Crum Creek Bridge Replacement to cost SEPTA 56 million

Is replacing railroad bridges supposed to be this expensive?

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SEPTA will spend $55.5 million to replace the 120-year-old Crum Creek rail bridge on the busy Media-Elwyn line in Delaware County, following approval by the SEPTA board Thursday.

Replacement of the 925-foot-long bridge between Swarthmore and Nether Providence Township, which will require rail commuters to switch to buses for part of the route in 2016, is to begin early next year and be completed by the spring of 2017.

The SEPTA board also approved other major spending Thursday, including:

$6.6 million to buy 40 new, 60-foot buses instead of 40-foot vehicles to accommodate more passengers.

$2.2 million for 200 more smart-card readers at outlying stations on the Regional Rail network to accomodate SEPTA's planned new electronic fare system.

$4.3 million to refurbish 22 Regional Rail coaches, as part of a financial settlement with Hyundai-Rotem, the South Korean train-builder that was years late in delivering SEPTA's 120 new Silverliner V rail cars.

$40 million for eight engineering companies to provide consulting services over three years, as SEPTA doubles its major construction work, thanks to a state transportation-funding law passed last year.

Is it being built out of stainless steel?

Also: what coaches are being refurbished? the new cars? I was riding one the other day and noticed the floor was bucking pretty bad.

I assume the coaches refer to the push-pull Bombardiers. Probably going to be the same renovation already performed on a couple of the cars (at least 2504 and 2512, maybe 2401 as well).

$56 million is about right for a railroad bridge of this size. Bridges are expensive; especially railroad bridges.

The coaches to be rebuilt are the bombers

eb684 wrote:I assume the coaches refer to the push-pull Bombardiers. Probably going to be the same renovation already performed on a couple of the cars (at least 2504 and 2512, maybe 2401 as well).

They should throw in the 6 Comets as well.

CBS' report on Friday mentioned that the replacement would benefit both passenger and freight service. Perhaps AMTRAK will go back to ballast trains.

They rehabilitated this bridge back in 1982-3. Must've been bandaids.

motor

motor wrote:They rehabilitated this bridge back in 1982-3. Must've been bandaids.

motor

It's not uncommon for bridges that have steel components to have major rehabs every 20 years.

The reason Amtrak doesn't run the stone trains to Glen Mills have nothing to do with the bridges. It has to do with Delta taking the track out of service to all train movements from South Elwyn to Glen Mills. It may not be out of service but I honestly forget the term septa uses. Septa wanted a chunk of change from Amtrak for track rehab. Those tracks are suppose to be rebuilt to wawa anyways so I'm glad Amtrak isn't paying for trackwork.

Isn't the Media-Elwyn Line owned by Amtrak, despite the fact that Amtrak trains don't operate on that line?

SubwayTim wrote:Isn't the Media-Elwyn Line owned by Amtrak, despite the fact that Amtrak trains don't operate on that line?

Not sure about that, But Amtrak maintains the overhead wires and catenary structure on the Schuylkill Division between Valley (52nd street), over the Pencoyd Viaduct, and out to the Dale Secondary overhead bridge by Mogees. The ROW is now a bike path, but is paved and landscaped to get big Amtrak bucket trucks out on the former ROW.

the sarge wrote:

motor wrote:They rehabilitated this bridge back in 1982-3. Must've been bandaids.

motor

It's not uncommon for bridges that have steel components to have major rehabs every 20 years.

Rust, corrosion... what else?

motor

Amtrak does not own this line. Septa most certainly own it. I do believe the power though comes from Amtrak though and that's it.

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:It may not be out of service but I honestly forget the term septa uses.

I think I saw the term "excepted track" used for that part of the line.

49 CFR 213.4 - Excepted track.

• (1) No train shall be operated at speeds in excess of 10 miles per hour;
  (2) No occupied passenger train shall be operated;
  (3) No freight train shall be operated that contains more than five cars required to be placarded by the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR part 172); and
  (4) The gage on excepted track shall not be more than 4 feet 101/4 inches. This paragraph (e)(4) is applicable September 21, 1999.