Cynwyd Line

The Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County. Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Line, service was truncated on May 27, 1986, at its current terminus at Cynwyd. Track between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge was dismantled between 2008 and 2010 for conversion as an interim rail trail, preventing service restoration for the foreseeable future. The Cynwyd line is the shortest of the SEPTA regional rail lines, and is the second shortest regional rail line in the United States, with only the New Jersey Transit Princeton Branch being shorter. It is by far the least ridden and least trafficked SEPTA Regional Rail Line. It is fully grade-separated.

Cynwyd Line
The Cynwyd Line at Wynnefield Avenue in July 2005
Overview
TypeCommuter rail
SystemSEPTA Regional Rail
StatusSuspended[1]
TerminiSuburban Station
Cynwyd
Stations3
Services1
Daily ridership583[2]
Websitesepta.org
Operation
OwnerSEPTA
Operator(s)SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stockElectric Multiple Units
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationCatenary
Route map
11.1 mi
17.9 km
former service text
11.1 mi
17.9 km
NOR
to Norristown-Elm Street
Ivy Ridge
Manayunk West
closed
NOR
to 30th Street
Manayunk Bridge
Barmouth
closed
6.1 mi
9.8 km
 Cynwyd
5.7 mi
9.2 km
 Bala
Zone
 2 
1
4.9 mi
7.9 km
 Wynnefield Avenue
Keystone Corridor (Main Line)
to Harrisburg
52nd Street
closed
Zone
 1 
C
0.9 mi
1.4 km
 30th Street
MFL
0 mi
0 km
 Suburban
BSL MFL
SEPTA Regional Rail
Updated Sign for the Cynwyd Line

Since April 9, 2020, the line has been suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Route

The Cynwyd Line is the shortest and has the lowest ridership of all of the SEPTA Regional Rail lines. It runs from Suburban Station to the 52nd Street Junction, where it diverges from Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line and makes three station stops (Wynnefield Avenue, Bala, and Cynwyd) before stopping just short of the Schuylkill River.

History

The Cynwyd Line is the truncated remnant of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Schuylkill Branch, which ran from Philadelphia to Pottsville, Pennsylvania.[3] Electrified service was opened between Philadelphia and Norristown (Haws Avenue) on June 20, 1930. Plans for electrification beyond Norristown, to Phoenixville, were not carried out. Passenger service ended between Manayunk and Norristown on October 29, 1960 and the line beyond Manayunk was de-electrified, although the pylons remain.

In 1980 SEPTA extended service from Manayunk to a new park-and-ride station at Ivy Ridge. Service beyond Cynwyd was suspended on May 27, 1986, because of poor track conditions[4] and concerns about the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill River.

Between 1984–2010 the route was designated R6 Ivy Ridge (later R6 Cynwyd) as part of SEPTA's diametrical reorganization of its lines. Ivy Ridge Line trains operated through the city center to the Manayunk/Norristown Line on the ex-Reading side of the system.[5] The R-number naming system was dropped on July 25, 2010.[6]

In the late 1990s and up to 2003, SEPTA funded a study called the Schuylkill Valley Metro which included plans to extend both sides of the R6 line to Pottstown, Reading and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The project suffered a major setback when it was rejected by the FTA New Starts program, which cited doubts about the ridership projections and financing assumptions used by the study.[7]

Though there have been repeated calls to restore the "temporarily" discontinued service between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge, SEPTA permanently dropped plans for restoration in 2008 when all trackage north of Cynwyd to Ivy Ridge was removed between 2008 and June 2010 to make way for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail[8] and Ivy Ridge Trail.[9]

On October 29, 2010, the Cynwyd Line was where the Silverliner V rail cars made their first run in revenue service,[10] and, on June 29, 2012, where the final Silverliner IIs and IIIs ran in revenue service before being fully retired.

SEPTA activated positive train control on the Cynwyd Line on November 21, 2016.[11]

Stations
Cynwyd has been the terminus of the line since 1986

The Cynwyd Line includes the following stations north of 30th Street Station; stations indicated with gray background are closed.

Zone[12] Location Station Miles (km)
from Center City		 Connections / notes
C Parkside, Philadelphia 52nd Street 4.0 (6.4) Closed August 23, 1980[4]
1 Wynnefield, Philadelphia Wynnefield Avenue 4.9 (7.9) SEPTA City Bus: 40
2 Bala Cynwyd Bala 5.7 (9.2) SEPTA City Bus: 1, 44, 52, 65
Cynwyd 6.1 (9.8) SEPTA City Bus: 52, 44
Barmouth 6.8 (10.9) Closed May 27, 1986[4]
Manayunk, Philadelphia Manayunk West 7.8 (12.6) Closed May 27, 1986[4]
Roxborough, Philadelphia Ivy Ridge 8.5 (13.7) Closed May 27, 1986[4]

Ridership

Between FY 2008–FY 2018 yearly ridership on the Cynwyd Line has ranged between 148,000–184,000, peaking in FY 2014 at 184,138. Ridership dipped to 122,510 in FF 2017 but recovered the following year.[note 1]

50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
FY 2012
FY 2013
FY 2014
FY 2015
FY 2016
FY 2017
FY 2018
At the Station there is also a local cafe called Trails End. They serve assorted drinks, coffee, and sandwiches.

Notes
  1. Annual ridership statistics compiled from SEPTA's Annual Service Plans.[2][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

References
  1. "Service Information". SEPTA. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  2. "Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2019. p. 42. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  3. "Eastern Region, Philadelphia Terminal Division, Schuylkill Branch Map Showing Switching Districts As Shown On General Notice No. 503 2-14-1950" (PDF). 1950. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  4. Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE SUCCESSORS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY AND THEIR HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1980-1989" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  5. Vuchic, Vukan; Kikuchi, Shinya (1984). General Operations Plan for the SEPTA Regional High Speed System. Philadelphia: SEPTA. pp. 2–8.
  6. Lustig, David (November 2010). "SEPTA makeover". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing: 26.
  7. fta.dot.gov
  8. cynwydtrail.org/
  9. Ivy Ridge Green
  10. Geringer, Dan (October 30, 2010). "Mass appeal for SEPTA's new Silverliner V train". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  11. "Positive Train Control Update". SEPTA. May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  12. "Cynwyd Line Timetable" (PDF). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. September 10, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  13. "Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2018. p. 74. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  14. "Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2017. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  15. "Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. October 2016. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  16. "Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2015. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  17. "Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2014. p. 60. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  18. "Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2013. p. 44. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  19. "Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. May 2012. p. 55. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  20. "Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. July 2011. p. 94. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  21. "Fiscal Year 2011 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2010. p. 70. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  22. "Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). SEPTA. June 2009. p. 63. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
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