Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyRising
The freight line that goes through Bridgeport never had passenger service anytime that I have ever known...although there is a Depot Street so maybe way back in time there was...but since my earliest memories of Bridgeport going back 52-53 years...there was never any train station that served passenger service. I thought the proposal was to run it through Norristown since it already has a Transportation Center. It would cross over the river through Barbadoes Island and connect to that freight line in Upper Merion behind Route 23.
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The current Amtrak proposal consists of restoring a since-removed connection to CSX at ZOO Interlocking, taking CSX to West Falls Yard, and then NS all the way to Reading. This line
did historically have passenger service, but after the Reading electrified along the opposite side of the river, it became a freight-only line.
The only feasible way that Amtrak could run to Reading via Norristown would be to take the so-called “Pennsy connector” at North Philadelphia… a move which would be totally at grade and interfere not only with Amtrak’s NEC ops but also SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill West and Norristown lines.
The
best way for Amtrak to run to Reading would be to do so via Cynwyd, by restoring the Ivy Ridge Line at least as far as Conshohocken before joining up with the existing SEPTA line. PAXON interlocking is completely grade separated, and would let Amtrak run under their own dispatch at least as far as Conshohocken.