County Line (SEPTA station)

This article is about the former station on an abandoned segment of the SEPTA Fox Chase line. For the existing station on the SEPTA Norristown High Speed Line, see County Line (SEPTA NHSL station).

County Line SEPTA regional rail
The former County Line station viewed circa 1985. Note SEPTA signage hanging from canopy, installed in 1984—one year after service ceased on the line.
Station statistics
Address	511 County Line Road Upper Southampton, PA
Coordinates	40°09′53″N 75°03′36″W / 40.1648°N 75.0600°W / 40.1648; -75.0600Coordinates: 40°09′53″N 75°03′36″W / 40.1648°N 75.0600°W / 40.1648; -75.0600
Lines	Fox Chase Line
Structure	station shed (demolished)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Other information
Closed	January 14, 1983
Electrified	no
Owned by	SEPTA
Formerly	Reading Railroad
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Woodmont (closed 1966) toward 30th Street Station Fox Chase Line Newtown Southampton (closed 1983) toward Newtown

County Line is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on County Line Road near New Road in Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania near the County Line Industrial Park.

History

County Line Station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983^[1], due to failing diesel train equipment SEPTA had no desire to repair.

In addition, a labor dispute began within the SEPTA organization when the transit operator inherited 1,700 displaced employees from Conrail. SEPTA insisted on utilizing transit operators from the Broad Street Subway to operate Fox Chase-Newtown diesel trains, while Conrail requested that railroad motormen run the service. When a federal court ruled that SEPTA had to use Conrail employees in order to offer job assurance, SEPTA cancelled Fox Chase-Newtown trains.^[2] Service in the diesel-only territory north of Fox Chase was cancelled at that time, and County Line station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.^[3]

Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The traveling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999.

The station shed was demolished in the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

Resumption of train service

In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming the long-dormant passenger service. In September 2009, the Southampton-based Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) began discussions with township officials along the railway, as well as SEPTA officials, about the realistic possibility of resuming even minimal passenger service to relieve traffic congestion in the region. Plans call for completing the electrification to Newtown, as originally planned in the late 1970s.

PA-TEC's efforts have received overwhelming bipartisan support by both Bucks and Montgomery County officials, as well as at the state level, despite SEPTA's overall reservations. However, SEPTA has also confirmed they are willing to reestablish regular commuter service if strong political support exists in both counties.^[4]

References

1. ^ newtownline.pa-tec.org/history
2. ^ Tulsky, Fredric N. (January 29, 1982). "Conrail Staff Must Run Trains: court ruling bars SEPTA takeover". Philadelphia Inquirer. SEPTA must use Conrail workers rather than its own personnel to run trains over the region's 13 commuter lines, a special federal court has ruled in a decision that offers some job assurance for 1,700 Conrail employees next year. The special court, in an opinion issued Wednesday, ruled that SEPTA had acted legally in October when it replaced Conrail workers with its former subway operators on the line.
3. ^ SEPTA Tariff No. 154; effective July 1, 2009
4. ^ Werner, Jeff (March 5, 2010). "SEPTA: Reactivation of Newtown rail line a difficult prospect". Bucks Local News. [1]

External links

• R8newtown.com – Website advocating resumption of rail service