Norristown High Speed Line

 

The Norristown High Speed Line began service in 1907 as the Philadelphia and Western Railroad (P&W), which ran from the present 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania to a converted farmhouse station in Strafford, Pennsylvania. In 1911, the line was extended 0.47 miles (0.76 km) west to a new Strafford P&W station adjacent to the Pennsylvania Railroad's Strafford station, allowing easy interchange between the two lines. In 1912, a 6.2-mile (10 km) branch was constructed from Villanova Junction, 0.33 miles (0.53 km) west of the existing Villanova station, to Norristown.^[15] When the newly built branch quickly attracted more ridership than the Strafford main line, the Norristown section became the main line and the Strafford stretch was demoted to branch status; in the mid-1930s, the Strafford spur was narrowed to a single track for its last 1.74 miles (2.8 km) between the Wayne-St. Davids and Strafford stations, while the Norristown line received a sleek new art deco terminus at Main and Swede Streets.^[15]

From Norristown, the P&W RR connected its tracks with the Lehigh Valley Transit Liberty Bell Route to provide direct electric train service from 69th St. Terminal to Allentown, Pennsylvania. However, in 1951, the Lehigh Valley Transit Company ended its service on the Liberty Bell Route, and in 1953 the company ended all its remaining rail service. Two years later, the P&W RR was taken over by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (PSTC), which was more popularly known as the Red Arrow Lines. In 1956, the Red Arrow abandoned the original branch between Villanova and Strafford, leaving only electric MU train service between 69th Street and Norristown, as it is today.^[16] Part of the Strafford branch right of way has been converted into the Radnor Trail. The PSTC was absorbed into SEPTA in 1970,^[3] eliminating the original railroad charter and immediately becoming the "Norristown High-Speed Line Trolley", officially known as Route 100.

Ridership on the Norristown Line peaked in 2016 at 3,429,300. The previous peak came in 2014 with 3,147,209 trips. Prior to this modern escalation in ridership the line's ridership was highest in 1973 at 2.86 million annual linked trips, and again in 1980 with 2.579 million annual linked trips. Ridership statistics for fiscal years 2000 and later are from SEPTA annual service plans. Data for years 1972 to 1997 are from the SEPTA 1997 ridership census. There may be some discrepancy in how the ridership is reported since the annual service plans report total unlinked trips, while the ridership census uses linked trips, which may exclude passengers transferring from other lines.

Effective June 14, 2010, SEPTA changed the names of four stations to reflect the streets on which they were located. Township Line Road (formerly West Overbrook Station), Roberts Road (formerly Rosemont Station), Stadium – Ithan Avenue (formerly Stadium Station) and DeKalb Street (formerly King Manor Station).

In summer 2013, SEPTA closed the bridge (the Bridgeport Viaduct) carrying the Norristown High Speed Line over the Schuylkill River for four months.^[17][18] The bridge, which was built in 1911, had been deteriorating and needed to be rebuilt at a cost upwards of $30 million, though this repair project was budgeted at $7.5 million.^[18] As a result of closing the bridge, buses were used to transport passengers between the Bridgeport station and the Norristown Transportation Center.^[19] The bridge was reopened in November 2013.^[17][20] The remaining $30 million renovation of the entire bridge structure is currently unscheduled.^[20]

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  Proposed new logo for the Montgomery/Norristown Lines under the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project^[21]
•  
  Proposed new logo for the Montgomery/Norristown Local under the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project^[21]

In 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, the Norristown High Speed Line was to be rebranded as the "M" (for "Montgomery", the county in which Norristown is located), with a purple color and numeric suffixes for service variants. The local service will be called the M1 Montgomery Local and the peak-hour express service will be called the M2 Montgomery Express. Had the proposed spur to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania been constructed, the proposal would have branded service utilizing the branch as the M3 Montgomery Local to KOP and the M4 Montgomery Express to King of Prussia, providing service between 69th Street Transportation Center, and First & Moore/Valley Forge station, and the M5 Norristown / King of Prussia making local stops between First and Moore/Valley Forge station and Norristown Transportation Center.^[22][21] After a period of public comment, SEPTA revised its plans to primarily refer to the line as the "M."^[23]

 

 

The fare for a single ride as of January 2020 is $2.50 using cash or $2.00 using the Travel Wallet feature on a SEPTA Key card.^[24] Until September 1, 2014, the line used a "pay-as-you-exit" fare collection system on trains towards 69th Street Transportation Center. As part of a general change on several routes approaching 69th Street, passengers now pay onboard upon entering the train.^[25] Starting February 22, 2021, fares at 69th Street Transportation Center and Norristown Transportation Center are collected from station turnstiles at all times.^[26]

The service runs seven days a week from 5 AM to 2 AM. Local trains from 69th Street to Norristown stop at all 22 stations, and the trip lasts approximately 30 minutes. Occasionally, local trains may run only between 69th Street and Bryn Mawr, stopping at ten stations, or 69th Street and Hughes Park, stopping at 18 stations.

Before 2019 during weekday peak periods (6:00–9:00 AM, 2:15–6:45 PM), the Norristown High Speed Line featured express and limited services, which stop only at select stations, therefore decreasing travel time between 69th Street and Norristown. Norristown Express service, denoted by red destination signs, travels between 69th Street and Norristown in approximately 22 minutes, stopping at only 16 stations. Norristown Limited service, denoted by blue destination signs, travels between 69th Street and Norristown in approximately 26 minutes and stops at 8 stations. All trains share the same two tracks, so a limited leaving Norristown, for example, will be immediately followed by a local, which stops at more stations, and therefore is spaced farther from the previous train. The next limited will catch up with it. Similarly, a local may leave Bryn Mawr right after an express stops there, and get to 69th Street just before the next express or limited catches up with it.

A former Hughes Park Express service, which was denoted by green destination signs, traveled nonstop from 69th Street to Beechwood–Brookline and made all stops from there to Hughes Park in approximately 22 minutes.

Before December 7, 2020, if passengers wanted to board the train at the station, they would have to press a button on the platform, which turns on a light that tells the Operator to stop at the station. The train would only stop if it was scheduled to stop at the station; otherwise, trains did not stop even if the passenger pressed the button. All trains stopped at terminals.

After December 7, 2020, if passengers want to board the train at the station they have to be physically visible to the Operator for the train to stop. This is the same as on a light rail or tram/trolley line. In both cases detraining passengers must press a button on board to request the train to stop.

Location	Miles (km)	Station	Notes/Connections	Weekday Ridership (2018)[27]
Upper Darby	0.0 (0.0)	69th Street T.C.	SEPTA Metro:   Market–Frankford Line,   Media–Sharon Hill Line   SEPTA City Bus: 21, 30, 65, 68   SEPTA Suburban Bus: 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 120, 123, 126	4,965
	0.7 (1.1)	Parkview		66
Haverford	1.4 (2.3)	Township Line Road	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 103	83
	1.9 (3.1)	Penfield		288
	2.5 (4.0)	Beechwood–Brookline		210
	3.1 (5.0)	Wynnewood Road		140
	3.4 (5.5)	Ardmore Junction	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 103	500
	3.9 (6.3)	Ardmore Avenue		116
	4.5 (7.2)	Haverford		145
Radnor	5.4 (8.7)	Bryn Mawr		562
	5.9 (9.5)	Roberts Road		65
	6.4 (10.3)	Garrett Hill		562
	6.8 (10.9)	Stadium–Ithan Avenue
	7.0 (11.3)	Villanova	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 106	357
	7.9 (12.7)	Radnor	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 106	462
Lower Merion	8.6 (13.8)	County Line		14
	9.4 (15.1)	Matsonford		32
Upper Merion	10.3 (16.6)	Gulph Mills	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 95, 124, 125	577
	11.0 (17.7)	Hughes Park		339
Bridgeport	12.3 (19.8)	DeKalb Street	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 99	314
	12.8 (20.6)	Bridgeport		106
Norristown	13.4 (21.6)	Norristown T.C.	SEPTA Regional Rail:      Manayunk/​Norristown Line   SEPTA Suburban Bus: 90, 91, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 131	1,441

 

In 2013, it was proposed to create a branch off the Norristown High Speed Line to serve the King of Prussia Mall, Valley Forge office parks, and the Valley Forge Casino Resort.^[28] Many possible routes were planned for this extension, including one following US 202 from Norristown to King of Prussia, another following a utility right-of-way paralleling US 202 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and another following the utility right-of-way and Gulph Road.^[29] In 2014, SEPTA estimated that the expansion would cost between $500 million to $650 million, and was at least eight years away.^[30]

On February 29, 2016, SEPTA announced the preferred route based on cost-efficiency and environmental impact.^[31] The route would have branched off from the main Norristown High Speed Line between Hughes Park and DeKalb Street, followed a PECO transmission line right-of-way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and then run parallel to the Turnpike to reach the King of Prussia Mall. It would then have followed Mall Boulevard before crossing the Turnpike and following First Avenue. Stations would have been located at Henderson Road, Allendale Road, Mall Boulevard, the intersection of First and Clark Avenues in the King of Prussia Business Park, and at First Avenue near the Valley Forge Casino Resort.^[32]

On January 25, 2018, the SEPTA board approved a final route alignment, selecting the locally preferred routing from among the options studied in the project's draft environmental impact statement (EIS).^[33] The 4.5-mile (7.2 km) line was estimated to cost between $1 billion and $1.2 billion, with ridership estimated at 9,500 daily by 2040.^[33] In January, 2019, SEPTA engaged the engineering firm HNTB to design Phase I of the project.^[34] On December 1, 2020, SEPTA held a meeting to update the proposed alignment. The final environmental impact statement was planned to be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in early 2021. Construction on the spur to King of Prussia was projected to cost $2 billion and service was expected to begin between 2025 and 2027.^[35]

Five new stations were to be added to the line as follows:^[32]

• Henderson Road station
• Allendale Road station
• Mall Boulevard station
• First & American Forge station
• First & Moore/Valley Forge station (terminus)

On March 17, 2023, SEPTA stopped work on the extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia after determining it would not have the money to proceed forward after the FTA denied a capital grant to the project.^[36]

• Electroliner
• Medium-capacity rail transport system

• "U.S. Urban Rail Transit Lines Opened From 1980" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2013.
• "Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program - Peer Exchange Report". Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. June 16, 2004. Archived from the original on July 30, 2009.
• "Norristown Extension of Philadelphia & Western Railway". Electric Railway Journal. Vol. XL, no. 16. McGraw Publishing Co. October 26, 1912. p. 906.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Norristown High Speed Line.

• Official website
• "Norristown High Speed Line schedule" (PDF). (164 KB)
• "The Modernization of SEPTA Norristown High Speed Line (Includes ABB N-5 Specifications)" (PDF). Archived from the original on January 24, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (6.03 MB)