@cryorig_transit05 As do I. I know it's being actively looked into, though it would likely require adding some track north of Perryville and the full renovation of Newark and Elkton stations to be completed. Nothing set in stone timeline wise, but it is being pursued.
One small point I wish to mention is that Pennsylvania residents who are 65 years of age or older can apply for and receive a senior pass card that allows them to travel on all SEPTA routes at no cost, with the exception that it only works on the portions of routes that are within the state of Pennsylvania. So if you want to travel to Trenton NJ you can ride the regional rail to the last Pennsylvania station on the line which is Levittown at no cost, but from there to Trenton you will need to pay the fare for that final leg. Fortunately only a few stations on the Regional Rail system are outside of Pennsylvania, including Trenton, West Trenton and a small number of stops in Delaware along the Wilmington line. This is all paid for with proceeds from the Pennsylvania Lottery, if anybody may be wondering.
Broad Street Station suffered two debilitating fires in the 20th Century. The ROW that connected the BSS to 30th Street was a massive, stone-walled, above-ground monstrosity whose removal was a desirable end. Liberty Place didn’t arrive until 1985, decades after its demolition.
One of the coolest SEPTA Videos out there! And it's a deep field. Ever since I moved to Philly a few years ago I've been slack-jawed at just how nice it is to have an alternative to driving for all of the cool things in and around the city! Currently more of a weekly mainline rider to work in the city but looking forward to upcoming videos in the series about the metro lines, busses, and (my favorite) TROLLEYS!
I’ll be in Philly soon for a business conference, and I’m so glad I saw this vid in my recommended. Thanks for the info, and I’d be glad to see more of this sort of content 💯 Subscribed.
Great video! I always found it interesting to use the Regional Rail to travel between Trenton and Philly when the Amtrak tickets got too expensive. In the past, SEPTA and NJT would work together on their schedules and create direct interchanges between Trenton trains and NEC trains. I wish they can bring that back one day. What's weird is that Trenton TC does not have a Key Card reader despite being served by SEPTA, but I guess it doesn't matter as much since it is the last station of the line. New Jersey Transit still offers tickets between Trenton and Philly. Although the ticket itself may says "30th Street," you can use it at any CC stations. The Regional Rail also takes Amtrak tickets. You can use the QR code on an Amtrak ticket to take a Regional Rail train within the CC zone on the same day of your itinerary. This is really slick when I need transit access to Newark Airport from Philly. The only thing I need is an Amtrak ticket between 30th Street and EWR. I scan the QR code at Market East and take a Regional Rail train to 30th Street. From there, I transfer to the Amtrak train. At EWR, I can use the exact same ticket to board the AirTrain. This is definitely worth the $26 if you manage to book it early enough. Hope these help.
I remember when NJT and SEPTA coordinated, feels like it wasn't that long ago. I lived in Philly from 2012-2020 and from 2014 to 2017 had an in person job in NYC. If I made a large purchase in a pay period, I slummed it on RR to NJT to get to Penn Station instead of Amtrak. It used to cost like 7 bucks! And the NJT was cross platform at trenton. Took twice as long as Amtrak but was a tenth of the price!
I went to Jefferson station yesterday and oh my goodness it feels just like a European system. Feels weird for have silverliner IV’s and old Comet coaches going through it just doesn’t fit the vibe, and the lovely underground restaurants were amazing! Felt like such a nice place to walk around and hang out in.
Great video! Septa should just run more trains. They have EMUs, and I assume their crew are still on duty at the end of the line durring low peak hours. Regardless, it's still a lot better than a diesel hauled commuter train that runs 3 times each direction on weekdays (cough Metra cough)
SEPTA actually did plan to increase RR service using double decker cars. Unfortunately, they fell for the CRRC scam that screwed over many other services as well.
Not sure if I call it a hot take, since we both agree on a lot of aspects of the network and the problems it has. There's bound to be some differences in how we see solutions to the problems the network faces, and in what order they should be tackled, likely because I think it'd be best to focus on the network that we currently have for the present, and improve the ridership experience through a lot of different ways (platform and station rebuilds, junction grade separations, crossing removal, and finding means of crew reform if at all possible), though I do like the overarching idea that he has with reviving rail in South Jersey (though, I have my own twist on it in my crayon ideas lol).
I did a day trip to Center City last week and used SEPTA for the first time from/to Newark, DE. (I also did a trip up/back to Norristown just to ride the NHSL line with those 90s rocketship trains.) The area does have great transit bones like you said but dang it just feels so neglected. I'm used to riding the DC metro so tapping in/out wasn't an issue but was confused by having to use their app to add a day pass... then tap my physical card. Thankfully I hear they're testing contactless payment for Regional Rail. That being said, if MARC and SEPTA connected it would have saved me an hour drive to Newark, DE just to take the train. (thankfully free parking there still). Thanks for the informative video!
My #1 Improvement for SEP-d'UHHhhh . . . The old "Cross County Metro" proposal, which was imagined with Interurban rolling stock, could also be done as "SEPTa"s Boonton Line", I. E., Push-Pull Diesel-hauled double-deckers serving all high-platform stations along the Cutoff, with Air Rights from NJT to bypass the Morrisville Facility, and gauntlet tracks at each station to allow NS continued usage of the line.
Frequency on SEPTA Regional Rail is kept low by (a) chronic underfunding, combined with (b) too many stations lacking level boarding. Step-up boarding requires a second conductor. Which drives up the labor cost to run a train. SEPTA simply doesn't have the funds to pay Assistant Conductors for trains to run every 15 minutes throughout the day.
There is a fourth fully electrified regional/commuter rail line! Shore Line East in CT. They gave all the diesel equipment to the Hartford line and run M8s now.
PATCO needs more lines in south jersey, basically a line north of and south of the Lindenwold line, just as outlined in ... the ... original PATCO plan.
I mostly reside in Media. I live in an apartment complex that is within walking distance of the train station. It’s super convenient. I’m originally from the Reading area. There’s no passenger train travel except for a weekly excursion to Jim Thorpe. I really want SEPTA to open a line between Philadelphia and Reading. While we’re at it, NJ Transit needs to open a line between Newark and Allentown.
Hey! Fellow Media resident here! that's cool! And yeah, wholeheartedly agree that a service between Philly and Reading would be awesome. Thankfully, it seems like that will happen in the next few years, albeit it won't be SEPTA, it will be Amtrak. There's definitely a lot of reasons why that will be the case, and I want to go over that in future videos on the matter, but it's a good start. Having that as a connection to the Reading and Northern going up to Jim Thorpe would be awesome, and I'm excited for what that can do, even if I would've wanted it to be a more frequent, electrified SEPTA service rather than an Amtrak service with a few round trips a day, but it's a decent start.
wilmington/newark has weird service paterns because past marcus hook service is subsidized by the state of delaware (I believe they also actually own some silverliners too) in partnership with septa. this is also why its almost completely dependent on the state of delaware wanting to extend the line to connect to marc. also, the reason west trenton exists is because septa originally ran trains as far as newark NJ when they still operated diesel services (part of legacy Reading service) and when these were all cut back to be electric only, west trenton became the terminus
This reminds me. I was gonna take advantage of NJ Transit's Fare Holiday this year (2024) by riding the AC Line for the first time but then my eczema decided to breakout during that week sadly...
As far as the aisle seat with no headrest, those seats aren't found on any of NJT's Comets anymore but they're still on Metro North's shoreliners and used to be on NJT's Comet IIIs and some Comet IIs (while others had orange flippable seats). Before all the Comet II's were refurbished to get the Comet IV's flippable blue seats (which are now mostly broken), I would seek out a car with the fixed brown seats because they were so much more comfortable than the orange flippable ones. I think the lack of a headrest was meant to serve two purposes: 1. it makes the aisle a little more open, at least when no one is sitting there, and 2. it encouraged people to move in and sit in the window and middle seats before occupying the aisle seats. Unlike any other NJ Transit trains with 2x3 seating people were pretty good at making full use of the fixed brown seats rather than only 2 or 1 people sitting there. You were also spared the absolute worst thing about traveling off-peak, which is two people flipping a seat and facing each other where six people could have sat.
Great to see this on the feed after coming back from a day trip to Doylestown! (On the Doylestown Line, natch). Also, I was today years old when I found out that SEPTA ran service all the way to Allentown (albeit for only 2 years)! I was actually looking for videos on the Bethlehem Line, but there doesn't seem to be any, so I'm really looking forward to the upcoming video you mentioned,
The NJ fare zone is because New Jersey doesnt subsidize those routes- the Wilmington line doesnt have a special fare zone because Delaware/DDOT has a deal to subsidize that line
Hi! Can't confirm if this is their reasoning but I've noticed on the Bombardier equipment the lack of headrest in the inner most bench seat makes it much easier if you're carrying a shoulder bag or duffel as it's able to clear the seat back (assuming nobody's sitting there)
The Center City Connection is a stroke of genius. Did it happen first, or did the Paris RER happen first? New York is in the process of doing it. LIRR is already at Grand Central and Metro-North is coming to Penn Station.
@pleappleappleap The RER came first, though it wasn't by much. The RER opened in 1977, and the Munich S-Bahn opened in 1972, so as these things go, Philly was a pioneer of the thru-running Regional Rail concept, and definitely so for North America. Obviously they didn't go as far as Paris or Munich, but it's cool to know that my city showed that we know what can make good transit great, but we can't fully get there yet.
17:30 there’s also a fare for those that do not go in the city for instance Doylestown to Jenkintown or Norristown to Ivy Ridge. This fair is approximately 325 with the key and four dollars cash.
The NJT ACL is interesting in the early 2010s there was a express service for it called the ACES but that got discontinued in 2012. the equipment was the ACES was interesting to say the last. NJT leased some P40DCS from Amtrak and then it was 4 special multilevel coaches with special ACES branding then there was interesting not a cab car but instead one of NJTS ALP44 locomotives on the rear so there was technically a electric on the ACL. thought that was be a cool fact to know.
When yyou started talking about the rather expensive prices I was ready for something, but this price seems fair. My commute to Zürich costs about (with no passes or trickery) 27 Dollars per trip. Yikes!
15:50 The "NJ" zone fares are mainly because the State of New Jersey does not subsidize those two SEPTA lines. SEPTA is under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, so they are by no means obligated to provide service to New Jersey. Funding for that service thus must come mainly from fares. Delaware does not have the same situation because the State of Delaware intentionally subsidizes service from Marcus Hook to Newark; therefore, the onus for funding does not need to come primarily from fares, giving all Delaware stations a Zone 4 designation.
i heard the northeast corridor (amtrak lines) are on their own separate power grid, because the line was electrified before most cities had their own grids. it hasn't ever been connected to the national grid, which is why it suffers frequent breakdowns and isn't able to get help from its service cities' grids. since i assume the regional lines were electrified around the same time, are they powered off the city's grid, or does SEPTA have to maintain their own electrical grid in order to keep them running?
All the veteran riders I know, including me, still use the "R" designations. It's easier to remember and speak. But too many infrastructure problems on the old Reading lines--especially single-tracked sections--made the run-through consistency too difficult to adhere to.
I really hope septa reactivates it’s older lines that were discontinue, such as two Souderton, Telford and Bethlehem in Allentown, and up to Pottstown Reading. I know they are trying to reactivate the West Chester line, they just need funding from the state.
the atlantic city line should be exteneded to philly airport someday. may b even ny coonecting to the old b&o lin on the east bank of the delaware river.
you didn't mention the fact that the weekend service past malvern on the R5 is only 4 trains on Saturday 0 on Sunday and also they only get half service on weekdays being 2 hourly for most of the day minus peak! why septa why!
@Ratcher. Yeah, the old R5 is kind of a scheduling mess I've found. To me, it doesn't help that Amtrak and SEPTA don't to my knowledge coordinate timetables with each other (a common problem across the NEC network broadly), and I guess they want to concentrate their scheduling focus on the suburbs from Paoli on east, while treating Downingtown like its of little significance. Maybe the planned extension to Coatesville when the new station is completed will change that a bit, though with the awkward location of Fraser Yard where the Paoli-Thorndale line trains are stabled between Malvern and Exton, that problem will still persist afterwards. I guess we'll see on that front.
