SEPTA Rebuilding for the Future Updates

West Chester Borough Council continues their battery powered train study: https://www.phillyvoice.com/west-cheste ... ight-rail/

Glad to see SEPTA notes the obvious problems. Seeing this equipment is not FRA approved, I guess it couldn’t even go into Wawa Station without some sort of waiver.

The manufacturer of the BEMU equipment (Vivarail) just declared bankruptcy in UK courts.

rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 08, 2022 6:40 am West Chester Borough Council continues their battery powered train study: https://www.phillyvoice.com/west-cheste ... ight-rail/

Glad to see SEPTA notes the obvious problems. Seeing this equipment is not FRA approved, I guess it couldn’t even go into Wawa Station without some sort of waiver.

I imagine a waiver shouldn't be that hard, it's not like there isn't much freight service on the branch.
I guess it would be like a waiver to allow light rail and heavy rail to use the same tracks,
Like is done in multiple cities in europe.

A lot might depend on where the maintenance is to be done. The expense of constructing and operating a maintenance facility capable of performing required periodic inspections just for a WC-Wawa shuttle would probably be disproportionate to its benefits to say the least and trucking the LRVs to somewhere else is no bargain either. And it would be insane to provide all that for a two-year trial period if that's still what WC has in mind. I hate to even think of moving LRVs on their own wheels to Fraser or someplace under temporal separation (between 1 and 4 am, presumably?) Would be a novelty to have the LRVs confined to the midnight hours instead of the trains, and who wants to be the one to ask Amtrak to concur?

So much of this is people with no clue throwing a solution against the wall. The borough council would be better off spending money on a dedicated hourly bus shuttle to Exton or Malvern.

The track condition and logistics of this idea aren't realistic.

There already is almost hourly bus service from West Chester to Exton: Septa route 135. Also route 104 to 69th St.

Route 104 as a trolley bus route retaking row for dedicated lanes would be better use of money

There are issues with Exton station that make the bus service awkward. Put this money into further station improvements (bus access) and that is a better investment.

Traffic improvements to West Chester Pike would also help the bus service.

That would require Sunday and hourly service past Malvern to even be an alternative. As someone who lives out that way I'll take a Media line connection as an option over the current Exton schedule that is for sure. Although if Downingtown/Thorndale got decent service i wouldn't need either.

DVRPC has released a study for the proposed Overbrook Intermodal Center incorporating the Overbrook RRD station and an extended trolley Route 10.