R5 (SEPTA)

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The SEPTA R5 is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail (commuter rail) system. One end of the route serves the western suburbs of Philadelphia and the other the northern suburbs. The route extends from Thorndale, Pennsylvania in Chester County to Doylestown, Pennsylvania in Bucks County. The line utlizes both former Penn Central trackage, which is now owned and operated by Amtrak, and trackage owned by SEPTA. It is also the longest by distance of the current seven-routes of the Regional Rail network.

As of 2005, most trains continue through Center City, with some from either end terminating at Suburban Station.

R5 Paoli-Thorndale

The Paoli-Thorndale section of the R5 was originally part of Pennsylvania's "Main Line of Public Works", a series of canals and railroads to connect Philadelphia with Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and points west. The Pennsylvania Main Line (commonly shortened to "Main Line") now refers to the affluent Philadelphia suburb of the same name.

This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, a 125-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Prior to the mid-1980's, all commuter rail operations went from 30th Street Station to Paoli, the westernmost census designated place (called "villages" in Pennsylvania) on the Main Line. Because of this earlier operation, local residents used to call the R5 the "Paoli Local". Currently, all Paoli turn-around trains (which operates alternately on Saturdays and exclusively on Sundays) now use the nearby Malvern train station as its last stop, and uses the Frazer train yard as a turn-around location. Prior to 1992, the service went as far west as Parkesburg, but was eliminated as Amtrak lacked facilities to turn SEPTA trains around, which had to "deadhead" all the way out to Lancaster.

Electrified service between Philadelphia and Paoli was opened on September 11 1915. As the first of the local commuter and long-distance line to be electrified, the line was used as an "experiment" for AC-power trolley wire operations, while the Long Island Rail Road in New York City utilized the DC-powered third rail, a feature still used on all U.S. subway ("heavy rail") systems. Between 1915 and the 1960's, the former Pennsylvania Railroad used the MP-54 multiple-unit railcars, which were brick red ("Tuscan Red") in color (green in the Penn Central era) and had characteristic "owl eye" round windows at car ends.

The MP-54s were replaced in the 1960's and 1970's with the Silverliner multiple-unit cars, which are still in use today. More recently, SEPTA acquired push-pull coaches from the Bombardier corporation, and is hauled by AEM-7 electric locomotives similar to those used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. The push-pull consists are used exclusively by SEPTA for its high speed express service with non stop operation between Paoli and 30th Street Station.

List of stations:

Zone	Milepost	Station	Boardings	City/Township	County	Notes
1	4.0	52nd Street	0	Philadelphia	Philadelphia	station closed
2	5.4	Overbrook	777
	6.0	Merion	261	Lower Merion	Montgomery
	6.8	Narberth	617	Narberth
	7.4	Wynnewood	659	Lower Merion
	8.5	Ardmore	822
	9.1	Haverford	352
3	10.1	Bryn Mawr	822			mini-high-level platform on westbound side only
	10.9	Rosemont	304
	12.0	Villanova	586	Radnor	Delaware
	13.0	Radnor	451
	13.7	St Davids	224
	14.5	Wayne	650
	15.4	Strafford	898	Tredyffrin	Chester
4	16.4	Devon	458	Easttown
	17.5	Berwyn	248			mini-high level platforms
	18.6	Daylesford	213	Tredyffrin
	19.9	Paoli	1462
5	21.8	Malvern	514	Malvern		terminus for R5 Paoli/Malvern trains; approximately half of the scheduled R5 trains terminate here
	27.7	Exton	539	West Whiteland
	28.7	Whitford	230
	32.8	Downingtown	299	Downingtown
	35.2	Thorndale	293	Caln		terminus for R5 Thorndale trains

Ridership on the Paoli/Thorndale line has been steady from 1995 to 2005. From SEPTA Annual Service Plans:

Fiscal year	Average weekday	Annual passengers
FY 2005	19,972	5,538,762
FY 2004	18,636	5,231,209
FY 2003	19,745	5,415,100
FY 2001	n/a	5,596,000
FY 2000	n/a	6,073,000
FY 1999	n/a	5,092,000
FY 1997	n/a	5,564,997
FY 1996	n/a	5,590,531
FY 1995	19,541	5,589,094
FY 1994	20,322	5,428,658
FY 1993	20,426	5,500,377
Note: n/a = not available

R5 Lansdale-Doylestown

The Lansdale-Doylestown line of the R5 system utilizes what is known as the "SEPTA Main Line", a four-track line that has been owned by SEPTA since 1983, and by Conrail (1976-1983) and the Reading Railroad (before 1976). Originally arriving and departing at the former Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the line has, since 1985, been directly attached to the ex-Penn Central side by the Center City Commuter Rail Tunnel. Unlike the Keystone Corridor side of the R5, the ex-Reading line was not as heavily built, as the Reading segregated freight and passenger movements (the PRR built its line for heavy through-freight and passenger service). While the four-track section between the tunnel and Wayne Junction and all sections within the city limits of Philadelphia are grade-separated, the two-track section (single track between Lansdale and Doylestown) has both at-grade and both over and underpasses.

Electrified service between Philadelphia and West Trenton was opened on July 26, 1931. Reading planned to electrify between West Trenton and Jersey City for long-distance service, but had to drop plans for electrification outside of the commuter service area due to economic setbacks as a result of the Great Depression.

As a result, the Reading could not compete with the PRR with Philadelphia-New York service, as Reading service terminated at Jersey City (although a ferry allowed direct access to New York's financial district), along with the growth of the automobile--the opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension in 1957 allowed direct access to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Although the Reading and the PRR electric trolley wire system is similar, the big difference is that the PRR electrical lines are self-contained, a central transformer in Philadelphia supplies power to the New York-Washington segment of the Northeast Corridor, and the Harrisburg-Philadelphia Keystone Corridor line. The Reading's, on the other hand, relies on a transformer in Wayne Junction, and separate high-voltage pylons for longer-distance trains.

Reading cars used for suburban service were similar to the PRR MP-54 cars, although a bit more modern. They were distinguished by square windows at cab ends and a dark grey-green livery. Some cars were rebuilt during the 1970s and received a new blue paint scheme; these were called "Blue Fleet" cars or "Blueliners". Today, the line uses the same Silverliner m.u. cars as like that of the rest of the system.

List of stations:

Zone	Milepost	Station	Boardings	City/Township	County	Notes
C	2.1	Temple University	1988	Philadelphia	Philadelphia	boardings include all lines; high level platforms
	2.9	North Broad	236			boardings include R2, R5 and R6; low level platforms with mini-high-level platforms
1	5.1	Wayne Junction	749			boardings include R1, R2, R3, R5, R7 and R8; high-level platforms on main line
	7.3	Fern Rock TC	761			boardings include R1, R2, R3, and R5; high-level platforms
2	8.4	Melrose Park	322	Cheltenham	Montgomery	boardings include R1, R2, R3, and R5; high-level platforms
	9.2	Elkins Park	393			boardings include R1, R2, R3, and R5; upgrade to high-level platforms planned
3	10.8	Jenkintown	1519	Jenkintown		boardings include R1, R2, R3, and R5; upgrade to high-level platforms planned   [Aerial photo]
	11.9	Glenside	897	Cheltenham		boardings include R1, R2, and R5; low-level platforms
	13.0	North Hills	142	Abington		low-level platforms
	13.9	Oreland	195	Springfield		low-level platforms
	15.9	Fort Washington	640	Whitemarsh		high-level platforms under construction; scheduled completion in Fall 2007
	17.3	Ambler	784	Ambler		low-level platforms
4	18.8	Penllyn	128	Lower Gwynedd		low-level platforms
	20.0	Gwynedd Valley	256			low-level platforms
	22.4	North Wales	733	North Wales		low-level platforms
5	23.5	Pennbrook	379	Lansdale
	24.4	Lansdale	918			terminus of R5 Lansdale trains; approximately half of the scheduled R5 trains terminate here
	25.9	Fortuna	86	Hatfield		upgrade to a high-level platform planned
	26.8	Colmar	238			high-level platform
	27.5	Link Belt	38			high-level platform
	29.7	Chalfont	100	Chalfont	Bucks	high-level platform
	31.5	New Britain	51	New Britain		high-level platform under construction; scheduled completion Spring 2006
	32.8	Delaware Valley College	36	Doylestown Township		high-level platform
	34.4	Doylestown	333	Doylestown

Ridership on the Landale/Doylestown line has increased 28% from 1995 to 2005. From SEPTA Annual Service Plans:

Fiscal year	Average weekday	Annual passengers
FY 2005	13,490	3,808,662
FY 2004	13,361	3,750,404
FY 2003	14,130	3,563,400
FY 2001	n/a	3,492,000
FY 2000	n/a	3,830,000
FY 1999	n/a	3,162,000
FY 1997	n/a	3,150,497
FY 1996	n/a	3,105,782
FY 1995	10,762	2,982,735
FY 1994	9,821	2,485,290
FY 1993	9,177	2,211,611
Note: n/a = not available

	Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
City Division	Market-Frankford Line - Broad Street Line - Subway-Surface Lines - Bus Lines - Girard Avenue Trolley
Suburban Divisions	Norristown High Speed Line - Trolley Routes 101 & 102
Regional Rail	[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ] R1 - R2 - R3 - R5 - R6 - R7 - R8