposition and government regulation. Ending
8700-534: The system unfamiliar to them. A lawyer who regularly commuted from Newtown on the Fox Chase Rapid Transit line filed a class action lawsuit against SEPTA to force the agency to keep trains running. The judge who heard the case, while agreeing that SEPTA probably would not be able initially to operate a full schedule, ordered the agency to keep as much train service running as possible. This resulted in limited service after January 1, 1983 on all
8800-538: The two systems, turning the two terminal stations into through-stations. Reading Terminal was replaced by the newly built underground Market East Station (now Jefferson Station). Most inbound trains from one line continue on as outbound trains on another line. Some trains, including all trains on the Cynwyd Line , terminate on one of the stub-end tracks at Suburban Station . Service on most lines operates from 5:30 a.m. to midnight. Each former PRR line, as well as
8900-584: Was a turbulent one. SEPTA attempted to impose lower transit (bus and subway driver's) pay scales and work rules, which was met by resistance by the BLE (an experiment was already in place on the diesel-only Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line , which used City Transit Division employees instead of traditional railroad employees as a bargaining chip). As the January 1, 1983 deadline approached, the unions stated they agreed to work even if new union contracts were not in place by
9000-564: Was cut back to West Trenton on July 1, 1981, with replacement New Jersey Transit connecting service continuing until December 1982. The final service, Fox Chase-Newtown service, initially ended on July 1, 1981. It was re-established on October 5, 1981, as the Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line , which then ended on January 14, 1983. Most train equipment was either Budd Rail Diesel Cars , or locomotive-hauled push-pull trains with former Reading FP7s . The diesel equipment
9100-737: Was designated as the Reading SMA and Atlantic County, New Jersey was the Atlantic City SMA. In 1960, Cecil County, Maryland was added to what was now the Wilmington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). In 1980, Cumberland County, New Jersey was defined as the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSA. In 1990, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSAs were merged with
9200-469: Was found to be unsafe, putting all four tracks out of service north of Market East Station. In December 1984, a temporary bridge opened, allowing service to resume north of Market East Station. Nonetheless, the results of decades of deferred maintenance on the Reading Viaduct between the Center City Commuter Connection and Wayne Junction continued to threaten the right-of-way. In 1992, the bridge
9300-550: Was in such poor condition that the bridge inspector actually saw the structure sag every time a train passed over the bridge; further inspection revealed that the bridge was in imminent danger of collapsing. Delaware Valley Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD Other Statistical Areas in the Philadelphia CSA The Delaware Valley , sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia , Philadelphia metropolitan area , or Philadelphia tri-state area ,
9400-522: Was initially terminated on July 1, 1981 (along with diesel services to Allentown and Pottsville) and reinstated on October 5, 1981, using operators from the city transit division. This experimental Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line caused a rift in unions within the organization, adding to the March 1983 strike that lasted 108 days. SEPTA management was criticized for the cuts. Vukan Vuchic, the transit expert and University of Pennsylvania professor who designed
9500-437: Was leased May 1, 1879, placing the future "Reading side" of the SEPTA Main Line under Reading control. Electrification to Glenside, Hatboro, Lansdale, Doylestown and West Trenton was completed on July 26, 1931. In 1976 Conrail took over the Reading, and in 1983 SEPTA gained control of the commuter operations. The Center City Commuter Connection was tied into the former Reading Ninth Street Branch on November 12, 1984, completing
9600-515: Was maintained at the Reading Company/Conrail owned Reading Shops , in Reading, PA. The services were phased out due to a number of reasons that included lack of ridership, a lack of funding outside the five-county area, withdrawal of Conrail as a contract carrier, a small pool of aging equipment that needed replacement, and a lack of SEPTA-owned diesel maintenance infrastructure. The death knell for any resumption of diesel service
9700-507: Was often the result of the city (Philadelphia)/Suburban (Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery) split. The city government had historically been Democratic, the four suburban counties Republican until 2019, when all four suburban counties elected Democratic leadership. This factor is regularly influenced by the changing political winds at the state capital in Harrisburg. In addition, unlike all other U.S. railroad commuter agencies which are
9800-523: Was the Center City Commuter Connection tunnel project, which lacks the necessary ventilation for exhaust-producing locomotives. Service from Cynwyd was extended to a new high-level station at Ivy Ridge in 1980, and the 52nd Street Station closed in the same year. The transition from Conrail to SEPTA, overseen by General Manager David L. Gunn (who later became President of the New York City Transit Authority and Amtrak ),
9900-414: Was the line to Newtown, the Reading's only suburban route not electrified. While the PRR expanded electrification throughout the northeast (ultimately stretching from Washington, D.C. to New York City ), the Reading never expanded electric lines beyond the Philadelphia commuter district. By the late 1950s, commuter service had become a drag on profitability for the PRR and Reading, like most railroads of
10000-682: Was the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape , who are recalled in place names throughout the region. The region became part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland after the exploration of Delaware Bay in 1609. The Dutch called the Delaware River the Zuyd Rivier , or South River, and considered the lands along it banks and those of its bay to be the southern flank of its province of New Netherland . In 1638, it began to be settled by Swedes, Forest Finns, Dutch, and Walloons and became
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