**sigh** You know it's really difficult for a Mass transit company that has mixed rail and bus lines to succeed when the management is from the Philadelphia Bus Company and their background and their thoughts for the future is going to be buses, buses, buses.
SO, when the price of gas gets astronomically european high, and people find it difficult to fill up the 30 some gallon tanks on their SUV's and they want to start saving money by taking the trains into the city and whatnot, no trains will exist becuase Septa would have let them all be replaced by Buses.
I live in Glen Mills (SUV HeLL), and I feel cut off from the world. True, I can drive the 45 minutes into the city after heading SOUTHEAST on the conchester for a good 20 minutes and pick up 95 below Chester OR I can fight the hell of traffic getting TO the blue route on Baltimore Pike, and then risk getting into an accident right where it bottlenecks there at 95 (been there, done that, dont want it to happen again). And true, I could drive the 25 minutes to Media station, ATTEMPT to find a parking spot in the little lot they have there, but why should I have to?
I have a train station less than 2 minutes from my house (Glen Mills train station) which is beautifully restored and maintained by the station master/West Chester RR. Actually in 3 minutes of my house, I have 5 possible stations (counting if the old Octorara line was still open) But I can't take it into the city because septa stopped running the lines.
West Chester RR came in and took over the line from West Chester down to Glen Mills (and maybe to Lenni down the road? hint hint) and from what I can gather from my sources they are doing quite well in repairing and maintaining the line on their end, finding donations to keep the line running, and operating it on as a tourist railroad.
MY solution is for the West Chester RR to take over the entire R3 line. That way you will have a group of people who specialize in trains and want to see things succeed in a rail sort of way, managing the line, and not looking to find ways to replace the line with other modes of transportation. West Chester area NEEDS it. The roads are WAY too congested between here and Philadelphia. The lines are there for rail but just sitting there unused (Glen Mills to Elwyn) and going to waste and being left to mother nature.
Does anybody agree with my thoughts?
Stuck in the burbs,
J Steward
SO, when the price of gas gets astronomically european high, and people find it difficult to fill up the 30 some gallon tanks on their SUV's and they want to start saving money by taking the trains into the city and whatnot, no trains will exist becuase Septa would have let them all be replaced by Buses.
I live in Glen Mills (SUV HeLL), and I feel cut off from the world. True, I can drive the 45 minutes into the city after heading SOUTHEAST on the conchester for a good 20 minutes and pick up 95 below Chester OR I can fight the hell of traffic getting TO the blue route on Baltimore Pike, and then risk getting into an accident right where it bottlenecks there at 95 (been there, done that, dont want it to happen again). And true, I could drive the 25 minutes to Media station, ATTEMPT to find a parking spot in the little lot they have there, but why should I have to?
I have a train station less than 2 minutes from my house (Glen Mills train station) which is beautifully restored and maintained by the station master/West Chester RR. Actually in 3 minutes of my house, I have 5 possible stations (counting if the old Octorara line was still open) But I can't take it into the city because septa stopped running the lines.
West Chester RR came in and took over the line from West Chester down to Glen Mills (and maybe to Lenni down the road? hint hint) and from what I can gather from my sources they are doing quite well in repairing and maintaining the line on their end, finding donations to keep the line running, and operating it on as a tourist railroad.
MY solution is for the West Chester RR to take over the entire R3 line. That way you will have a group of people who specialize in trains and want to see things succeed in a rail sort of way, managing the line, and not looking to find ways to replace the line with other modes of transportation. West Chester area NEEDS it. The roads are WAY too congested between here and Philadelphia. The lines are there for rail but just sitting there unused (Glen Mills to Elwyn) and going to waste and being left to mother nature.
Does anybody agree with my thoughts?
Stuck in the burbs,
J Steward