Paoli Line Express Trains

I was riding an "express to Wayne" R5 outbound the other day, since I don't take this train often and wanted to see what an express was like. The train was locomotive-hauled and I sat in a Bombardier coach with center doors. It left on-time from 30th St with most seats filled, even the three-across benches, and proceeded past Overbrook on the local (outside) track. It ran at about 50-60 mph between Overbrook and Bryn Mawr, it slowed to about 30 mph from Bryn Mawr to Wayne, but still managed to an on-time arrival at Wayne. Did they slow the train down because it was ahead of schedule, and couldn't the schedule be made faster? Are the express (inner) tracks out of service?

Been there, done that. It caught up with the local in front of it.

Yes, that explains it, but why schedule an express so that it catches up with a local?

Amtrak owns the line. Guess slots at that hour are limited.

Amtrak only runs once an hour, I dont think the tracks are that clogged. I think once Amtrak finishes rehabbing the tracks maybe things will be better. Im sure back in the day those tracks saw alot more traffic.

Yes, that explains it, but why schedule an express so that it catches up with a local?

The evening "Schuylkill Valley Flyer" on the Norristown Line had that problem the only time I rode it. The local leaves at 5:00, the express at 5:09. It's so stupid, especially in this case since SEPTA owns the line. Not only does the express risk catching the local, but there's no incentive for ANYONE to take the express when the local still arrives first anyway.

PARailWiz wrote: It's so stupid, especially in this case since SEPTA owns the line.

Really? SEPTA owns Amtrak's Keystone Corridor? You sure about that

PARailWiz wrote:The evening "Schuylkill Valley Flyer" on the Norristown Line had that problem the only time I rode it. The local leaves at 5:00, the express at 5:09.

Typical muddled SEPTA-think at work. The same situation held on the P&W for a long time. Northbound expresses and locals were scheduled at equal intervals, I think every 6 minutes. It made for a nice even distribution of departures but by the time the local got to Wynnewood Road, the express was right behind it and poked along to Bryn Mawr. At Bryn Mawr there was an even longer wait while the local car reversed into the pocket track.

Finally someone got the bright idea of staggering runs so that the locals left 3 minutes behind each express, followed by a 9 minute gap. It created uneven departures but eliminated a lot of waste. Form vs. substance, I guess.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:
PARailWiz wrote:
It's so stupid, especially in this case since SEPTA owns the line.


Really? SEPTA owns Amtrak's Keystone Corridor? You sure about that Very Happy

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the Norristown Line, not the Main Line.

PARailWiz wrote:Yes, that explains it, but why schedule an express so that it catches up with a local?

If the Express left three minutes later, the result would be the same. The express cannot pass the local.

Why don't the expresses go first? Why can't it stay on the express track?

PARailWiz wrote:Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the Norristown Line, not the Main Line.

You have nothing to apologize for... I reread everything and realized you were quite clear about that. Sorry about that. I agree with your point

jfrey40535 wrote:Why don't the expresses go first? Why can't it stay on the express track?

The line is owned by AMTRAK, not SEPTA. SEPTA pays for rights to use the tracks. SEPTA does not dispatch the line, so AMTRAK tells SEPTA what track to use. Besides, I don't know if there is a crossover in the right place to bring it back onto the local track at Paoli. In any case, its an imperfect world..........

But SEPTA could decide which train goes first, local or express. In typical fashion, they let the tortise go first.

Amtrak's track work is probably taking the express track out of service, but SEPTA should have issued new schedules so that the trains aren't slowed down.

Even without the track work, there are problems with the existing schedule. There are actually three trains scheduled within 11 minutes. The first is an express to Bryn Mawr, the second a local, and the third a limited (express to Wayne). The limited on track 3 can pass the local running on track 4, but catches up to the express. As scheduled, the trains are only 6 minutes apart at Wayne. In reality, the limited can run from 30th St to Wayne in 15 minutes instead of the 21 scheduled, which means that the two trains arrive at Wayne at the same time if they are on different tracks.