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85-829: The River Line stops at the PATCO Speedline's Broadway station ( Walter Rand Transportation Center ) and the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line 's Pennsauken Transit Center , providing connections to Philadelphia . Its northern terminus is adjacent to the Trenton Transit Center in Trenton . The line is operated for New Jersey Transit by the Southern New Jersey Rail Group (SNJRG), which originally included Bechtel and Bombardier Transportation . Now that

170-451: A Freedom Card , and magnetic stripe paper cards, valid for three days. PATCO has five different fare zones and it is necessary to retain one's ticket (or card) to exit the station at the proper zone. There is currently no discount for use of the stored value Freedom Card or for multi-ride paper tickets. There are also no unlimited ride pass options, however a reduced fare Freedom Card is available for senior citizens and disabled riders. At

255-522: A Pulse code cab signaling system which transmits signal codes to the trains via the running rails. Wayside signals are located only at interlockings . Even when the Automatic Train Operation System is not in use, the cab signal speed control function is still enabled and if an operator goes above the permitted speed, the power is cut and the brakes are applied until the speed is back within the limit. The entire PATCO system

340-435: A contactless smart card system designed, built and integrated by Cubic Corporation , the firm responsible for the 1969 magnetic card system. Magnetic tickets are still sold however they are now in the form of disposable paper magnetic stripe cards that expire after 3 days. The new computer vending machines support payment cards. Additional ticket vending machines were installed at each station inside of fare control so that if

425-606: A variable-frequency drive , but this is not the case. Bogies are of the Budd designed Pioneer III variety and while lightweight, provide for a very bouncy ride. The married pair cars shared a single motor control unit and automatic operation box. Many PATCO Car design features also appeared in the M1/M3 class of MU railcars for the Long Island Rail Road which provides for a similar riding experience. PATCO maintained

510-680: A branded "Capitol Connection" bus service, requiring River Line riders to transfer at Trenton Transit Center. A third proposed extension would take the River Line beyond the State House through Trenton, to West Trenton station in Ewing Township, New Jersey , connecting with SEPTA's West Trenton Line service to Center City Philadelphia via Bucks and Montgomery counties. NJ Transit listed this extension on its 2020 Transit wish list map, but has not taken further action. Much of

595-734: A modified version of the NORAC Rules, a standard set of railroad operating rules used by mainline railroads operating in the Northeastern U.S., including Amtrak and Conrail. Signals set to stop for the diesel light rail cars are positively enforced via Intermittent Inductive Automatic Train Stop . The system is similar (but not identical) to the German Indusi system, where signal aspects are transmitted to moving trains from wayside devices. The inductive train stop devices are placed by

680-589: A new tunnel under the Delaware and three lines in New Jersey. Route A would run to Moorestown , Route B to Kirkwood (now Lindenwold), and Route C to Woodbury Heights . A later study by Louis T. Klauder & Associates recommended using the Bridge Line instead to reach Philadelphia and suggested building Route B first, as it had the highest potential ridership. Over the weekend of August 23 to 27, 1968,

765-489: A pair of doors on each side with a foyer area inside the doors for standing passengers . There are also hand-holds on all seat backs for standing passengers the entire length of the aisles. Car end-doors are unlocked, but inter-car movement is discouraged because of the extreme motions between cars. Interior cabs are halved to free up the space for passengers, however both cabs at the front and rear of any train are left in their full width configuration. PATCO announced plans for

850-467: A rider has purchased the wrong fare, they may pay the remaining fare to exit. NJ Transit buses connect to most PATCO stations in New Jersey. The New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line also stops at Lindenwold Station, and the River Line connects at Broadway Station ( Walter Rand Transportation Center ). The SEPTA Market–Frankford Line connects to PATCO at the 8th & Market Station , which

935-499: A scrap dealer in Ohio, and rebuilt them to provide PATCO with extra DC motors for future replacement if needed, or required. The first rebuilt cars were redelivered to PATCO's Lindenwold, New Jersey Shops on November 12, 2013, and were tested accordingly before going into service. Rebuilt cars are being renumbered into the 1000 series instead of their former numbers. The former single unit cars were converted into married-pair type cars with

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1020-470: A special "SEPTA Transfer" ticket could be purchased from the unpaid side of any New Jersey station. These tickets were sold for $ 3.50 ($ 1.75 per ride, a savings compared to a single $ 2.25 cash fare or a token for $ 2.00) and dispensed two paper receipts, one good for a ride within one hour of the time of purchase and another good for a ride within 24 hours of the time of purchase. Originally, both transfers were going to be valid for 24 hours, however, PATCO changed

1105-419: Is it less effort, but it also tends to result in faster trips. The system was designed for one-person operation by exclusively utilizing island platforms and right-handed operation with operators sitting on the left side of the vehicle where they can open their window and monitor the boarding process. Where trains have to use the "wrong" side, mirrors are provided to give the operator a proper view. Prior to

1190-650: Is no northbound late night service except on Saturdays due to budget cuts; the last northbound train leaves the Walter Rand Transportation Center at 9:38 p.m. Sundays through Fridays and goes only as far as the Pennsauken/Route 73 station. The only option to reach some stations north of the Walter Rand Transportation Center from Camden on these nights is the Route 419 bus which stops at each station as far north as Riverside while

1275-545: Is owned by the City of Philadelphia and leased by PATCO. Despite the extension, Bridge Line ridership was limited by high fares and not extending east of Camden. In January 1954, due to low ridership on the extension, off-peak service and Saturday again began operating between Girard and Camden, with a shuttle train operating between 8th and 16th stations. Sunday service was suspended west of 8th Street at that time due to minimal usage. By 1962, only 1,900 daily passengers boarded

1360-690: Is part of larger expansion of public transportation in South Jersey that will include bus rapid transit along the Route 42 and Route 55 , improvements to the Atlantic City Rail Line, and enhanced connections to the Atlantic City International Airport. The New Jersey State House is located approximately 0.8 miles to the northwest of the River Line's northern terminal at Trenton Transit Center. While

1445-571: Is run from Center Tower, centrally located above a substation near the Broadway station in Camden. All PATCO trains are electrically powered. Power comes from a top contact covered third rail at 750 V DC . There are two feeds from the commercial power grid, one located in Philadelphia from PECO Energy for the old Bridge Line tunnel segments and the other in New Jersey from PSE&G for

1530-565: Is scheduled to reopen in 2025. The project is budgeted at $ 29.3 million with construction expected to begin in 2021. The station will be updated to modern standards and accessibility with a surface structure planned at Franklin Square . In 2021, the City of Philadelphia proposed a westward PATCO expansion to the rapidly-growing University City district via a new rail tunnel under the Schuylkill River . The 40th Street Trolley Portal

1615-459: Is two blocks away from SEPTA's Jefferson Station , where all but one of SEPTA's Regional Rail trains stop. SEPTA's Broad Street Line connects to PATCO at the Walnut–Locust station via a short underground walkway to PATCO's 12th-13th & Locust, and 15-16th & Locust stations. The Broad-Ridge Spur connects to PATCO at the 8th & Market Station via a pedestrian walkway. Formerly,

1700-544: Is typical of most light rail systems throughout the United States. Passengers can buy tickets at ticket vending machines (TVMs) present at all stations or via the NJ Transit App on Smartphones. Through-ticketing is available for connecting bus routes to Philadelphia. One-way, round-trip, and ten-trip tickets must then be validated, either by the app or with paper tickets, through automated validators located near

1785-756: The Atlantic City Rail Line Archived 2007-11-26 at the Wayback Machine from Philadelphia and Lindenwold connects with the River Line at the Pennsauken Transit Center Station. Currently, there is no service on the line after 10 p.m., except on Saturdays and limited nights when there is a concert at the Entertainment Center at the southern end of the line or another special event. Two stations in Camden, which are double-tracked where

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1870-872: The COVID-19 pandemic ridership was at 5,350 boardings per weekday, around 61% of pre-pandemic levels. The River Line was constructed on what originally was the Camden- Bordentown section and the Bordentown-Trenton Branch of the Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A). The lines ran under the C&;A name between 1830 and 1871, when the line was absorbed into the Pennsylvania Railroad . Ownership proceeded under Penn Central after 1968, and Conrail from 1976 to June 1, 1999, but

1955-656: The COVID-19 pandemic , with trains bypassing 12–13th & Locust , City Hall , Westmont , and Ashland stations. Westbound express service was also suspended. The four stations reopened on September 14, 2020, but express service remained suspended. PATCO originally operated 121 67-foot (20.42 m) cars which were acquired in two separate orders, labeled PATCO I and PATCO II. The original PATCO I cars were designed and manufactured by Budd of Philadelphia in 1968. Cars numbered 101-125 were single units, and cars numbered 201-250 were in permanently coupled married pairs . The PATCO II cars were delivered in 1980 (in parallel with

2040-584: The Delaware River between Trenton, Camden, and Glassboro. Haines, a native of Moorestown, sought the benefits of rail for Burlington County without the disruption to his hometown. Two special studies were commissioned to supplement the alternatives identified in the MIS. The second of these special studies examined the Bordentown Secondary , another Conrail corridor through Burlington County,

2125-756: The Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge , runs underground in Camden , then runs above ground to the east end of the line in Lindenwold, New Jersey (with the Haddonfield, New Jersey stop being below street level). The Port Authority Transit Corporation and the Speedline are owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority . The line opened between Lindenwold and Camden on January 4, 1969, with

2210-684: The Mount Holly alignment through Burlington County: county freeholders publicly opposed the possibility. Opposition was particularly strong in Moorestown Township , partly because of a potential street-running section. Meanwhile, Gloucester County leaders were largely ambivalent towards the project. Dissatisfied with this analysis, Senator C. William Haines introduced legislation in the New Jersey State Senate requiring NJ Transit to study rail transit service along

2295-469: The 1970s. PATCO runs the majority of its trains in 2-, 4- or 6-car configurations. Before the Alstom rebuild, single-unit trains were occasionally seen late at night, while 3- or 5-car trains were encountered only when not enough cars are available to meet the service requirement. All stations are capable of handling 7- or 8-car trains, but these lengths have never been run except for brief testing and for

2380-497: The 19th century. These railroads all terminated in Camden , where passengers could catch ferries across the Delaware River to Philadelphia . Early in the 20th century, the idea of a fixed Delaware River crossing connecting Camden and Philadelphia gained traction, and in 1919, the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey formed the Delaware River Bridge Joint Commission to build a bridge between

2465-653: The 2-car trains and social distancing requirements of the COVID 19 pandemic further increased the use of 6-car trainsets during off-peak times. Since December 2019 4-car (doors not open on the first and last cars) late night trains operate every 60 minutes instead of the previous schedule of every 45 minutes with a PATCO police officer reported to be onboard all trains from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays and from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends. City Hall station in Camden and 9/10th & Locust station in Philadelphia are closed overnight due to low ridership. PATCO trains are governed by

2550-546: The Alstom facility in Hornell, New York , in March 2011. The refurbishment consisted of a completely new interior with more modern colors, wheelchair access and more reliable HVAC systems. The rollsigns were replaced with digital displays, and the cars received automated announcement systems, with announcements recorded by Bernie Wagenblast . These changes reduced seating by eight seats, from 160 to 152. The refurbishment also saw

2635-680: The Bordentown Secondary in Bordentown, the Robbinsville Industrial Track is operated by Conrail Shared Assets Operations and extends from Bordentown to nearby Yardville, New Jersey which is located within Hamilton Township . The trackage that makes up much of the present-day Bordentown Secondary was originally laid by the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 19th century. The line completed

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2720-600: The NJ Transit Board of Directors on July 13, 2011. NJ Transit opened the station to passenger service on October 14, 2013. Except at each end of the line, the River Line was Conrail's Bordentown Secondary until June 1, 1999, when NJ Transit bought it for $ 67.5 million. NJ Transit has exclusive access to run light rail passenger service on the line from 05:30 to 22:10 Sunday through Friday, and all of Saturday night and Sunday morning. Conrail has exclusive access for freight at other times. Either agency may request to use

2805-519: The PATCO I cars was found to have certain reliability issues and was completely rebuilt to the PATCO II standard after the PATCO II cars arrived. As built, the PATCO cars used camshaft resistance type motor controllers common to DC powered rapid transit vehicles up through the 1980s. The unique whine of the motors and gear assemblies can lead many to mistake the cars for using thyristor drive or even

2890-646: The Ridge Spur was connected to a new upper-level terminal platform at 8th Street station to allow conversion of the Bridge Line into the "High-Speed Line". Bridge Line service was split into 16th Street–8th Street and 8th Street–Camden segments during the conversion, with a cross-platform transfer at 8th Street. Bridge Line service was suspended on December 29, 1968, for final conversion of the line. Service from Lindenwold station to Camden along former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines trackage began on January 4, 1969; full service into Center City Philadelphia over

2975-614: The River Line and the Atlantic City Line would be constructed in Pennsauken. The new intermodal station would include one low-level platform for River Line trains, two high-level platforms for Atlantic City Line commuter trains, and 280 parking spaces. A ground breaking ceremony was held for the Pennsauken Transit Center on October 19, 2009. The second and final phase of construction was approved by

3060-473: The River Line as "the poster child for how not to plan and make decisions about a transit investment." The lack of a direct transfer between the River Line and NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line , which crosses directly over the River Line in Pennsauken , was highly criticized at the time of the River Line's opening. NJT subsequently reconsidered; in March 2009, NJT announced that an intermodal station linking

3145-439: The River Line uses double track, however, in some places, there is no room for double-track service without narrowing or removing road lanes, such as Burlington (where streets flank the single track on either side), Palmyra and Bordentown. Improving headways from the current peak level of 15 minutes would require either building additional passing sidings or removing one lane of traffic on certain local roads. Other transit in

3230-522: The River Line, either as parts of the initial construction plan which were deferred, or as potential future projects. The Glassboro–Camden Line is a proposed 18-mile (28.97 km) diesel multiple unit (DMU) light rail system . At its northern end in Camden it will converge with the River Line, with which its infrastructure and vehicles will be compatible, and terminate at the Walter Rand Transportation Center . The plan

3315-454: The TVMs, which stamp the date and time on the ticket for 75 minutes of use. NJ Transit's fare inspectors randomly check tickets on trains and at stations; fare evasion carries a fine of up to $ 100. Unused Newark City Subway and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tickets can be used after validation at a River Line station. As of 2004, rider fares only covered 7% of costs (not including debt service). Like

3400-570: The Trenton-Camden corridor. The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) was completed in 1998, and the contract with SNJRG was finalized in 1999, permitting the system to open to the public on March 14, 2004. The entire line was 100 percent funded by the State of New Jersey from its Transportation Trust Fund. No federal capital was expended for this diesel light rail project. Former NJ Transit executive director George Warrington has described

3485-791: The United States: Port Authority Transit Corporation The PATCO Speedline , signed in Philadelphia as the Lindenwold Line and also known colloquially as the PATCO High Speed Line , is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation ( PATCO ), which runs between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and Camden County, New Jersey . The line runs underground in Philadelphia, crosses

River Line (NJ Transit) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-423: The alignment of today’s River Line. The parallel NJ Transit local bus on U.S. Route 130 was heavily patronized, and the corridor was ripe for economic development. In November 1996, NJ Transit's board of directors approved a light rail transit alignment from Glassboro to Trenton with diesel-powered cars based on the findings of the special study. The board also established the initial operating corridor (IOC) to be

3655-808: The alignment that became the River Line corridor, but planned to serve Burlington County via the Mount Holly alignment. NJ Transit's planning for the Burlington–Gloucester Transit System began in the early 1990s. The primary goals of the BGTS were: A Major Investment Study (MIS) published in 1996 concluded that a Gloucester route was more suitable than a Burlington route based on travel demand and citizen support. This study included substantial public participation : fourteen open houses, three advisory committees, and other public outreach. The process found substantial neighborhood opposition to

3740-500: The annual holiday "Santa Train" special for children. In its first several decades, PATCO actively managed consist length based on ridership levels as opposed to running trains in fixed sets, with single car trains making the occasional appearance overnight prior to the elimination of single cars as part of the rebuild. Due to recent capital improvements, weekend and mid-day headways have grown, prompting PATCO to run 4 or 6 car trains during most off peak times, albeit less frequently than

3825-515: The bridge began on February 15, 1969. The Lindenwold extension cost $ 92 million. An infill park and ride station, Woodcrest , was added on February 1, 1980, along with the PATCO II railcars. Ferry Avenue Local trains were replaced with Woodcrest Local trains on September 20, 1980. In 2005, PATCO officials began planning a new route in the corridor of the originally proposed Route C that would serve Gloucester County and end in Glassboro on

3910-622: The complete plan was considered unrealistically expensive. The DRPA elected to focus its resources on the most promising corridor, the Philadelphia–Lindenwold route. Construction on the PATCO Speedline began in 1966 and was completed in 1969, re-using the 1936 Bridge Line subway and constructing a grade-separated heavy-rail line within the Atlantic City Line right-of-way. The DRPA's original proposal did not include

3995-409: The complete refurbishment of the entire fleet with work expected to begin in 2009. The contract for rebuilding the rolling stock was awarded to Alstom , at a cost of $ 194.2 million, beating Bombardier 's bid by $ 35 million, though Bombardier claimed the contract was incorrectly awarded. PATCO began to ship the railcars with their trucks removed and replaced with highway tires for the road trip to

4080-549: The connection between New York City and Philadelphia , via ferries between Pier 1 in New York, and South Amboy, New Jersey , and between Camden and Philadelphia. The Camden and Amboy was eventually purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), then became a Penn Central Transportation line after the PRR- New York Central Railroad merger in 1968, and was transferred to Conrail in 1976. The line

4165-463: The constraints of the timesharing agreement, with the construction of a mid-line yard in 2005 to permit later Burlington arrivals in the evening, and earlier departures after 6 a.m. However, most of the changes noted to facilitate late night service (after 10 p.m. on nights other than Saturdays) have been reversed, as listed. Since the River Line opened, NJ Transit has made the service enhancements listed below (some of them subsequently reversed): There

4250-425: The direction of travel, and half facing the opposite direction. Seats originally ran the full length of the car, with the front seats next to the operator's booth having the benefit of a large picture window. However, the newly refurbished cars now have full-width operator's cabs, resulting in the loss of four passenger seats, in addition to a number of folding longitudinal seats for ADA compliance. Each PATCO car has

4335-405: The equipment to read and code the farecards began to suffer from reliability problems with little replacement part availability. More importantly, the fare system could not accept payment cards and the reliance on change machines created an extra step for those needing to pay with paper currency. In July 2006, PATCO announced that it would start the transition from a magnetic ticket fare system to

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4420-417: The final southbound trains stop just after 10 p.m., are the only exception. This reduction in service occurred in 2010 to save money. Most of the length of the project, except for street-running portion at the Camden end, is shared between non-FRA compliant light rail DMUs and heavy mainline freight trains. The 34-mile shared-track segment contains a mixture of single and double track sections. The River Line

4505-521: The four New Jersey fare zones with the Camden zone tickets also used for intra-Philadelphia travel. Used tickets with no remaining rides were retained by the faregates, re-encoded at a PATCO facility and returned to use in the vending machine. Ten-trip tickets could also be purchased through mail order or from ticket windows at select suburban stations. At its inception, this system was state-of-the-art, but became increasingly problematic as they aged. Tickets were vulnerable to damage from magnetic sources and

4590-400: The full line to Philadelphia opening a few weeks later on February 15, 1969. The PATCO Speedline operates 24 hours a day, one of only a few U.S. mass transit systems to do so. In 2023, the line saw 5,452,000 rides, or about 18,500 per weekday in the third quarter of 2024. The present-day PATCO Speedline follows the route of several historical mainline railroad lines, some dating back to

4675-551: The grounds of Rowan University , formerly Glassboro State College. On May 12, 2009, Jon Corzine , the Governor of New Jersey, formally endorsed a diesel light rail along an existing Conrail right-of-way, which was selected because of its lower capital cost and operating cost. The proposed Glassboro–Camden Line would require riders to transfer to the Speedline at the Walter Rand Transportation Center for trips to Philadelphia. The 1936 Franklin Square station , closed since 1979,

4760-487: The line at abnormal times in case of a special event or emergency. Within a year of the River Line's launch, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted permission to adjust timesharing agreement (more technically, "temporal separation") terms. NJ Transit and Conrail agreed to divide the line into two segments, from Camden to Bordentown (south), and from Bordentown to Trenton (north). In

4845-407: The line was being constructed, NJT studied an extension that would bridge this gap via a shared right-of-way on city streets. Such an extension would provide direct service to the workplaces of state employees and other workers in downtown Trenton. While the project is supported by City of Trenton officials, NJT did not elect to expand the already over-budget construction effort, but instead operates

4930-814: The line west of 8th Street. To facilitate the construction of extensions in Southern New Jersey, the states expanded the powers of the Delaware River Joint Commission (which owned the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the New Jersey portion of the Bridge Line), rechristening it as the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) in 1951. The agency commissioned Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hall & MacDonald to study possible rapid transit services for South Jersey; Parsons, Brinckerhoff's final report recommended building

5015-443: The manual announcements with automated announcements. Trains operate at a maximum of 65 mph (105 km/h) on the surface portion of the system, 40 mph (64 km/h) over the bridge, and 30 mph (48 km/h) in the subway portion. Trains used to have a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h) on the surface portion, but this caused excessive wear on the traction motors and was cut back to 65 mph (105 km/h) in

5100-477: The married pairs by having an extra single leaf door located behind each operators booth. This was installed before the fare collection system was finalized and there was a possibility of operators collecting fares on board during the late night hours. The PATCO I cars were originally fitted with WABCO Model N-2 MU couplers. Because of reliability issues these were replaced by Tomlinson type couplers manufactured by Ohio Brass Company. The original electrical system in

5185-430: The new mainline segments. In New Jersey power is distributed via wayside AC transmission lines in the 26.4 kV range and a series of 7 substations, located approximately every 2 miles (3.2 km). PATCO was one of the first transit systems to employ automated fare collection and tickets with magnetically stored data. It currently uses two types of farecards: reusable contactless smart cards for frequent riders, known as

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5270-508: The northern section, the passenger period starts at 5:45 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. Initially, these new periods allowed NJ Transit to deadhead equipment from Trenton to Bordentown and Florence at 5.45 a.m., to form the 6:08 a.m. and 6:23 a.m. northbound departures. These early morning trains provide earlier connections at Trenton for NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor services to Newark and New York City than were available previously. NJ Transit has made some service improvements within

5355-699: The on-board ATO gear will supply maximum acceleration or maximum braking force to reach that target speed. Automatic station stops are handled by track mounted transponders and can be overridden by the operator for non-stopping trains. The system suffers from problems handling slippery track conditions and human operators are required to take control in any sort of precipitation. Because of the ATO limitations, drivers must make one trip per day under manual operation to stay in practice and are not penalized for running their trains manually at any time of their choosing. In practice, most operators prefer automatic operation as not only

5440-530: The opening of the Woodcrest Park and ride facility) and consisted of married pairs numbered 251-296. The PATCO II cars were manufactured by Vickers Canada under a license from Budd, but are nearly indistinguishable from the PATCO I's, the only differences being that the PATCO II cars had a fixed partition behind the operator's booth and lack a stainless steel shroud below the door line to ease access to traction components. The single units differed from

5525-439: The original passenger service had been abandoned in 1963. The path to NJ Transit's River Line spanned at least three decades and over multiple planning agencies. An unrelated precursor to the NJ Transit River Line was the Delaware River Port Authority 's 1960 plan for rail rapid transit service to Moorestown / Mount Holly , Lindenwold , and Woodbury Heights / Glassboro , using three existing railroad corridors. Implementation of

5610-419: The overnight hours, but may run trains on the southern end of the alignment any other time with prior approval from New Jersey Transit or in emergencies. Much of the line between Bordentown and South Amboy is out of service; the track has been pulled up or paved over in several places. In February 2006, the New Jersey Department of Transportation proposed removing two road crossings on the northern portion of

5695-430: The project is in its operational phase, Bombardier is the only member of SNJRG. In 2021, Alstom acquired Bombardier Transportation. The River Line was exceeding final ridership estimates of 5,500 passengers per day, with an average of 9,014 weekday, 5,922 Saturday, and 4,708 Sunday average passenger trips as of the end of fiscal year 2014. During this time, there were 2,869,707 unlinked passenger trips. In 2022 after

5780-411: The rebuild, the operator was not isolated from the passenger cabin, instead being surrounded by a low partition. As of 2018 all of the legacy vehicles have been rebuilt with modern controls and full width cabs. Operators are still responsible for opening and closing the doors, sounding the horn, starting the train from station stops and manually operating the train when necessary. The rebuild also replaced

5865-400: The rebuilding process. The final run of the non-refurbished "legacy" trains took place on June 10, 2018, with a special day of "last rides" and a contest held for a rider to sit in the front row seat for the last ride. As of March 24, 2019 , the refurbishment work has been completed with a total of 120 of the previous 121 cars accepted back into service. The remaining single unit #116

5950-513: The replacement of the propulsion and automatic train operation systems, which used technology last updated in the early 1980s; the camshaft resistance type motor controller was replaced by a new solid state unit using IGBTs and the relay based ATO unit was replaced by a computerized system. The General Electric DC motors, Pioneer III trucks and gearboxes were not replaced, but rebuilt by Alstom as well. Also, Alstom purchased many extra GE 1255 A2 motors from retired Metro-North Railroad M-1A's from

6035-685: The rest of NJ Transit's other transportation modes, it does not accept the SEPTA Key Card , PATCO's Freedom Card , MTA's MetroCard, or OMNY , although it has plans to create a new fare payment system in the future. The River Line fleet comprises 20 articulated Swiss -built Stadler GTW 2/6 DMU ( diesel multiple unit ) cars. The River Line is the first light rail system in the United States to use these instead of more typical electric vehicles. All stations and rolling stock were built after 1990 and are fully ADA-compliant . [REDACTED] NJ Transit Bus : 409 , 413 Camden Loop New Jersey Transit has proposed several possible extensions and stations to

6120-402: The running rails in advance of the absolute signals. Train's emergency brakes are automatically engaged if a stop signal overrun occurs and interlockings are designed with sufficient overlap for trains to come to a complete stop before conflicting with other traffic. The River Line is equivalent to a one-zone bus ride: fares cost $ 1.80. The River Line operates on a proof-of-payment system, as

6205-422: The same interior styling in its vehicles from their introduction in 1969 through the end of the rebuilding process in 2018 with the 1980 PATCO II cars receiving the exact same look. The color combination was a base of cream with an avocado green fill. The rebuild replaced this with a grey and white interior with brighter fluorescent lighting. Seating is a 2+2 arrangement, with half of the seats in each car facing

6290-427: The single-leaf door behind the train operators position removed and sealed-off. The rebuilding is expected to extend the lives of these cars by 20 years. The first four rebuilt cars were placed in revenue service on May 28, 2015, after over a year and a half of testing. Alstom proceeded with the rebuilding of the remaining fleet of cars at a production and delivery rate of 4 to 6 cars per month until all cars went through

6375-407: The start of service in 1969, PATCO used a system of plastic tickets with an oxide layer on the entire back side for the magnetic encoding of data. Tickets were pre-encoded with a number of rides and a destination zone and sold from ticket vending machines in each station. These machines only accepted coins so bill changers were placed in stations to support paper currency. Each ticket vending machine

6460-556: The time limit to prevent the unauthorized sale of PATCO transfers at Pennsylvania stations. With the release of SEPTA Key , a new type of Freedom card is now required to purchase a transfer to the SEPTA system. The cost of a transfer is $ 2 with this system and it is debited directly from an account based Freedom Card account, provided a new Freedom Share card is used, which is compatible with both PATCO Freedom and SEPTA Key card systems. Bordentown Secondary The Bordentown Secondary

6545-610: The two cities. The Delaware River Bridge, now the Benjamin Franklin Bridge , was designed to accommodate both rail and road traffic. When it opened on July 1, 1926, it had two outboard structures beside the main roadway for rail and space for two streetcar tracks (never installed) on the main road deck. Construction of the rail line did not begin until 1932, and the Bridge Line opened on June 7, 1936. Relatively short, it only had four stations: 8th Street and Franklin Square in Philadelphia, and City Hall and Broadway in Camden. Connection

6630-541: Was available to the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines at Broadway. In Philadelphia, the line joined the 1932-opened Broad-Ridge Spur just west of Franklin Square and shared its 8th Street/Market Street station . An underground tunnel continuing south following 8th Street then west following Locust Street to 18th Street, had been started in 1917 as part of plans for a Center City subway loop. The shell of this 8th–Locust Street subway

6715-436: Was capable of selling two types of tickets, which the rider chose by pushing a button after inserting the correct fare. Because the system has multiple fare zones, several machines were needed in each station. Stations in New Jersey had machines selling one way or round trip tickets to Philadelphia and machines selling tickets to other stations in New Jersey. Ticket machines in Philadelphia would sell single ride tickets to each of

6800-526: Was completed, but not outfitted for passenger service, in 1933. Beginning in June 1949, Bridge Line and Ridge Spur services were through-routed, providing one-seat service between Girard station and Camden. Construction on the 8th–Locust Street subway resumed in 1950. Bridge Line service was extended to 15–16th & Locust station , with intermediate stations at 12–13th & Locust station and 9–10th & Locust station , on February 14, 1953. This section

6885-594: Was excluded from the rebuilding program due to having been damaged beyond repair by an arson fire in 1997 and subsequently used as a source of spare parts. PATCO was one of the first transit systems to incorporate automatic train operation (ATO) for regular service. The PATCO ATO is an analog system that makes use of pulse code cab signaling supplied by Union Switch & Signal . The cab signals supply one of five different speeds (20 mph [32 km/h], 30 mph [48 km/h], 40 mph [64 km/h], 65 mph [105 km/h] or full stop) and

6970-752: Was identified as a possible terminus, near the University of Pennsylvania and several major hospitals. A connection at Penn Medicine station would provide direct SEPTA Regional Rail transfers with the Media/Wawa Line to Delaware County , the Wilmington/Newark Line to the state of Delaware , and the Airport Line to Philadelphia International Airport . Next steps include a feasibility study and cost estimate. The line began operating limited service on March 28, 2020, due to

7055-431: Was initially designed for commingled operations (i.e., where freight trains and light rail trains may operate on the same line controlled only by the signal systems) to provide maximum flexibility both for the freight and transit operators. The line, rebuilt under a design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) contract, features mainline railroad signals with full centralized traffic control (CTC). River Line operating personnel use

7140-468: Was originally a freight railroad line in New Jersey , running from Pavonia Yard in Camden to Trenton . Today, a large portion of the line from Bordentown to Camden is used for New Jersey Transit 's River Line light rail service. Conrail Shared Assets Operations continues to operate freight trains on the line, but these operations are restricted to overnight hours. The line that meets with

7225-651: Was purchased by New Jersey Transit in 1999 for its River Line light rail service between Trenton and Camden. As part of the deal, Conrail retains trackage rights over the line. At present, the line is primarily used for the River Line service, which operates on the same tracks used by freight trains for much of its route. To achieve Federal Railroad Administration approval for the operation, light rail and freight operations are time separated. Conrail's agreement with New Jersey Transit gives exclusive access to light rail operations from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM Sunday through Friday. Conrail has exclusive access for freight service during

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