As you can see, Suburban
Station/Penn Center and the Reading Terminal were not
yet connected. In order to streamline operations and
provide through-train service, it was decided to build a
tunnel link. The proposals actually go all the way back
to when the lines were run by separate companies. The
companies weren't enthusiastic about it, however, both
would soon go bankrupt and fall into the hands of SEPTA
(actually Conrail for a couple years before SEPTA). With
SEPTA in control of all trains, progress was
accelerated.
Another part of the through-train plan was a rail link
called the Swampoodle Connection. The purpose of the SC
was to allow the Chestnut Hill West line easier access
to its tracks. The issue at hand was getting the trains
through a flat junction where northbound trains had to
cross over all of the tracks of the NEC to get from the
NEC northbound local track to the Chestnut Hill West
northbound local track.. A little further to the west,
the Norristown line splits off the Reading main line at
16th Street Junction. A little bit to the north, the
Norristown and Chestnut Hill West lines come very close
to each other.
Since northbound Chestnut Hill
West trains must cross over all tracks of the NEC, that
junction often has delays because a CHW train is waiting
for a mainline NEC train to cross, or vice versa. They
figured that a good way to reduce delays would be to
build a connection between the Norristown and Chestnut
Hill West lines. Chestnut Hill East trains would then
run up the Reading mainline, split off with the
Norristown line at 16th Street Junction, then split off
at the Swampoodle Connection and follow through on its
route.
Since the opening of the tunnel would bring
through-train service, they needed to figure out an
operating plan. They chose Vukan Vuchic, a professor at
the University of Pennsylvania, to develop a
through-train operating plan.
Vuchic was a fan of the S-bahn suburban train networks
of Germany. Many of those once had separate downtown
termini, which were later connected. They ran
through-trains that were named "S" and then a number.
That is where he got the idea to name the Philly lines
"R" and then a number.
There were three things that Vuchic assumed that
affected the line pairings. The first was that the
Swampoodle Connection would be built (which never
happened). The second was that that the Airport line
would be built (which did happen). The third was that,
on the Paoli line, Bryn Mawr locals and Paoli expresses
would run as separate lines. He numbered the Pennsy
lines from south (R1 Airport) to northeast (R7 Trenton).
He matched them with Reading lines of approximately
equal ridership. He proposed that following
routings/pairings:
R1- -
Airport - West Trenton
R2 - Marcus Hook (later Newark) - Warminster
R3 - Media/West Chester (later Elwyn) - CH West
R4 - Bryn Mawr - Fox Chase
R5 - Paoli (later Thorndale) - Doylestown
R6 - Ivy Ridge (later Cynwyd) - Norristown
R7 - Trenton - Chestnut Hill East
The Center City Commuter Tunnel was finished in
November of 1984. The Airport line wouldn't open for
another 5 months and the Swampoodle Connection
wasn't even at the construction stage when that
happened, so a temporary plan was put in place. The
R3 was originally supposed to go from Media/West
Chester to Chestnut Hill West, however, since the SC
wasn't built, this wasn't possible. Also, since the
R1 Airport line wasn't operating yet, the West
Trenton line needed a partner. The Media/West
Chester and West Trenton lines were linked. The CH
West line was paired with the Fox Chase line and
given the new temporary designation of R8. The R4,
the line that was originally supposed to go to Fox
Chase, was dropped, and the R5 assumed control of
all Bryn Mawr/Paoli line trains.
In April of 1985, the R1 Airport line opened. it was
decided to leave it without a partner for two
reasons. The first was that it had double the
service of most lines. The second was that on-time
performance on the Airport line is more critical
than that on other lines, so it was best to leave it
not relying on another line.
That brings us to our current system:
But even
now, many trains don't run through with their
respective line. General pairings are as follows:
Weekday
R1 Airport - R2 Warminster
R2 Newark - R6 Norristown
R3 Media/Elwyn - R3 West Trenton
R5 Thorndale - R5 Doylestown AND some terminate at
N. Broad
R6 Cynwyd - terminates downtown
R7 Trenton - R7 Chestnut Hill East
R8 Chestnut Hill West - R8 Fox Chase
Weekend
R1 Airport - R2 Warminster AND R3 West Trenton
R2 Wilmington/Marcus Hook - R6 Norristown
R3 Media/Elwyn - terminates downtown
R5 Thorndale/Malvern - R5 Doylestown AND some
terminate at Market East on Saturday
R6 Cynwyd run on weekdays only
R7 Trenton - R7 Chestnut Hill East
R8 Chestnut Hill West - R8 Fox Chase
Of course, now even the R
designations have been dropped
Home >
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> Regional Rail >
Swampoodle Connection
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Last revised
12/5/2011
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