SCB2525 wrote:You will save considerably more time scheduling Doylestown trains to not all stop everywhere south of Lansdale to at least Fort Washington. The line desperately needs true expresses as it currently only really has limiteds. All-peak Bryn-Mawr/Malvern style staggered short-turning would be even better. I have ridden a train which expresses through the entirety of the main line and it can be a very speedy affair save for grade crossing speed restrictions.
The Doylestown line is a textbook example of the realities of suburban rail service in metro Philadelphia and really most of the country; people DRIVE to the station. There is a direct correlation between parking availability and use of the station out here, until you hit an excess barring other changes (see Cornwells Heights). The stations of which you speak of closing have little or none:
-Fortuna is in a very good spot for a moderate train station; 463 is a fairly busy thoroughfare and the area is clustered with commercial and medium and light density residential. Access from Hatfield and north and parts of Montgomeryville is easier than to Lansdale. The current crappy set-up does very respectable numbers considering. Its paltry 33 spot lot is full every day. Walk-ups are frequent and actually comprise of the lion's share of ridership; I can attest to this fact. It would do much better with more parking and there is a parcel of land on the inbound side where it could be added. However, in a situation where a 9Th St station AND an extension north to Telford exist; closure could be justified.
-Colmar has had parking expanded and ridership is up, though admittedly not barn-burningly so.
-Link Belt is also in a fairly good spot for a train station, at least near-so. The station would do considerably better if it were situated at County Line Rd instead of directly in front of the former Link Belt cranes property and ridership would go up if there were ANY parking. Adjacent to Schoolhouse Rd would likely be better so as to siphon off Colmar's influence less and serve the housing due east of that intersection better. The biggest issue is that there is no parking and the stop is only there to directly serve employees of a few businesses. Not effective if your goal is to increase average riders per station.
-Chalfont is in a great spot to serve Chalfont itself and a few areas north but little else. Again however, the relatively small parking lot is FULL.
-New Britain is kind of tucked away a bit but even so, the lack of use of this station does perplex me. The lot is tiny but even so is not usually full. Its likely due to the fact that Almshouse Rd. is not a major N/S thoroughfare this far north due to its circuitousness north of 611. One could argue for the closure of this station with a replacement park and ride at the bustling Butler Pk/Bristol Rd intersection. Re-lay the second track and restore FOREST interlocking as-was with the station on the west side of Butler. Meets could be scheduled while one train or the other waits within the station; an ideal. Service can resultantly be increased. This station would likely do fairly good business with untapped Warrington commuters.
-Del Val is the same old song. Any station which serves only as a walk-up for a suburban college and has NO PARKING will never do too well. I would move the station to Shady Retreat Rd. with a parking lot and pathway for students to the college. The walk is really not much farther but now you can serve surrounding residents such as those displaced by the now-closed/relocated New Britain station
You might want to kill me but I would even investigate opening another station right at 611/Doylestown Bypass as a park and ride in mini-Cornwells vain. Such a station would be considerably more accessible for potential riders in the few miles surrounding Doylestown proper to the north and east especially; Doylestown is a gigantic pain to drive through.
ULTIMATELY the biggest thing the Doylestown line has against it is that it was laid from Lansdale and not due south along the 152/611 corridor to Glenside or somewhere along the New Hope line's south-end. It's jog southwest then southeast does not do it any favors for speed of travel into Philadelphia. Of course that horse is long out of the barn...
I agree with most of this.
The del val station i think is where it is due to proximity of parking lot and the dorms. If it were to move, i'd move it right to the end of the dorm lane here:
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There is actually an odd track by the 611 overpass north of the active tracks going uphill, and plenty of space underneath to fit some parking.
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To everyone else.... as far as two tracks. I think it needs to be clarified that we are NOT talking about putting a double track line in. We are talking about extending double tracked area to allow trains to traverse the line without having to stop and wait. Currently trains taking to the line outbound have to wait for inbound trains to clear the block:
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As much as i'm for adding stations, sometimes it ends up being more complicated, especially with such a local traffic oriented line like the doyelstown branch. Any changes could end up making rider numbers take a nosedive if not really well thought out and executed.
I think expresses from the branch past landsdale to ft washington would be amazing.