I'd hate to see my line close down, but it looks like that's whay may be coming our way. I'm not sure what SEPTA can do about this line, but its future looks glum. When Sunday service ended on the Fox Chase line, some neighbors of mine sent a petition around the neighborhood to start Sunday service again. So what does SEPTA give us? A two-car train (which can't even make any of the platforms on the line) every 90 minutes - 2 hours, which starts at 7AM and ends around 7PM. And then they wonder why nobody takes the train? When I go into the city on weekends, I am the only car at the Ryers parking lot. The only time I have seen other people at this station on weekends is during the Car Show and the Flower show. Last month, when I went to the car show, I think I saw a record for Sunday riders at Ryers station... I counted a whole 5 passengers get on the train? Hmm... imagine that septa...
Hey Everyone,
Just registered today but I've been reading these forums for quite a while.
I've lived near the Fox Chase branch and rode it every day during high school. Just today, I was driving past Fox Chase station and noticed a single Silverliner IV (403 I beleive) sitting at around 12:55 PM waiting for the 1:10 PM departure. I haven't seen a single car train run on the line since the late 80s. I had to keep looking back to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Mind you today is Thursday, not a weekend!
I sure hope they were planning on pinning another car or two on it, because that train becomes the 3:13 PM to Fox Chase out of Market East (which I rode every day), and surprisingly that 2 car train filled up rather well every day.
I wouldn't quite call the Fox Chase branch the Cynwyd line of the Reading side. I used to occasionally ride the 5:13 PM out of Market East, and that 4 car train went out full every day. Sometimes a 2 car train would show up on the 4:13 train with standing room only. During the CTD strike of '98, a Bomber push-pull set was even used on a temporary train during the strike before deadheading back to center city to do an R5 run. Granted, weekend loads are still very low, but the situation is nowhere near as bad as bad as the "Cynwyd shuttle".
Joe Wagner