West Trenton Line (SEPTA)

This article is about the SEPTA commuter rail line. For the proposed NJ Transit line, see West Trenton Line (NJ Transit).

West Trenton Line
Langhorne station on the West Trenton Line.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail line
System	SEPTA
Status	Operating
Termini	University City West Trenton
Stations	24
Website	septa.org
Operation
Operator(s)	SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stock	Electric Multiple Units
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Legend University City 30th Street Station Suburban Station Jefferson Station Reading Terminal former terminus, closed Temple University Manayunk/Norristown Line Wayne Junction Chestnut Hill East Line Fox Chase Line Fern Rock Transportation Center Melrose Park Elkins Park Jenkintown-Wyncote Warminster & Lansdale/Doylestown Lines Noble Rydal Meadowbrook Diamond crossing of Newtown Line Bethayres Philmont Forest Hills Somerton Trevose CSX Trenton Subdivision Neshaminy Falls Langhorne Fairless Junction closed CSAO Fairless Branch (freight only) Woodbourne Norfolk Southern Trenton Cutoff Yardley Pennsylvania/New Jersey border West Trenton with proposed NJT connection CSX Trenton Subdivision All diesel service past West Trenton was discontinued in 1982 Pennington closed Hopewell closed Belle Mead closed Hillsborough closed Raritan Valley Line Bound Brook NJT only Newark Penn Station Amtrak and NJT

The West Trenton Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to West Trenton, New Jersey.

Route

West Trenton station.

The West Trenton Line connects Center City, Philadelphia with the West Trenton section of Ewing, New Jersey. Like all of the Reading Company's commuter lines, the West Trenton Line was electrified in the early 1930s and has a mix of at-grade and grade separated crossings. Electrified service to West Trenton was opened on July 26, 1931. The RDG planned to also electrify tracks between West Trenton and the CNJ Terminal in Jersey City for long-distance service, but had to drop plans for electrification outside of the commuter service area due to economic setbacks as a result of the Great Depression.

The line splits from the SEPTA Main Line at Jenkintown, running northeast. At Bethayres, it crosses over the remnants of the former Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad, which once connected with the Fox Chase Line. At Oakford, the former New York Short Line Railroad, once part of the Reading's main line to West Trenton and Jersey City and currently CSX's Trenton Subdivision, merges. North of Oakford, the West Trenton Line follows CSX's Trenton Subdivision and track operations are controlled using CSX radio frequencies. The West Trenton Railroad Bridge, a concrete arch bridge, crosses the Delaware River to the final stop at West Trenton.

Passenger Schedule (eff. 1974-09-30) of Reading Railway and Central of New Jersey joint service between Newark, N.J. and Phila. Reading Terminal via Belle Mead, N.J. on today's SEPTA West Trenton Line and NJT Raritan Valley Line.

Prior to 1983, the line continued north to Newark, New Jersey (Jersey City prior to the Aldene Plan of the 1960s), using Budd Company-built Diesel multiple units. This service was originally launched by the Reading in 1937 under the name Crusader using streamlined steam locomotives and passenger cars. Currently, New Jersey Transit is looking at starting a commuter service between West Trenton and Newark, allowing an alternative to the SEPTA and NJ Transit service on the nearby Northeast Corridor line, as well as expanding rail service to currently unserved areas of Central New Jersey.

The line north of the split at Jenkintown was originally built as the National Railway project, opened on May 1, 1876, to provide an alternate to the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies' monopoly over Philadelphia-New York City travel. From Jenkintown to the Delaware River it was built by the North Pennsylvania Railroad as a branch, while the New Jersey section was built by the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, merging with the Central Railroad of New Jersey at Bound Brook. In addition to the Reading Company, which leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1879, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad also used the line for passenger and freight service to New York City, including its famed Royal Blue service. In 1976 the Reading merged into Conrail, and in 1983 SEPTA took over operations.

Currently, most weekday West Trenton trains continue through downtown to Philadelphia International Airport via the Airport Line. Prior to the abandonment of the R-designations on the regional rail system, inbound West Trenton line trains continued on to Elwyn.

Name change

On July 25, 2010 SEPTA renamed the service from the R3 West Trenton to simply the West Trenton 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 R3 West Trenton/R3 Elwyn service.

Station list

Boldface indicates a major station.

Zone	Milepost	Station	Boardings	City/Township	County	Notes
C	2.1	Temple University	3,028	Philadelphia		boardings include all lines
1	5.1	Wayne Junction	527			boardings include Warminster Line, Lansdale/Doylestown Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, and Fox Chase Line
	7.3	Fern Rock TC	825			boardings include Warminster Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line
2	8.4	Melrose Park	458	Cheltenham	Montgomery	boardings include Warminster Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line
	9.2	Elkins Park	632			boardings include Warminster Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line
3	10.8	Jenkintown-Wyncote	1,998	Cheltenham/Jenkintown		boardings include Warminster Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line; Aerial photo
	12.0	Noble	222	Abington Township
	12.8	Rydal	147
	13.8	Meadowbrook	141
	15.1	Bethayres	578	Lower Moreland Township
	16.4	Philmont	633
	17.7	Forest Hills	434	Philadelphia
	18.2	Somerton	676
	19.9	Trevose	283	Bensalem Township	Bucks
	21.1	Neshaminy Falls	276
4	23.9	Langhorne	643	Penndel
	26.4	Woodbourne	702	Middletown Township
	30.8	Yardley	392	Yardley
NJ	32.5	West Trenton	292	Ewing	Mercer	New Jersey

Ridership

Fiscal year	Average weekday	Annual passengers
FY 2014	12,711	2,533,608
FY 2013	12,569	3,494,288
FY 2012	12,478	3,468,772
FY 2011	12,825	3,565,750
FY 2010	11,774	3,287,368
FY 2009	12,290	3,431,587
FY 2008	11,851	3,308,800
FY 2005	9,488	2,372,816
FY 2004	9,958	2,795,338
FY 2003	10,604	2,637,500
FY 2001	n/a	2,684,000
FY 2000	n/a	2,706,000
FY 1999	n/a	2,205,000
FY 1997	n/a	2,268,269
FY 1996	n/a	2,215,097
FY 1995	7,498	2,027,012
FY 1994	7,106	1,601,685
FY 1993	6,093	1,350,442
Note: n/a = not available

External links

• SEPTA – West Trenton line schedule (PDF)
• Railroad History Database
• The Blue Comet - Reading Terminal to West Trenton, New Jersey