West Chester station (West Chester Railroad)

WEST CHESTER
West Chester Railroad tourist train station

The West Chester station in 2013.
Location 230 E. Market Street (Pennsylvania Route 3), West Chester, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°57′39″N 75°36′01″W / 39.9609°N 75.6004°W / 39.9609; -75.6004Coordinates: 39°57′39″N 75°36′01″W / 39.9609°N 75.6004°W / 39.9609; -75.6004
Owned by West Chester Railroad
Line(s) Pennsylvania Railroad, SEPTA R3 West Chester Line
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
History
Opened 1875, 1997 (as heritage railway)
Closed 1986
Rebuilt 1885
Electrified 1928
Previous names Market Street
Services
Preceding station   West Chester Railroad   Following station
TerminusWest Chester Railroad
toward Glen Mills
  Former services  
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
TerminusWest Chester Line
R3 Elwyn/West Chester
Pennsylvania Railroad
(closed 1986)
Pennsylvania Railroad
TerminusWest Chester Branch

West Chester station, formerly Market Street Station, is a train station in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Located at Market Street, it currently serves as a stop on the West Chester Railroad heritage railroad. The location was previously used as a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) West Chester Branch, and later became a part of SEPTA's R3 West Chester Line.

SEPTA discontinued regular passenger service in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions, Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton station on SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line, and the existence of faster and more frequent bus service on SEPTA Route 104 along West Chester Pike to 69th Street Terminal. Service was restored by the West Chester Railroad in 1997, a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that operates between Glen Mills and West Chester.

Station history

East Market Street Station in West Chester, built 1875, in a 1930 photo; the station was demolished in 1968

West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad opened Market Street station in 1875.[1] It was rebuilt following a major fire in 1885.[2] The main building was razed in 1968.[1]

SEPTA later used the stop for the R3 West Chester Line. In 1986, SEPTA discontinued service due to deteriorating track conditions, the expansion of Exton station, and the improvement of bus service on SEPTA Route 104. The frame building erected in in place of the older station was closed and razed.[3]

In 1997, the West Chester Railroad built a new station for its heritage line running to Glen Mills. Except for the concrete platform, nothing remains of the former station; however, the foundation outline from the former building is visible. The West Chester Railroad erected a small one-room station on site that serves as a ticket office and gift shop.

Service restoration

In 2014, the Chester County Planning Commission's long-term public transportation plan envisioned the return of SEPTA service to West Chester. The vision calls for extending SEPTA's Media/Elwyn line to its former terminus at the West Chester Station by 2040.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. National Park Service. Historic American Buildings Survey (1979). "Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Market Street, West Chester Borough, Chester, PA." Survey No. HABS PA-246.
  2. ↑ Jones, Ph.D. Jim A."Walking Tour of West Chester's Railroad Corridor." Accessed 2011-02-23.
  3. ↑ Jones, Ph.D., Jim A. (2006). Railroads of West Chester: 1831 to the Present. West Chester, Pennsylvania: Taggart Printing. pp. 77–78.
  4. ↑ "Chester County Public Transportation Plan - Draft April 2014"

Further reading

A SEPTA train idles at West Chester Station, August 2, 1986, approximately six weeks before passenger services ended.


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