Septa rail service as first impression

Just came back to Filth-adelphia after a journey to London & the southeast of England. I've been to Europe once before, a few years ago, but I thought I'd put my two cents in.

Signs in PHL airport are OK by European standards. The signage is there, but the service isn't promoted, as the Heathrow Express (or even the Piccadilly local is) from Heathrow. the signs I followed had me walking outdoors to the taxi stand for that terminal. I went into the vestibule that was there to find urine smell. Welcome to philadelpiha. Poorly lit station. Train came in (from Eastwick) and could'nt quite make out the sign. I attempted to board. Cond. told me they have to go down to E & they would be back in 15m. OK.

Two car train, rear car was open. I believe it was an SLII or III - was the plastic seats with harsh lighting & no overhead luggage racks. I knew exactly what station I was going to beyond CC & paid $7 fare. Got off at 30th to transfer to R7 Trenton. Track designations are a bit confusing. Found correct track & train. fair - to poorly lit station. Very Poor train signage. (fair conductor announcements). Got on train. slow speeds till we past North Phila. Stopped at Bridesburg. No announcement. Conductor checked my ticket without comment. Sped up somewhat, but not what that train is capable of (85mph?) Other stations were announced. No bathroom on train. Finally got to Cornwells where my ride was waiting.

I have been all over Septa's system, (R1 included) as well as other operators. thought I'd make a comment as a regular person may, coming off an airplane.
If Septic wants to attract people to CC via the R1

*new (or their newest) cars
*maint, cleaning, OTP should be high priority for the RRD.
*shrink wrap cars (ad for the service, big, bright, bold colors will attract people)
*best conductors should be on this line (and should have a Good knowledge of the area)
*advertize & promote (jointly with the city & airport) the airport line, not just "train to central philadelphia" signs.
*better lighing, maintenance of stations
*faster speeds (I know, this is septa, but still!) leads to next
*express service (no stops at Eastwick or Univ City)

None of your suggestions are in place in other major US cities, examples Chicago, New York, San Francisco, etc. I think tourists taking the R1 from the airport are expecting more of a rapid transit type operation than a commuter rail of sorts.

It pretty much is express. The only intermediate stop is Eastwick. University City is an important stop. Compared to other cities, I think we have pretty good access to the Airport via mass transit.

TuckertonRR wrote:*advertize & promote (jointly with the city & airport) the airport line, not just "train to central philadelphia" signs.

The only R1 advertising I've seen is on SEPTA trains this past fall. There was this guy all comfortable leaning against a large window with curtains and a high back seat while reading a book. SEPTA made it look so great to have hourly service to the airport. I kept staring at the photo wondering where they took the photo. It certainly wasn't any SEPTA equipment I ever seen.

I'll drop off another fifty cents worth.

>>Poorly lit station.<<

When did you come in to the station? From the way you make out both the Airport Terminal and (what I assume to be) 30th Street Station, you came in at night. I find 30th to be rather well lit in a many different weather and times of day.

>>Two car train, rear car was open.<<

I believe that the FRA states that 'the first car of a train should be loaded last for revenue service.' If this isn't the case, this is a cheap way for SEPTA conductors to only have to watch over one car.

>>I believe it was an SLII or III...<<

Could have been either or. They both look much the same to the casual observer.

>>slow speeds till we past North Phila.<<

There is a yard that you come in to right outside of 30th Street that has reduced speeds. Not to mention, SEPTA is not the 'man running the show' on the particular route you were taking. Amtrak makes all the calls and will slow or stop a Local SEPTA train in favor of their own trains. Plus, one track is out of service (between ZOO and North Phila.) getting its ties and rail replaced so that you can have a smoother and faster ride in the future.

>>No bathroom on train.<<

No SEPTA trains have bathrooms. In my opinion, they are not needed as SEPTA routes are not long enough to warrent them. Granted, the SIIs and IIIs have 'decomissioned' bathrooms, would you want to use a 40 year old bathroom?

>>*new (or their newest) cars<<

SEPTA used to have a fleet of cars that were refurbished specifically for the R1 service called 'YellowBirds.' They have all 2-2 seating on nice fabric covered seats, extra luggage racks where the bathrooms used to be, holders for informational pamphlets and routes and a board with the airlines names and what stations they were at at the Airport. (I saw one not too long ago. Most of them are no longer with us, or have moved terminals.) These beauties are now used all over the system, grouped with other cars. I don't know the real reason for them doing that, I will defer to another member (ChuChuBob?) to answer that one.

>>*maint, cleaning, OTP should be high priority for the RRD.<<

This isn't a high priority anywhere on the system. Rails or tires.

All of your other comments cost money. Lots of money. There are only a real handful of stations along the RRD that are well maintained. Most are about to collapse. I will state that there are some fine conductors on the system, but most of them couldn't care less if you knew where you were going or not.

SEPTA's thinking about the R1 (or any RRD route), "You should be lucky you have a train at all."

I remember one of humorist Dave Barry's old columns called, I believe, "The Dumb Belt." We in Philly, according to Barry, live in the Dumb Belt (as others more fortunate live in the Sun Belt or the Cotton Belt). And one of the supporting facts he cites is that we had (at the time of his column in the mid-1980s) no airport train. While citizens of other metropoli were happily speeding via rail to their respective airports, we in the City of Brotherly Love were still taking taxis.

Well now we've got the damn thing, but it features old equipment and the usual host of Septa inadequacies. Big shock. But I wouldn't be a true Philadelphian if I didn't say that a herky jerky ride on Septa beats the hell outa getting fleeced by some cabby with a fast meter.

There was an article in PW not too long ago that had the title "You don't have to be dumb to live in Philadelphia, but it sure helps."

:D

Matt1168 wrote:None of your suggestions are in place in other major US cities, examples Chicago, New York, San Francisco, etc

The CTA's Blue Line division to O'Hare often features the more modern equipment; same goes for the Orange Line to Midway.

SF is trying their darndest to get the BART into SFO. As for NYC, they have the AirTrain out of JFK and the NJT-Amtrak/monorail connection to EWR.

Irish Chieftain wrote:

Matt1168 wrote:None of your suggestions are in place in other major US cities, examples Chicago, New York, San Francisco, etc

The CTA's Blue Line division to O'Hare often features the more modern equipment; same goes for the Orange Line to Midway.

SF is trying their darndest to get the BART into SFO. As for NYC, they have the AirTrain out of JFK and the NJT-Amtrak/monorail connection to EWR.

Ah, I thought he was citing cities that have an airport line in place. As for Chicago... Not only do they have rapid transit to each airport, they are consistantly packed.

BART to SFO in San Francisco is fantastic. Pulls right up to the AirTrain. You get to avoid the hassles of 101.

The last time I rode the R1 airport train I got a Silverliner IV,

http://community.webshots.com/photo/853 ... 6542xgOuxA

but I also got a Silverliner II. I liked the SL II better.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/853 ... 1905NqLSmV

I got on the train between 9-10 pm. Although I do realize the many many inadequacies of SEPTA's bus & rail lines, I thought I'd put my two-cents in at a time when I was tired & not in 'railfanning mode', more like 'i don't care; i just want to get where I'm going' mode, which is the vast majority of SEPTA's ridership. The point also of my post is that they must attract the discretionary, occasional, off-peak, & affluent populations to its rail service to make the whole system more relavant to more parts of the population. Otherwise the whole system will continue to be condemned as only for poor transit-dependent users.

example, a bathroom may not be nescisary, but its' sure a damn nice convenience sometimes. Septa is the only U.S. commuter operator WITHOUT bathrooms. And, all the factors I mentioned discourage ridership among populations that don't NEED to use it. You then can count them OUT when it comes to financial & political support, especially beyond the Delaware Valley & into Hbg & DC. A much better rail line to the PHL will help make CC & the region more attractive to live, work & do business in. Yes, it costs money.

TuckertonRR wrote: example, a bathroom may not be nescisary, but its' sure a damn nice convenience sometimes. Septa is the only U.S. commuter operator WITHOUT bathrooms. And, all the factors I mentioned discourage ridership among populations that don't NEED to use it. You then can count them OUT when it comes to financial & political support, especially beyond the Delaware Valley & into Hbg & DC. A much better rail line to the PHL will help make CC & the region more attractive to live, work & do business in. Yes, it costs money.

1. SEPTA is also the only U.S. commuter operator who has 13 (or 14 depending on how you think of it) commuter lines with each station about .5-1 mile from each other, and trains so incredibly slow you could probably get whre your going faster by walking.

2. I doubt that Syracuse's OnTrack Commuter Rail has restrooms.

In all fairness, for all of its faults the R1 service still beats what the great town of New Yawk provides in terms of rail access. Getting to JFK requires 2 lines no matter what you do. First you take either a subway or the LIRR, then you have to transfer to the AirTrain. While a MetroCard gives you a "bonus" transfer to the subway you can spend over an hour getting to Penn Station that way. The LIRR is faster but you have to pay two completely separate fares.

But yes, SEPTA has to get it through its collectively thickened skulls that first impressions matter. P*$$ing off a visitor with a dirty train, no bathroom, no place to put a large piece of luggage, etc., etc. etc. can leave a distaste that carries over to the rest of a visitor's experience of the city.

Of course, that's been going on for years, so why change now?

Matt1168 wrote:SEPTA is also the only U.S. commuter operator who has 13 (or 14 depending on how you think of it) commuter lines with each station about .5-1 mile from each other

Certainly the one with the most lines so structured...but NJ Transit's Morristown Line between Newark and Summit has a few stations rather close together (e.g. East Orange, Brick Church, Highland Avenue, Mountain Station, South Orange)...and used to have closer stations before NJ Transit closed Grove Street, Roseville Avenue and Harrison...