Wilmington/Newark Line

The Wilmington/Newark Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail system in the Philadelphia area. The line serves southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, with stations in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, Delaware, and Newark, Delaware. It is the longest of the 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines.

Wilmington/Newark Line
A 2-car Silverliner IV train seen at Prospect Park station
Overview
Termini	Newark Temple University
Stations	22
Website	septa.org
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	SEPTA Regional Rail
Operator(s)	SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stock	Electric Multiple Units, push-pull trains
Daily ridership	8,917 (FY 2019)^[1]
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC
Route map Show map Show map with former stops Legend 2.1 mi 3.4 km Temple University 0.5 mi 0.8 km Jefferson MFL 0 mi 0 km Suburban BSL MFL 0.9 mi 1.4 km 30th Street MFL South Street 1.8 mi 2.9 km Penn Medicine WAW to Wawa AIR to Airport 11.1 mi 17.9 km Former stations 11.1 mi 17.9 km 42nd Street Grays Ferry 58th Street Mount Moriah Bonaffon 11.1 mi 17.9 km Paschall 11.1 mi 17.9 km Zone  CC  2 6.1 mi 9.8 km Darby 6.8 mi 10.9 km Curtis Park Academy 7.2 mi 11.6 km Sharon Hill 7.7 mi 12.4 km Folcroft 8.3 mi 13.4 km Glenolden 9.0 mi 14.5 km Norwood 9.5 mi 15.3 km Prospect Park Zone  2  3 10.4 mi 16.7 km Ridley Park 11.2 mi 18 km Crum Lynne Baldwin 12.3 mi 19.8 km Eddystone 13.4 mi 21.6 km Chester T.C. Lamokin Street 15.5 mi 24.9 km Highland Avenue Thurlow Trainer 17.1 mi 27.5 km Marcus Hook Delaware Pennsylvania Zone  3  4 19.6 mi 31.5 km Claymont 26.8 mi 43.1 km Wilmington 32.5 mi 52.3 km Churchmans Crossing 38.7 mi 62.3 km Newark Northeast Corridor to Washington This diagram: view talk edit Show diagram

Route

The Wilmington/Newark Line runs on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, making local stops along the way.

Only weekday peak trains run to Newark. One morning train to Newark runs as an express service from University City to Chester before turning into a local serving Marcus Hook and the Delaware stations. All trains on weekends terminate at Wilmington. Service in Delaware is funded in part by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).

As of 2022^[update], most weekday Wilmington/Newark trains operate through the Center City tunnel to and from Lansdale/Doylestown Line points. Most weekend Wilmington trains run through to and from Elm Street in Norristown on the Manayunk/Norristown Line.^[2]

History

 

Silverliner V SEPTA Regional Rail train at Wilmington station

The line north of Wilmington was originally built by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The original alignment was opened January 17, 1838, and on November 18, 1872, a realignment opened north of Chester (part of the old route is now used for the Airport Line). South of Wilmington the line was built by the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad and opened July 31, 1837. The Pennsylvania Railroad obtained control in the early 1880s. Electrified service was opened between Philadelphia and Wilmington on September 30, 1928. Electrified operation was extended to Newark and beyond to Washington, D.C., on February 10, 1935. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged into Penn Central. In 1976 Conrail took over, and SEPTA took over on January 1, 1983. When SEPTA took over service, commuter rail service in Delaware was eliminated, with the Claymont and Edgemoor stations closed.^[3]

Under SEPTA, commuter service from Philadelphia originally terminated in Marcus Hook. On January 16, 1989, service was extended south into Delaware to end at Wilmington. A stop was added in Claymont in 1991.^[4] In the mid-1990s, a transportation study took place for extending SEPTA service from Wilmington to Newark. The proposal called for stations at Newport (near the former Newport Railroad Station), Metroform (now Churchmans Crossing), Newark, and West Newark (at Otts Chapel Road). A review by DelDOT challenged the locations of the stations in Newport, Newark, and West Newark.^[5] SEPTA service was extended south from Wilmington to Newark September 2, 1997. The Churchmans Crossing station between Wilmington and Newark opened in 2000.^[4]

 

On July 25, 2010, SEPTA renamed the service from the R2 Newark to the Wilmington/Newark Line as part of system-wide service change that drops the R-number naming and makes the Center City stations the terminus for all lines. This also ended the combined R2 Newark/R2 Warminster service.

SEPTA activated positive train control on the Wilmington/Newark Line on May 1, 2017.^[6]

On April 9, 2020, service on the line was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[7] though Penn Medicine station was still being served by other rail services.^[8] Service between 30th Street Station and Wilmington resumed May 10, 2020 on a modified schedule as part of the Southwest Connection Improvement Program.^[9] Service to Newark resumed on January 25, 2021, in order to offer public transit options during a construction project along Interstate 95 in Wilmington.^[10] Previously, Amtrak announced the completion of the Delaware Third Rail Project in December 2020. The project installed the third track between Wilmington and Newark that would increase the capacity.^[11]

Station list

The Wilmington/Newark Line trains make the following station stops, after leaving the Center City Commuter Connection:

State	Zone^[2]	Location	Station	Miles (km) from Center City	Date opened	Connections / notes
PA	CC	University City, Philadelphia	Penn Medicine	1.8 (2.9)		SEPTA Regional Rail:  Airport   Manayunk/Norristown   Media/Wawa   Warminster   West Trenton    SEPTA City Bus: 40, LUCY
	2	Darby	Darby	6.1 (9.8)
		Sharon Hill	Curtis Park	6.8 (10.9)	March 7, 1949^[12]	SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
			Academy			Closed March 7, 1949^[12]
			Sharon Hill	7.2 (11.6)		SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
		Folcroft	Folcroft	7.7 (12.4)		SEPTA Suburban Bus: 115
		Glenolden	Glenolden	8.3 (13.4)
		Norwood	Norwood	9.0 (14.5)
		Prospect Park	Prospect Park	9.5 (15.3)		The station was named Moore until April 1, 1932^[13]
	3	Ridley Park	Ridley Park	10.4 (16.7)	1871^[14]
			Crum Lynne	11.2 (18.0)		SEPTA Suburban Bus: 114
		Eddystone
			Baldwin			Closed October 4, 1981^[15]
			Eddystone	12.3 (19.8)		SEPTA City Bus: 37
		Chester	Chester Transportation Center	13.4 (21.6)		SEPTA City Bus: 37   SEPTA Suburban Bus: 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119
			Lamokin Street			Closed July 1, 2003^[16]
			Highland Avenue	15.5 (24.9)		SEPTA Suburban Bus: 113
		Trainer	Trainer			Closed 1979
		Marcus Hook	Marcus Hook	17.1 (27.5)		SEPTA Suburban Bus: 119
DE	4	Claymont	Naaman			Closed March 26, 1978^[17]
			Claymont	19.6 (31.5)	1991^[3]^[18]	DART First State: 61
		Edgemoor	Edge Moor			Closed January 1, 1983^[3]
		Wilmington	Wilmington	26.8 (43.1)	1989	Amtrak: Acela, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter   Greyhound Lines   DART First State: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 28, 33, 35, 37, 40, 52, 301, 305 (seasonal)
		Newark	Churchmans Crossing	32.5 (52.3)	2000	DART First State: 54, 62
			Newark	38.7 (62.3)	1997	Amtrak: Northeast Regional   DART First State: 10, 33, 46   Cecil Transit: 4   UNICITY

Ridership

Between FY 2008-FY 2018 annual ridership on the Wilmington/Newark Line ranged between 2.5 and 2.8 million.^{[note 1]}

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

FY 2008

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

FY 2012

FY 2013

FY 2014

FY 2015

FY 2016

FY 2017

FY 2018

FY 2019

See also

• Bell Tower (PRR)
• Lamokin Tower

Notes

1. Annual ridership statistics compiled from SEPTA's Annual Service Plans.^{[1][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

References

1. "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
2. "Wilmington/Newark Line Timetable" (PDF). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
3. "Rail Unions Set Strike Deadline". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. February 10, 1983. p. 23. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
4. "Delaware State Rail Plan" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
5. "DelDOT Questions Planned Rail Stops". The News Journal. Wilimington, Delaware. November 26, 1994. p. 3. Retrieved April 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.  
6. "Positive Train Control Update". SEPTA. May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
7. "Service Information". SEPTA. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
8. "SEPTA Regional Rail & Rail Transit Lifeline Service" (PDF). SEPTA. 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
9. "Southwest Connection Improvement Program". SEPTA. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
10. "Regional Rail Select Schedule Changes – Select Lines Sunday, January 24, 2021". SEPTA. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
11. "Amtrak Completes Delaware Third Track Project". Amtrak Media. 2020-12-07.
12. "New Curtis Park Station". Delaware County Daily Times. March 5, 1949. p. 2. Retrieved April 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
13. Baer, Christopher T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context: 1932" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical Historical Society. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
14. "Latest News By Mail". Lancaster Daily Intelligencer. November 23, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved April 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
15. Tulsky, Fredric N. (September 24, 1981). "Rail Cuts Approved by SEPTA". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 23. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
16. "On the Railroad Lines" (PDF). The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger. Vol. 21, no. 6–7. Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers. July 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
17. "Public Notice: Station Abandonment". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 6, 1978. p. 17. Retrieved October 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
18. "Delaware State Rail Plan" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. 2011. p. 4-6, 4-8. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
19. "Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2019. p. 42. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
20. "Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2018. p. 74. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
21. "Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2017. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
22. "Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. October 2016. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
23. "Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2015. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
24. "Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2014. p. 60. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
25. "Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2013. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
26. "Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2012. p. 55. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
27. "Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. July 2011. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
28. "Fiscal Year 2011 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2010. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
29. "Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2009. p. 63. Retrieved December 14, 2019.

External links

• "SEPTA – Marcus Hook/Wilmington/Newark line schedule" (PDF).
• The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society