Wilmington/Newark Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wilmington/Newark Line
Wilmington Newark Line 2015.png
Map of Wilmington/Newark Line with current stops
Overview
StatusOperating
TerminiNewark
Temple University
Stations22
Websitesepta.org
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemSEPTA Regional Rail
Operator(s)SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stockElectric Multiple Units, push-pull trains
Daily ridership9,995 (FY 2018) [1]
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationOverhead Catenary 12.5 kV 25 Hz AC
Route map

Legend
Northeast Corridor
to Washington
38.7 mi
62.3 km
 Newark Amtrak
32.5 mi
52.3 km
 Churchmans Crossing
26.8 mi
43.1 km
 Wilmington Amtrak
19.6 mi
31.5 km
 Claymont
Delaware
Pennsylvania
Zone
 4 
3
17.1 mi
27.5 km
 Marcus Hook
Trainer
Thurlow
15.5 mi
24.9 km
 Highland Avenue
Lamokin Street
13.4 mi
21.6 km
 Chester T.C.
12.3 mi
19.8 km
 Eddystone
Baldwin
11.2 mi
18 km
 Crum Lynne
10.4 mi
16.7 km
 Ridley Park
Zone
 3 
2
9.5 mi
15.3 km
 Prospect Park
9.0 mi
14.5 km
 Norwood
8.3 mi
13.4 km
 Glenolden
7.7 mi
12.4 km
 Folcroft
7.2 mi
11.6 km
 Sharon Hill
Academy
6.8 mi
10.9 km
 Curtis Park
6.1 mi
9.8 km
 Darby
11.1 mi
17.9 km
Zone
 2 
C
11.1 mi
17.9 km
placeholder
11.1 mi
17.9 km
Paschall
 
Bonaffon
Mount Moriah
58th Street
Grays Ferry
42nd Street
AIR
to Airport
 ELW
to Elwyn
1.8 mi
2.9 km
 Penn Medicine
South Street
0.9 mi
1.4 km
 30th Street
SEPTA_subway–surface_trolley_lines MFL Atlantic City Line Amtrak
0 mi
0 km
 Suburban
SEPTA_subway–surface_trolley_lines BSL MFL
0.5 mi
0.8 km
 Jefferson
MFL
2.1 mi
3.4 km
 Temple University
This diagram:
  • view
  • talk

The Wilmington/Newark Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail system in the Philadelphia area. The line serves southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, with stations in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, Delaware, and Newark, Delaware. It is the longest of the 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines.

Route[]

The Wilmington/Newark Line runs on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, making local stops along the way.

Only weekday peak trains run to Newark. One morning train to Newark runs as an express service from University City to Chester before turning into a local serving Marcus Hook and the Delaware stations. About half the trains on weekends terminate at Marcus Hook. Service in Delaware is funded in part by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).

On weekdays most Wilmington/Newark trains operate through the Center City tunnel to and from Lansdale/Doylestown Line points. Most weekend Wilmington trains run through to and from Elm Street in Norristown on the Manayunk/Norristown Line.[2]

History[]

The line north of Wilmington was originally built by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The original alignment was opened January 17, 1838, and on November 18, 1872 a realignment opened north of Chester (part of the old route is now used for the Airport Line). South of Wilmington the line was built by the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad and opened July 31, 1837. The Pennsylvania Railroad obtained control in the early 1880s. Electrified service was opened between Philadelphia and Wilmington on September 30, 1928. Electrified operation was extended to Newark and beyond to Washington, D.C. on February 10, 1935. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged into Penn Central. In 1976 Conrail took over, and SEPTA took over on January 1, 1983. When SEPTA took over service, commuter rail service in Delaware was eliminated, with the Claymont and Edgemoor stations closed.[3]

Under SEPTA, commuter service from Philadelphia originally terminated in Marcus Hook. In 1989, service was extended south into Delaware to end at Wilmington. A stop was added in Claymont in 1991.[4] In the mid-1990s, a transportation study took place for extending SEPTA service from Wilmington to Newark. The proposal called for stations at Newport (near the former Newport Railroad Station), Metroform (now Churchmans Crossing), Newark, and West Newark (at Otts Chapel Road). A review by DelDOT challenged the locations of the stations in Newport, Newark, and West Newark.[5] SEPTA service was extended south from Wilmington to Newark in 1997. The Churchmans Crossing station between Wilmington and Newark opened in 2000.[4]

SEPTA activated positive train control on the Wilmington/Newark Line on May 1, 2017.[6]

On April 9, 2020, service on the line was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[7] though Penn Medicine station was still being served by other rail services.[8] Service between 30th Street Station and Wilmington resumed May 10, 2020 on a modified schedule as part of the Southwest Connection Improvement Program.[9] Service to Newark resumed on January 25, 2021 in order to offer public transit options during a construction project along Interstate 95 in Wilmington.[10]

Name change[]

R2 Newark.gif

On July 25, 2010 SEPTA renamed the service from the R2 Newark to the Wilmington/Newark Line as part of system-wide service change that drops the R-number naming and makes the Center City stations the terminus for all lines. This also ended the combined R2 Newark/R2 Warminster service.

Station list[]

A 2-car Silverliner IV train seen at Prospect Park station
Silverliner V SEPTA Regional Rail train at Wilmington station
Map showing also former stops of the line in light red.

The Wilmington/Newark Line trains make the following station stops, after leaving the Center City Commuter Connection:

State Zone[2] Location Station Miles (km)
from
Center City 		Date opened Connections / notes
PA C University City, Philadelphia Penn Medicine Disabled access 1.8 (2.9) SEPTA Regional Rail: Airport, Manayunk/Norristown, Media/Elwyn, Warminster, West Trenton lines
SEPTA City Bus: 40, LUCY
2 Darby Darby 6.1 (9.8)
Sharon Hill Curtis Park 6.8 (10.9) March 7, 1949[11] SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
Academy Closed March 7, 1949[11]
Sharon Hill 7.2 (11.6) SEPTA Suburban Transit: 102
SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
Folcroft Folcroft 7.7 (12.4) SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
Glenolden Glenolden 8.3 (13.4)
Norwood Norwood 9.0 (14.5)
Prospect Park Prospect Park 9.5 (15.3) The station was named Moore until April 1, 1932[12]
3 Ridley Park Ridley Park 10.4 (16.7) 1871[13]
Crum Lynne 11.2 (18.0) SEPTA Suburban Bus: 114
Eddystone
Baldwin Closed October 4, 1981[14]
Eddystone 12.3 (19.8) SEPTA City Bus: 37
Chester Chester Transportation Center Disabled access 13.4 (21.6) SEPTA City Bus: 37
SEPTA Suburban Bus: 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119
Lamokin Street Closed July 1, 2003[15]
Highland Avenue 15.5 (24.9) SEPTA Suburban Bus: 113
Trainer Trainer Closed 1979
Marcus Hook Marcus Hook 17.1 (27.5) SEPTA Suburban Bus: 119
DE 4 Claymont Naaman Closed March 26, 1978[16]
Claymont Disabled access 19.6 (31.5) 1991[3][17] DART First State: 31, 61
Edgemoor Edge Moor Closed January 1, 1983[3]
Wilmington Wilmington Disabled access 26.8 (43.1) 1989 Amtrak Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
Greyhound Lines
DART First State: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 40, 47, 52, 301, 305 (seasonal)
Newark Churchmans Crossing Disabled access 32.5 (52.3) 2000 DART First State: 33, 54, 62
Newark Disabled access 38.7 (62.3) 1997 Amtrak: Northeast Regional
DART First State: 10, 33, 46, 302
Cecil Transit: 4, 5
UNICITY: N1, N2

Ridership[]

Between FY 2008-FY 2018 annual ridership on the Wilmington/Newark Line ranged between 2.5–2.8 million.[note 1]

500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
FY 2012
FY 2013
FY 2014
FY 2015
FY 2016
FY 2017
FY 2018

Notes[]

  1. ^ Annual ridership statistics compiled from SEPTA's Annual Service Plans.[1][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2019. p. 42. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Wilmington/Newark Line Timetable" (PDF). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Rail Unions Set Strike Deadline". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. February 10, 1983. p. 23. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. ^ a b "Delaware State Rail Plan" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "DelDOT Questions Planned Rail Stops". The News Journal. Wilimington, Delaware. November 26, 1994. p. 3. Retrieved April 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. ^ "Positive Train Control Update". SEPTA. May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  7. ^ "Service Information". SEPTA. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  8. ^ "SEPTA Regional Rail & Rail Transit Lifeline Service" (PDF). SEPTA. 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "Southwest Connection Improvement Program". SEPTA. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "Regional Rail Select Schedule Changes - Select Lines Sunday, January 24, 2021". SEPTA. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "New Curtis Park Station". Delaware County Daily Times. March 5, 1949. p. 2. Retrieved April 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  12. ^ Baer, Christopher T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context: 1932" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical Historical Society. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  13. ^ "Latest News By Mail". Lancaster Daily Intelligencer. November 23, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved April 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  14. ^ Tulsky, Fredric N. (September 24, 1981). "Rail Cuts Approved by SEPTA". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 23. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  15. ^ "On the Railroad Lines" (PDF). The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger. Vol. 21, no. 6–7. Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers. July 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  16. ^ "Public Notice: Station Abandonment". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 6, 1978. p. 17. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  17. ^ "Delaware State Rail Plan" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. 2011. p. 4-6, 4-8. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  18. ^ "Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2018. p. 74. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  19. ^ "Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2017. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  20. ^ "Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. October 2016. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  21. ^ "Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2015. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  22. ^ "Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2014. p. 60. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  23. ^ "Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2013. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  24. ^ "Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2012. p. 55. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  25. ^ "Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. July 2011. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  26. ^ "Fiscal Year 2011 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2010. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  27. ^ "Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2009. p. 63. Retrieved December 14, 2019.

See also[]

External links[]

Retrieved from ""