Wawa Extension

Why not rehab the track, fix the platforms, and then worry about building mega parking lots once they figure out how many people are using the line?

Also, why is the line so slow? Twisty curvy, or bad track?

In the pics posted earlier, the wires looked ok enough, it was just the trails and ties that are rotted. Back a TLM through there, scrape out the dirt/ballast, put in CWR and concrete (hey, it's getting cheap these days and will last forever at the rate Septa moves), fix the platforms so they're 1/2 way presentable, and start running trains already!

I hate when things get studied to death. Look at HSR in the US. All anyone does is study it constantly, and then you get a 1/2 assed attempt at system, then more studies. The answers have been the same for decades now, but we keep studying them.

Anyway, rehabbing the track and platforms should be cheap - there's no traffic on this line right now, right?

With a single track and no passing sidings and a one track terminal, all the signalling needed is a simple go/no go signal where the two tracks become one, and maybe a cab signal thing to keep the train restricted to a rational speed. Cheap...

The access to the current Wawa station is down a one-lane gravel driveway, and the main road it connects to is a divided highway which doesn't allow left turns to or from the driveway. There is practially nothing there that most people would call a station, and practically no way to drive, park, or walk to the station.

If Septa were to run to Wawa now, they would be incurring an additional $1 million per year in operating costs without any new passengers. In order to attract passengers, you need "Class A" station facilities.

Except none of our stations are class A, more like class F. Class A would be a heated waiting room that is open during all operating hours, ticket machines, etc. We have almost unmanned stations like Norristown TC open 24/7, yet all regional rail stations are closed after 12pm or sooner. Try waiting for a train in February when its 20 degrees out and you have a 50 minute wait because the bus that dropped you off missed the last train. Sorry for the rant, needs its own thread I guess.

jfrey40535 wrote:Except none of our stations are class A, more like class F. Class A would be a heated waiting room that is open during all operating hours, ticket machines, etc. We have almost unmanned stations like Norristown TC open 24/7, yet all regional rail stations are closed after 12pm or sooner. Try waiting for a train in February when its 20 degrees out and you have a 50 minute wait because the bus that dropped you off missed the last train. Sorry for the rant, needs its own thread I guess.

The eastbound side at Lansdowne used to be in PRR days. It even had an office of the Railway Express Agency. All gone by the end of the 1950's, though the building still existed ( exists?) but the ticket agent was gone, and the waiting room was often closed