jslader wrote:Any ideas why certain members of the SEPTA board don't want this line to be re-instituted?
We do not know,
jslader. We have never seen so much effort used to hold back any discussion. This line inflames passions like no other, and we have never been able to explain that to our satisfaction. It goes beyond the obvious elephant in the room - the fact that there is no money. Even if the money was available, we see disproportionate opposition (hence the "pick a different line" comments). We do have some theories, all admittedly incomplete:
1) SEPTA is concerned about the status of their title - there does not appear to be either a ROW or an actual land title connecting the Reading Company to the rail line. SEPTA has a quitclaim deed only. There have been suggestions that disturbing the status quo could lead to legal challenges from neighboring landowners as to the legitimacy of SEPTA's ownership.
2) The park/environmental interests in the MontCo area of this line have substantial clout, far more than those in Quakertown or West Chester. Ditto for Abington and Bryn Athyn neighbors. That said, we do not believe the trail interests play any major role at this time, though, and are something of a passing fad that has even less of a long term funding plan than a rail line does.
3) There have been suggestions that SEPTA opposes potentially successful rail projects while promoting (or permitting discussion about) obviously unsuccessful "hobby" projects like the SVM and Lansdale-Q'town. In other words, SEPTA is opposed to any new rail, but tolerates discussion about unlikely projects. Support for this comes from the absolute disaster on the Wawa extension - the most straightforward restorations appear to be victims of the greatest administrative and budgetary sabotage efforts.
4) We have heard that the line is too similar to the existing lines and would therefore automatically be operated by BLE, which SEPTA may prefer to see marginalized. Public-private partnerships are often not allowed.
5) We have also heard that remnants of political battles or accidents from over 25 years ago still influence decisions today. The Gov. Richard Thornburg-Ed Tennyson battle, the Everybody vs. Gunn battle, the tanker explosion of 1982, etc. While long ago, it is possible some factions remain today and want to steer clear of controversial lines that shaped their careers for better or worse. As mention, SEPTA CFO Richard Burnfield's name is all over the paperwork and tariffs concerning the 1982 fire and 1983 "bustitution" efforts. He is indirectly linked to the Newtown line, past and present.
That is the best we have got. We believe if we had been aggressively promoting a train to Allentown or Bethlehem or Reading, we would have made no more progress, but we would have encountered a fraction of the resistance.
As a footnote, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch was at the Janaury 10, 2010 SEPTA meeting, and said to us in the elevator, "gotta give you guys credit. No one wants to touch that 'red herring'. Hope you have your checkbooks on you today." We smiled. I personally saw him at Market East Station later that day and he said, "that $300 million Newtown project is expensive." I said, "yeah, so are those $300 million parking garages SEPTA is building." We both smiled, shook hands, and knew neither one of us were part of the decision making. But it did make for incisive casual conversation.