April 2017 Regional Rail Schedule Change (starts April 23rd)

http://www.septa.org/schedules/upcoming-rail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well, new rail schedules have been announced for this month (effective April 23, 2017). For the most part, there are quite a few changes for most of the lines for weekend service. Of note, there will be an earlier Trenton departure (toward CCP) on Saturdays only along with new late night "Saturday only" trains as well.

In the "Promises Unfulfilled Department", though, is that the weekend schedule for the Wilmington Line remains untouched. It's rather criminal that one can't reach Wilmington by rail before 8AM and the last train from Delaware leaves before 9PM on weekends.

no half hourly Norristown service either

Suburban Station wrote:no half hourly Norristown service either

I saw that too. WTH is going on with Norristown access? Not only is the RRD still only once an hour off-peak, the NHSL's been down to 30-minute headways for over a year.

Is ridership up that much they need to increase to half hourly service? All the trains I've been on there been plenty of seats off peak

Well, there is some non-consecutive weekend work going on in the Norristown area coming up for this month and next...

http://www.septa.org/alert/construction ... n-bus.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And ongoing track work on the NHSL...and it's probably does seem to be long-term...

http://www.septa.org/alert/nhsl.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are quite a few transit developments or population bases in walking distance to the Norristown line (Norristown, Conshy, Spring Mill, Manyunk, East Falls) that could support more frequent service throughout the day. I know there have been several times when I wanted to take the train in from to/from Conshohocken weekday off peak and the timing was a pain. A few times I just opted to drive or take uber. Especially if I stay in the city for happy hour and there are ~1 hr headways after ~6:45pm.

Doesn't that logic warrant half hourly service on all lines all day then? I've seen those passenger counters all over just recently surely they report back what ridership is and if more service is needed, I'm not sure there is enough passenger volume to cover the cost of more service, not to mention the all too familiar manpower shortage

My experience is very anecdotal so I know there are far more factors that goes into Septa's decision to keep 1 hour head ways during off-peak hours.

Hoping this meant better transfers to NJ Transit.

Nope.

The last Saturday train currently leaves 30th at 12:01 AM. Now the last one will leave at 11:44 for the same transfer at 1am.

Yup, thats what we all wanted, a longer layover in Trenton at 1am.

(The new later departure does not make any NJT connection).

I'm confused by the connections with NJT, isn't it NJT that argument should be directed at, the turn train at Trenton will connect for passengers FROM NJT, the train going up gets there at whatever time (hopefully) that's in the schedule and NJT connects with it, surely you don't expect Septa to change their times to coincide with NJTs departure (read NJT if were so inclined would change their departure time so as not to have THEIR passengers waiting around), maybe the two companies should talk to each other once in a while

What SEPTA needs to do is address the hourly weekend bottleneck that involves the X:28 R3 Elwyn, the X:29 R2 Marcus Hook/Wilmington, and the X:30 R5 Malvern/Thorndale from Market East. The R5 is on Track 3, the R2 and R3 is on Track 4 (which should be the other way around) considering that all 3 would have to cross over leaving Suburban Station. Since the R3 and R5 has had their schedules moved and the R2 hasn't, it's time to move the R2's schedule. I suggest that it's departure time should be X:25, and switch all 3 to the other track(s), that way, the bottleneck is alleviated.

Limited-Clear wrote:Doesn't that logic warrant half hourly service on all lines all day then? I've seen those passenger counters all over just recently surely they report back what ridership is and if more service is needed, I'm not sure there is enough passenger volume to cover the cost of more service, not to mention the all too familiar manpower shortage

well, yes, and if SEPTA had that as a goal where infrastructure allows it, that would make a lot of sense. if you have to prioritize (and we do), the Norristown line makes sense to prioritize. it has OD generators not just park n rides. like the main line, ridership is well distributed and was showing solid growth before the disaster that has been the last 18 months. does it also make sense to go half hourly on Lansdale? probably. OTOH, SEPTA stated they were going to run half hourly service..an empty promise so far.

nova08 wrote:There are quite a few transit developments or population bases in walking distance to the Norristown line (Norristown, Conshy, Spring Mill, Manyunk, East Falls) that could support more frequent service throughout the day. I know there have been several times when I wanted to take the train in from to/from Conshohocken weekday off peak and the timing was a pain. A few times I just opted to drive or take uber. Especially if I stay in the city for happy hour and there are ~1 hr headways after ~6:45pm.

exactly. it's a major deterrant to ridership growth.

Limited-Clear wrote:I'm confused by the connections with NJT, isn't it NJT that argument should be directed at, the turn train at Trenton will connect for passengers FROM NJT, the train going up gets there at whatever time (hopefully) that's in the schedule and NJT connects with it, surely you don't expect Septa to change their times to coincide with NJTs departure (read NJT if were so inclined would change their departure time so as not to have THEIR passengers waiting around), maybe the two companies should talk to each other once in a while

They should work together. As it is now, passengers have a 10-30 minute wait in each direction. These changes keep the status quo, or make it worse, suggesting that SEPTA did not take into account the needs of the transferring public.

Note that SEPTA is the one that charges a $5 NJ penalty fee. What is that money buying the riders?

Isn't it in SEPTAs best interest to get NJ residents into Philly, to spend money?

Limited-Clear wrote:I've seen those passenger counters all over just recently surely they report back what ridership is and if more service is needed, I'm not sure there is enough passenger volume to cover the cost of more service, not to mention the all too familiar manpower shortage

Assuming the manpower shortage can & will eventually be addressed, is hourly service chickens or is it eggs? Counters are measuring current rather than potential demand. The more difficult task is trying to know whether ridership is low because service is infrequent, or the other way around.

jamesinclair wrote:Isn't it in SEPTAs best interest to get NJ residents into Philly, to spend money?

It's in the region's and the riders' best interests but that's not the focus at 1234. Given their refusal to address transfer costs, the Key's double-$10 price points, the RRD on-board surcharge, and not letting Quick Trip users transfer without paying two full fares, it's clear their primary interest is collecting as much money as possible at the time of boarding even if that's counterproductive to the goal of expanding ridership.