Credit: Adam Moss (Flickr)
It seems like nothing but bad news is coming from Philadelphia’s transit authority.
Last Tuesday, SEPTA announced that the entirety of the Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail line will be suspended from June 15 through September 2 due to repairs to five bridges along the route.
This will have a major impact on the 2,800 daily riders on Chestnut Hill East, which serves Chestnut Hill, Wyndmoor, Mount Airy, Stenton, and Germantown, among other communities.
To accommodate for the lack of service, the Chestnut Hill West line will add times to the train schedule. On the weekdays, three additional trains will provide 30-minute service during peak AM and PM hours, and hourly service in off-peak hours. For the weekends, nine inbound and ten outbound trains will provide hourly service.
This closure precedes SEPTA's plans to cut almost half of its service due to its funding crisis and $213 million budget deficit.
Chestnut Hill West is one of five Regional Rail lines that are budgeted to be eliminated by January 1 if additional transit funding does not come through. So, SEPTA must get Chestnut Hill East in proper shape before the potential influx of riders this winter.
