The West Chester Railroad is a privately owned and operated
tourist railroad
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
that runs between Market Street in
West Chester, Pennsylvania, in
Chester County Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee
Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...
, and the village of
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
Glen Mills is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States about 27 miles west of Philadelphia. T ...
, in
Delaware County.
It operates on
[ of former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) track on the ]West Chester Branch
The West Chester Branch is a railway line in southeastern Pennsylvania. At its fullest extent, it connected with the Philadelphia–Washington Main Line (Northeast Corridor) at Arsenal Junction near the University of Pennsylvania and the Philade ...
between mile post 27.5 and 20.6. It is owned by the for-profit 4 States Railway Service, Inc. and operated by the West Chester Railroad Heritage Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the railroad. All employees of the railroad are volunteers.
Equipment roster
Proposed commuter rail reactivation
In 2018 the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation commissioned a feasibility study for rebuilding the line and restoring direct commuter rail service from West Chester to Philadelphia 30th Street Station
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
. SEPTA service below the Elwyn station was terminated in 1986 due to low ridership and unsafe track conditions but the area has since grown in population and has few transportation alternatives. Operation of scheduled rail service, as opposed to a tourist operation, would require upgrades to infrastructure and ADA
Ada may refer to:
Places
Africa
* Ada Foah, a town in Ghana
* Ada (Ghana parliament constituency)
* Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria
Asia
* Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...
accessibility to its facilities. The deteriorated condition of the tracks limits passenger trains to a speed of 15mph. The section between Glen Mills and Wawa was impassable as of April 2022. The study concluded that restoration was feasible but the projected ridership was not high enough to qualify for capital funding. In September 2021 local officials proposed a short-term plan to upgrade the West Chester Railroad in order to provide a shuttle service between the line's Market Street station in West Chester and SEPTA's new Wawa station
Wawa station is a commuter rail station on the SEPTA Regional Rail Media/Wawa Line, located adjacent to U.S. Route 1 in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The original station was built by the West Chester and Philadelphia Railr ...
.
See also
*List of heritage railroads in the United States
This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota.
Heritage railroads by state
Alabama
* Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad a ...
*Media/Wawa Line
The Media/Wawa Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail service that runs from Center City Philadelphia west to Wawa in Delaware County. It uses the West Chester Branch, which connects with the SEPTA Main Line at 30th Street Station. Under the Pennsylva ...
*Woodland Station
Woodland station is a light rail stop on the MBTA Green Line D branch, located off Washington Street ( MA-16) between the Newton Lower Falls and Auburndale villages of Newton, Massachusetts, United States. It serves as access to the Newto ...
References
External links
*
6ABC Action News - Preserving the West Chester Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Chester Railroad
Heritage railroads in Pennsylvania
Tourist attractions in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Tourist attractions in Chester County, Pennsylvania
West Chester, Pennsylvania