by MikeBPRR
rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 5:46 amThe study SEPTA published last year said that trains would make it to Suburban between 65 and 75 minutes of leaving West Chester. Locals would take closer to 75, and the expresses from Media to Morton or from Primos to University City would take closer to 65. Even when you factor in the drive to Exton or Malvern, there's no way that is time-competitive with the Great Valley Flyer - nothing beats the 40-45 minutes from Exton/Malvern to Suburban. The locals or semi-expresses on the Paoli/Thorndale Line are another story, though, and it definitely matches the 104/MFL transfer.njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:49 pm Septa Regional Rail will never serve West Chester anymore. The right of way, presently used by the West Chester Railroad, is very twisty, making it not viable at all for quick daily rail service. On the other hand, West Chester Railroad is looking at running some trips to connect to Septa trains at Wawa, when it opens up.I have a hard time with the “winding” argument because commuter service was operated to West Chester until the 1980s. If Silverliner IVs handled it back then why couldn’t they handle it now?
I am not the hugest fan at coming into West Chester through Media though. The West Chester station would be the closest to my house, but I would still have a quicker ride from Malvern or Exton even with the drive. Trying to make it work via the Mainline as I described would be a better option in my opinion.
I've always thought that a restored West Chester Branch would be just as beneficial to the reverse commuters. A lot of residents of Delco or Philly would greatly benefit from the train, especially if they work in Chester County government or if they take classes at WCU. I also could see a 200-series bus connecting either the downtown West Chester station or West Chester/Nields Street with the Goshen Corporate Campus. It's probably not as practical for those commuting downtown (barring the introduction of one or two Media-University City express trains that I seem to recall from Google Images searches of old timetables), but it could work very well for inter-suburb commutes or reverse commutes.
But Middletown Station? Elwyn is already in Middletown and is probably more central in Middletown Township than is The Artist Formerly Known as Wawa Station. Why not Middletown/Wawa? [/yelling at cloud]
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