Norristown-Rt. 100 Line

On a trip to Phila. later this month I want to check out the full length of the Route 100 Hi-Speed Line. To get to it from Center City Regional Rail stations I assume I take the Market-Frankford subway to 69th St. Terminal. I've never been on those lines before. Are the trains and stations safe during the day? And what sort of fares and collection system is used? Also can you see out the front of the subway trains and the trolley? This New Yorker will appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks guys!

The Market-Frankford and Route 100 stations are safe during daytime. The MFSE trains have excellent railfan windows as well as a window in the storm door.

Single fares are $2.00 cash or $1.30 if you buy tokens. Route 100 is additional fare.
A day pass (maybe still $5.50 - a bargain at any price) allows one one-way Regional Rail trip (except between Center City and Trenton) plus unlimited bus/subway/el/trolley trips, including Routes 100, 101, and 102.

Bob

Head-end View wrote:On a trip to Phila. later this month I want to check out the full length of the Route 100 Hi-Speed Line. To get to it from Center City Regional Rail stations I assume I take the Market-Frankford subway to 69th St. Terminal. I've never been on those lines before. Are the trains and stations safe during the day? And what sort of fares and collection system is used? Also can you see out the front of the subway trains and the trolley? This New Yorker will appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks guys!

The MFL cars have a head end railfan window. 15th St Station and 69th St Terminal are relatively safe. All of the stations on the 100 are safe although Norristown may make ya feel uneasy at night. Bith the El and the 100 (it pains me to call it that cause I still call it the P&W as most locals do, I just don't want to confuse ya).

As far as fares are concerned, the MFL is base fare. (I'd recommend purchasing a pack of tokens or a daypass. do not pay the cash sucker fare of $2.00). The 100 is 2 zone line with Bryn Mawr station being the line of demarcation. With the extra zone you'll have to pay an extra 50 cents unless you buy the daypass which will exempt you from zone charge.

I do not know the day and time you will be using the system but early afternoon on a weekday can be a problem on the El when the high schools let out. Weekends don not have this problem.

The MFL is generally safe...if you are that concerned just sit in the first car near the engineer.

I'd encourage you to ride the 100. Even if you are mainly into commuter rail, it can be a good experience. It is like a bus on rails. The N5 cars can accelerate quickly. You pass through a variety of places. Many places to take pictures. I rode the entire length of it last March.

The daypass is definately the best option, although they seem to "run out" of them a lot, so it would probably be good to be prepared to buy tokens.

On the outbound trip, try to sit on the left side of the car. Up to Bryn Mawr you'll see where a lot of the ROW is graded for 2-way double tracking that was never built. Right after Villanova University the line will curve to the right and go over Lancaster Avenue (Route 30). If you look just before Lancaster Ave, you should be able to see the remains of the original ROW that extended to Strafford, where a station abutted the current R5 station until that branch of the line was shut down in 1956. The old ROW is now a hiking/biking trail where some of the old station foundations are still visible.

Also remember that the 100 has transfer privileges with the MFSE so you if you are not using a DayPass, you still do not have to pay two full, separate fares on each line. The kicker is that the MFSE still uses PTC payment rules and the 100 uses Red Arrow rules, so how you pay is determined by the direction of your trip. Here's the drill:

Outbound from the city: give the MFSE cashier a token (usually available from a vending machine at major stations) plus 60c for a transfer. Hang onto the transfer (a little paper coupon) when you go upstairs at 69th Street and board the 100. When you get out at Norristown, give the 100 driver the transfer plus another 50c for the zone charge beyond Bryn Mawr.

Inbound from Norristown: Pay the 100 driver a token and $1.10. That covers your boarding fare, the transfer, and the 50c zone charge all at once. When you get to 69th St. just give your transfer to the MFSE cashier and walk downstairs to the lower platform.

As others have pointed out, the last things you want to do are to pay the $2.00 "sucker" fare in cash, or pay two full fares instead of getting a transfer. So simple that even a PhD can sometimes figure it out, haha.

Thanks guys, for all the info. The fare system is confusing. What does PTC and Red Arrow rules mean? And where can you normally buy the day-pass? That sounds like the best deal.

Day passes are sold at 69th St, and the 3 Center City Rail Stations (30th, Suburband and Market East).

The fare rules between the two divisions is this:

On city division lines fares are pay as you enter both inbound and outbound.

Red Arrow's slightly different. Outbound from 69th St you pay as you leave, and inbound to 69th, you pay as you enter.

SEPTALRV9072 wrote:The fare rules between the two divisions is this:

On city division lines fares are pay as you enter both inbound and outbound.

Red Arrow's slightly different. Outbound from 69th St you pay as you leave, and inbound to 69th, you pay as you enter.

Exactly. Been that way for at least 75 years so it's not likely to change anytime soon. It was never a problem when the systems were separate but now that there's a joint fare between the 2 divisions it can be contorted.

When you're going inbound on the suburban divisions you can pay everything - your boarding fare, zone charge and transfer charge - all at the same time. But boarding in Philly and going outbound, you have to split your payment between the two divisions based on where each portion applies.

Yeah, it takes tons of change and the great majoritity of regular riders have it figured out, but I've seen more than a few people get so flummoxed that they give up and pay double each time. And SEPTA loves 'em!

JeffK wrote:Yeah, it takes tons of change and the great majoritity of regular riders have it figured out, but I've seen more than a few people get so flummoxed that they give up and pay double each time. And SEPTA loves 'em!

Perfect excuse for not revamping the fare system!

Thanks again everybody ! You've all been really helpful. I'm sure you saved me a lot of grief on the day I ride.

we're here to help, that's what we do! lol

I took that ride today to Norristown. Interesting experience. I bought a day-pass and a one-way train fare at the Levittown Station ticket office (R-7) where I started the trip. The day-pass greatly simplified the fare-collection system. Those MFL cars have a great view out the front, but are very cramped with that commuter-train type seating. The seats are small too. Those trains seemed fast enough though!

I was surprised to see that lunar-white is used (instead of green) for the proceed signal on both MFL and Route 100. But I was even more amazed to see that on the Norristown Line, a lunar-white light is also used as the "station-stop" signal (!) along with a small sign with the letter "P" below the signal head. Did I miss something here? It seems dangerous to have the same (or almost the same) signal mean two different things, depending on where it's used. Shouldn't a "stop" signal be distinctly different from a "proceed" signal. Can you guys who know that area enlighten me about this?

Anyway, it was a good day's riding; thanks again for the "primer" you all gave me a few weeks back.