Getting On The Wrong Train...Has This Happened To You???

zebrasepta wrote:I honestly find it really hard to get on the wrong train

If you're not from the area and not familiar with some of the peculiarities of regional names, it can be easy enough. In the days before SEPTA provided a lot of info online, there were even times when SEPTA's own help-desk people seemed to be adrift. Every couple of weeks somebody would get on the P&W at Villanova or Bryn Mawr hoping to go to an RRD destination because it wasn't made clear they should have been on the then-R5 instead of the 100. Confusion was compounded by people who erroneously referred to the P&W as the "R"100 making it sound like part of the RRD. (?? Maybe that's why SEPTA came up with NHSL?).

Most of the time the mistake was simply an inconvenience but every so often someone had a pre-purchased RRD ticket that they dutifully put in the farebox....

JeffK wrote:

zebrasepta wrote:I honestly find it really hard to get on the wrong train

If you're not from the area and not familiar with some of the peculiarities of regional names, it can be easy enough. In the days before SEPTA provided a lot of info online, there were even times when SEPTA's own help-desk people seemed to be adrift. Every couple of weeks somebody would get on the P&W at Villanova or Bryn Mawr hoping to go to an RRD destination because it wasn't made clear they should have been on the then-R5 instead of the 100. Confusion was compounded by people who erroneously referred to the P&W as the "R"100 making it sound like part of the RRD. (?? Maybe that's why SEPTA came up with NHSL?).

Most of the time the mistake was simply an inconvenience but every so often someone had a pre-purchased RRD ticket that they dutifully put in the farebox....

The fun part about the Rt 100 now being called the "Norristown High Speed Line" at the time of the Regional Rail renaming is that there are now two "Norristown Lines" at the same train station (Norristown Transportation Center), with the Manayunk/Norristown Line on the lower level. I know a friend of mine was confused when the Manayunk/Norristown LIne was shut down (but SEPTA's site only called it the Norristown Line) and thought that they were referring to the old P&W.

A couple weeks ago a lady came on the NHSL and asked if this went to Media (69th street transportation center)

Tritransit Area wrote:The fun part about the Rt 100 now being called the "Norristown High Speed Line" at the time of the Regional Rail renaming is that there are now two "Norristown Lines" at the same train station (Norristown Transportation Center), with the Manayunk/Norristown Line on the lower level. I know a friend of mine was confused when the Manayunk/Norristown LIne was shut down (but SEPTA's site only called it the Norristown Line) and thought that they were referring to the old P&W.

And those two "DeKalb Street" stations are about 3 miles apart, one being the main NTC station in Norristown and the other being an intermediate stop on the NHSL/P&W in King Manor. At least Radnor and Radnor are within a 10-minute walk of each other as are Villanova and Villanova. (See how ridiculous this is, SEPTA?)

zebrasepta wrote:A couple weeks ago a lady came on the NHSL and asked if this went to Media (69th street transportation center)

Haha! That's as good as the couple who got on at Villanova (P&W, that is), paid their fares, and then asked when the train would get to Paoli.

Train 6576, being the only train that expresses from Temple all the way to North Wales, invariably has more than its share of wrong-train boarders. It's nearly a daily occurance that someone wanting to go to Fort Washington. Ambler, or Gwynedd Valley gets on 6576 &, despite repeated announcing by both the station staff at the CCP stations AND by 6576's crew, does not realize that 6576 skips those stops until after the train has departed from Temple.

As luck would have it, 6576 is scheduled to depart North Wales at 5:56p, but since it is a "D" noted time, it often arrives earlier enough so that inbound train 5275, due at 5:52p, is approaching or at North Wales at the same time. I often see people getting off 6576 & then running across the Walnut St. crossing, WITH THE GATES DOWN, trying to catch 5275 to head back to their missed stop. I fear that one of these days, one of these people will not make it across safely.

It's even worse if 6576 runs late & passes 5275 before reaching North Wales. One recent evening, two people trying to get to Ambler caught 6576 by mistake &, when it reached North Wales, bolted from the train & ran at full speed around the lowered crossing gates. They only got clear on the other side after I shouted "GET BACK!! HE'S NOT STOPPING!!!"

They turned around & watched Train 575 roll by. Thank God it was not going fast.

Train 575 is the only train on the schedule that does NOT stop at North Wales.