It doesn't matter, light rail, heavy rail, busway, bike trail, whatever. 'Improvements' of that sort will render the Cynwyd line unusable to trains coming in from Reading and Quakertown. The FRA isn't going to let you run commuter trains on the same tracks as light rail trains at the same time. By turning it into an LRT you both eliminate the chance of a one-seat ride into the city from Reading and Quakertown, and the street running in West Philly probably alienates many of the current riders on the Cynwyd Branch and potential riders from Ivy Ridge.
SEPTA at one time had a requirement in the Silverliner V bid for 3mph/s acceleration. If they were able to meet that then they'd equal the performance of the light rail vehicles you would be proposing to run on this LRT. Thus the LRT would have virtually no advantage over the commuter rail train, and indeed would prohibit SEPTA's potential diesel operations to Reading and Quakertown.
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