Airport Line (SEPTA)

This article is about the SEPTA Regional Rail line. For other rail lines of the same name, seeAirport Line.

TheAirport Line(formerly theR1 Airport) is a route of theSEPTA Regional Railcommuter railsystem inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,which officially runs betweenPhiladelphia International AirportthroughCenter CitytoTemple University station.In practice, however, only a few trains originate or terminate at Temple University; most are through routed with lines to the north after leaving theCenter City Commuter Connection.Half of weekday trains are through routed with theWarminster Line,with the other half of weekday trains through routed with theFox Chase Line.All weekend and holiday trains are through routed with the Warminster Line and terminate either in Warminster orGlenside.

Airport Line
A SEPTA train at the Airport Terminal A station bound forCenter City Philadelphia
Overview
Termini	Philadelphia International Airport Terminals Temple University
Stations	10
Website	septa.org
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	SEPTA Regional Rail
Operator(s)	SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stock	Electric Multiple Units
Daily ridership	5,268 (FY 2023)
History
Opened	April 28, 1985
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft8+1⁄2in(1,435 mm)standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line,12 kV 25 Hz AC
Route map SEPTA Main Line 2.1 mi 3.4 km Temple University 0.5 mi 0.8 km Jefferson 0 mi 0 km Suburban Schuylkill River 0.9 mi 1.4 km 30th Street SEPTA Main Line 1.8 mi 2.9 km Penn Medicine Philadelphia Subdivision Zone CC 1 WAWtoWawa NECtoWashington NWKtoNewark 7.2 mi 11.6 km Eastwick Chester Secondary I-95 Zone 1 4 9.1 mi 14.6 km Terminal A 9.1 mi 14.6 km Terminal B 9.3 mi 15 km Terminals C & D 9.4 mi 15.1 km Terminals E & F

The line between Center City and the airport runs seven days a week from 5:00 am to midnight with trains every 30 minutes on weekdays and every hour on weekends and holidays. The trip length fromSuburban Stationto the airport is 19 to 24 minutes. The line is fullygrade-separatedin the normal service, but one publicgrade crossingbetween Temple University and Glenside is present at Rices Mill Road in Glenside.

Route

Geographic map of the route

While geographically on the formerPennsylvania Railroadside of the Regional Rail System, the route consists of new construction, a reconstructed industrial branch of the former Pennsylvania Railroad, and a sharedConrail(formerlyReading Company) freight branch. The Airport Line opened on April 28, 1985, as SEPTA R1, providing service fromCenter CitytoPhiladelphia International Airport.By its twentieth anniversary in 2005, the line had carried over 20 million passengers to and from the airport. The line splits fromAmtrak'sNortheast Corridornorth ofDarbyand passes over it via aflying junction.West of the airport, the line breaks from the old right-of-way and a new bridge carries it overI-95and into the airport terminals between the baggage claim (arrivals) and the check-in counters (departures).

The line stops atfour stationswhich are directly connected to each airport terminal by escalators and elevators which rise one level to the walkways between the arrival and departure areas. All airport stations featurehigh-level platformsto make it easier to board and alight from the train with luggage. Some stations can be accessed directly from the arrivals concourse by crossing Commercial Vehicles Road. The line ends between Terminals E and F at their combined station.

As of 2022,most weekday Airport Line trains are through routed with theWarminster Lineand theFox Chase Lineand alternate between terminating in Warminster and Fox Chase respectively. Most weekend trains are through routed with the Warminster Line and alternate between terminating in Glenside and Warminster.

Stations

ABudd Silverlineron the Airport Line train in 2007, after departing30th Street Station

The Airport Line makes the following station stops, after leaving theCenter City Commuter Connection.

Zone	Location	Station	Miles (km) from Center City	Connections / notes
C	University City, Philadelphia	Penn Medicine	1.8 (2.9)	SEPTA Regional Rail:Manayunk/NorristownMedia/WawaWarminsterWest TrentonWilmington/Newark SEPTA City Bus:40,LUCY
1	Eastwick, Philadelphia	Eastwick	7.2 (11.6)	SEPTA City Bus:40,LUCY SEPTA Suburban Bus:108,115
4	Philadelphia International Airport	Terminal A	9.1 (14.6)	SEPTA City Bus:37 SEPTA Suburban Bus:108,115
		Terminal B
		Terminals C & D	9.3 (15.0)
		Terminals E & F	9.4 (15.1)

History

R1, the former designation of SEPTA's Airport Line

The line south of the Northeast Corridor was originally part of thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroadmain line, opened on January 17, 1838. The connection between the NEC and the original PW&B is made however by the later60th Street Branch.A new alignment of the PW&B (now the NEC) opened November 18, 1872, and on July 1, 1873, thePhiladelphia and Reading Railway,later the Reading Company, leased the old line for 999 years. Connection was made over the PRR'sJunction Railroadand later theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad'sBaltimore and Philadelphia Railroad.However, as a condition of the sale, no passenger service was provided. The line passed into Conrail in 1976 and SEPTA in 1983, with passenger service to the Philadelphia International Airport beginning on April 28, 1985.

Infill stations were planned from the beginning of service, two of which were on the Airport Line proper: one at 70th Street, the other one at 84th Street. The latter station was opened in 1997 asEastwick,while 70th Street was never built, and has since disappeared from maps. Additionally,University City station(proposed as "Civic Center", now Penn Medicine station) opened in April 1995 to serve all R1,R2andR3trains passing it. All these stations appeared on 1984 SEPTA informational maps, the first ones to show the Center City Commuter Connection and the Airport Line.

SEPTA activatedpositive train controlon the Airport Line on October 10, 2016.

Ridership

Between FY 2013–FY 2019 yearly ridership on the Airport Line peaked at 2,457,743 during FY 2015, but fell to 1,518,250 by FY 2019. Ridership collapsed during theCOVID-19 pandemic,but improved to 1,229,023 by FY 2022.

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

FY 2013

FY 2014

FY 2015

FY 2016

FY 2017

FY 2018

FY 2019

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

External links

• SEPTA – Airport Line