The founding of SEPTA and Suburban-Harrisburg service

http://prr.railfan.net/documents/ThePen ... tml?page=3

Read the 'ZIP Trip' article. Truely amazing.

Interesting article---- keep in mind that the genesis of SEPTA was in its predecessor SEPACT which was created to funnel state subsidies into the PRR & Reading for their suburban services ( the present Regional Rail System) At that time, SEPACT was somewhat controversial in that Delaware County, under the strong influence of Red Arrow Lines president Merrit H. Taylor, Jr., declined to join, citing SEPACT's failure to include the Red Arrow in its list of beneficiarys. When SEPTA was created, Delaware County did join and Taylor did a superb job of being a pain in the neck to SEPTA in order to get a good sale price for the Red Arrow.

With Suburban Station renovations almost complete, and Keystone Corridor renovations in progress, it doesen't look like Amtrak will return to Suburban. Of course, after today's events, I think Amtrak has bigger problems. Too bad no service from Suburban that goes direct to NYP or HBG. Plenty of room there for some QuickTrack machines.

I don't know about you guys, but does anyone feel ashamed at the way Septa is today compared to the MTA? We had so much, and Inepta has managed to turn it into so little. What will it take to get Septa out and a new Transit authority in?

A miracle

jfrey40535 wrote:With Suburban Station renovations almost complete, and Keystone Corridor renovations in progress, it doesen't look like Amtrak will return to Suburban.

Actually, the FRA study document that is guiding the Keystone Corridor project does anticipate that service to Suburban will be restored. It didn't discuss details of scheduling and operations through Broad Interlocking, but the overall goal of a 90 minute running time to HAR includes originating at Suburban.

Just a question.....

What is wrong with service beginning and ending at 30th Street's lower level.

To me, it keeps things more consistent with the AMTRAK network, with other AMTRAK connections, and AMTRAK customer service and ticketing all in the same area.

Lately, many of the NYP-PHL commuter "regular" trains have been Keystone service. It seems to me, especially on weekends that many Keystone line locals use the service to/from NYP and would not want to make an alternate connection in an alternate part of the station to continue to NYP.

mannynews wrote:Just a question.....

What is wrong with service beginning and ending at 30th Street's lower level.

The majority of passengers have destinations in Center City. Forcing them to transfer reduces ridership.

jfrey40535 wrote:Plenty of room there for some QuickTrack machines.

Which leads me to this question: Why doesn't Amtrak have QuikTrak machines in Suburban Station, given the fare policy of accepting Amtrak tickets and ticket stubs to or from Suburban and Market East Stations? Amtrak is likely losing lots of ridership on the Keystone trains because people can't buy tickets at their point of origin in Center City.

There used to be AMTRAk ticket windows @ Suburban....but it closed a few years back

somewhat off topic, but why do the Keystone service trains sit so far up the platform at 30th St? It's a long walk from the gate...

RDGAndrew wrote:somewhat off topic, but why do the Keystone service trains sit so far up the platform at 30th St? It's a long walk from the gate...

So the diesels can be out from under the shed.

keystone trains that originate at 30th sometimes sit out at the end of the plaform so they don't fill the staiton up with diesel exhaust. However, some conductors spot their trains right near the staricases anyway. About once a week I wind up catching #607 right by the doors. I've gotten used to the walk in the mornings.

mannynews wrote:There used to be AMTRAk ticket windows @ Suburban....but it closed a few years back

OK, sure. A ticket window needs a person, and people are expensive. But QuikTrak machines are cheap and ubiquitous (isn't there one on the UPenn campus somewhere?), so it's surprising that one wasn't issued to Suburban.

CComMack wrote:But QuikTrak machines are cheap and ubiquitous (isn't there one on the UPenn campus somewhere?), so it's surprising that one wasn't issued to Suburban.

I recall seeing one in the basement of Houston Hall (student union building, 3400 block of Spruce), and I don't know if it's still there after the latest renovations. But yeah, you would expect they'd put one in Suburban, if not Market East too. The machines do need to be serviced now and then, so they're not entirely free of operating costs.