ThePottsville Linewas a commuter rail service in theDelaware Valley,connectingPottsville,Reading,andPottstownwithPhiladelphia.It was the last vestige of passenger service on the formerReading main line.The service lasted into theSEPTAera and was discontinued in 1981. SEPTA continues to operateManayunk/Norristown Linecommuter trains between Philadelphia and Norristown.
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| Status | Discontinued | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last service | 26 July 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Average journey time | 2 hours 30 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | Budd Rail Diesel Cars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Route
editTrains originated atPottsville,at the northern end of theReading main lineand 93.6 miles (150.6 km) from theReading TerminalinPhiladelphia.Major intermediate stops includedReading,Pottstown,andPhoenixville.AtNorristown,trains left the main line and crossed theSchuylkill River,joining the electrifiedNorristown Branch.Pottsville trains skipped most intermediate stops, stopping only atNorristown-De KalbandNorth Broad Streetbefore reaching Reading Terminal.[1]
History
edit
The Reading's electrified territory ended at Norristown; theGreat Depressioncurtailed plans to extend electrification up the main line.[2]Electrification andmultiple unit operationpermitted more frequent service to Norristown. At the end of the 1970s service operated at 30 minuteheadways,compared to seven round-trips per day to Reading or Pottsville.[3]
WhenAmtrakwas forming in 1970–1971, the Reading determined that its longer-distance trains qualified ascommuter trainsand stayed out of the system.[a][5]Public subsidy of the trains began in the late 1960s.[2]Conrailreplaced the Reading as the operator of the service after the latter's bankruptcy.SEPTAsubsidized operations within its five-county area; practically speaking, no further than Pottstown. Federal and state subsidies made up the difference.[6]
The Pottsville line was one of four diesel routes that were part of the SEPTA network at the end of the 1970s.[b]Most trains ran withBudd Rail Diesel Cars;SEPTA also had threeEMD FP7locomotives and a set of coaches.[7]The Pottsville service faced several challenges:
- The section between Pottstown and Pottsville lay outside SEPTA's five-county area. Funds to operate that part of the service had to be drawn from state and federal sources, or from entities withinBerksandSchuylkill County.[8]
- The diesel-powered equipment was aging and increasingly unreliable.[9]
- TheCenter City Commuter Connection,begun in 1978, would open in 1984. The tunnel would link the ex-Pennsylvania Railroadand ex-Reading parts of the commuter rail network, transforming operations. It would also lead to the closure of the Reading Terminal, and the end of direct diesel service to Philadelphia.[10]
A change in Pennsylvania state law, effective at the start of 1981, significantly reduced the subsidy for SEPTA services outside the five-county area. SEPTA estimated the combined shortfall for the Bethlehem and Pottsville trains at $2 million.[11]Berks and Schuylkill counties refused to subsidize the service, and SEPTA initially planned to truncate service at Pottstown, the last station within the five-county area. Through operation to Philadelphia would be replaced by a rail shuttle to Norristown.[12][13]A final attempt to preserve service, with thePennsylvania Department of Transportation(PennDOT) providing subsidies and theBerks Area Reading Transportation Authority(BARTA) acting as operator, foundered when BARTA rejected the arrangement.[14]
Service north of Pottstown ended on July 1, 1981.[15]SEPTA, in the middle of a major funding dispute with Conrail, discontinued the Pottstown shuttles on July 26, 1981, as part of broader system cutbacks.[16][17]
Restoration proposals
editSince the end of the Pottsville trains there have been various proposals for restoring service over the former Reading main line:
- theSchuylkill Valley Metro,which contemplated service between Philadelphia and Reading using the former Reading main line and parts of the abandoned ex-Pennsylvania RailroadSchuylkill Branch.The project failed to obtain funding was canceled in 2006.[18]
- Amtrak, as part of its "Amtrak Connects US", proposed restoring Philadelphia to Reading service using the main line and bypassing the Norristown Branch. The proposal was announced in 2021 and received funding from theFederal Railroad Administrationin 2023.[19][20]
Notes
edit- ^TheInterstate Commerce Commissionhad defined various criteria for assessing whether a train qualified as a "commuter train," including the character of the operation and ridership and the distance traveled.[4]
- ^The others were theBethlehem/Quakertownservice, extending fromLansdale,the formerWall StreetandCrusadertrains to Newark, and the shuttles on theNewtown Branch.
Footnotes
edit- ^ab"Pottsville–Reading–Philadelphia".Reading Company.February 6, 1972.RetrievedJuly 6,2022.
- ^abWilliams (1998),p. 47.
- ^Pawson 1979,pp. 44, 56.
- ^Thoms (1973),pp. 21–22.
- ^Thoms (1973),p. 48.
- ^Pawson (1979),p. 62.
- ^Woodland (2003),p. 21.
- ^USRA (1975),p. 46.
- ^Woodland (2003),p. 23.
- ^Pawson (1979),p. 63.
- ^"SEPTA expected to halt rail service to Pottsville".Standard-Speaker.December 27, 1980. p. 15.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^Opdyke, Tom (January 7, 1981)."Montco commissioners eye transit alternatives to SEPTA rail cutbacks".The Morning Call.p. 22.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^Lockerby, Ken (March 26, 1981)."SEPTA Votes to Trim 2 Rail Lines".Philadelphia Daily News.p. 14.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^Hilferty, John (June 25, 1981)."PennDOT to halt commuter trains on Pottsville and Bethlehem lines".The Philadelphia Inquirer.p. 17.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Train service ending".Pottsville Republican.June 30, 1981. p. 3.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^Tulsky, Fredric N. (July 23, 1981)."SEPTA votes cut in trains".The Philadelphia Inquirer.p. 19.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Rail Service Marks End of An Era".News Herald.July 29, 1981. p. 1.RetrievedJuly 10,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^King, Larry (August 24, 2006)."Proposed line dead in its tracks".The Philadelphia Inquirer.p. B3.RetrievedJuly 14,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Amtrak reveals 'vision' for service between Reading, NYC".WFMZ-TV.August 20, 2021.RetrievedJuly 14,2022.
- ^"Houlahan: Reading on track to restore rail service".Berks Weekly.5 December 2023.Retrieved6 December2023.
References
edit- Pawson, John R. (1979).Delaware Valley Rails: The Railroads and Rail Transit Lines of the Philadelphia Area.Willow Grove, PA: Pawson.ISBN0-9602-0800-3.OCLC5446017.
- Thoms, William E. (1973).Reprieve for the Iron Horse: The AMTRAK Experiment–Its Predecessors and Prospects.Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Claitor's Publishing Division.OCLC1094744.
- United States Railway Association(1975).Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973(PDF).Vol. 1. Washington, DC.OCLC2889148.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Williams, Gerry (1998).Trains, Trolleys & Transit: A Guide to Philadelphia Area Rail Transit.Piscataway, New Jersey: Railpace Company.ISBN978-0-9621541-7-1.
- Woodland, Dale W. (December 2003). "SEPTA's Diesels".Railpace Newsmagazine.pp. 21–26, 42–43, 46–47.ISSN0745-5267.