A treat makes its way to us this morning via SEPTA Watch: a set of photos from the floor of a factory in Korea, where the new Silverliner V train cars for SEPTA are being built. Previously, we’ve seen only diagrams and sketches of the new cars - here’s the first one, currently under construction:

More where that came from at this thread on railroad.net. Neat.

From the Inquirer:

To help ease overcrowding on Regional Rail lines, SEPTA plans to lease eight used railcars from NJ Transit.

The cars, to augment SEPTA’s existing fleet of 348 cars until new Silverliner V cars begin arriving in 2009, are to be put into service next month if the $10,000-a-month lease is approved by the SEPTA board tomorrow.

As gasoline prices rise, SEPTA rail ridership is up 14 percent this year, and many rush-hour trains are packed with standing passengers, straining the system’s capacity.

The leased cars, which are being retired by NJ Transit as new double-decker cars come on line, must be used with SEPTA locomotive because they are not self-propelled like most of SEPTA’s fleet.

Looks like SEPTA is finally doing something to accomodate this surge of new riders. Good on them. Keep it going, people - the price of gas isn’t going down anytime soon….

We link to SEPTA Watch quite a bit here at R3WestChester, and with good reason: they have a lot of great information. For example, this story at the top of the site today goes into SEPTA’s latest failure in getting Smart Fare cards, like the ones NYC Transit uses. Boo.

Oh, and hey - look who else got blogged about! (Hint: it’s us)

Regional rail trains used to roll out to West Chester. They stopped in 1986. Now, folks are clamoring to get them back. And with ridership continuing to increase, it looks like they might have a shot.

If you don’t have your subscription to SEPTA Watch yet, better get it now while it’s hot. It’s an excellent site keeping you up to date on everyone’s favorite transit agency.

Another resolution of support, this time from WCU’s outgoing president, Dr. Madeleine Wing Adler:

On behalf of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, I am submitting this letter in support of extending SEPTA’s R3 train link to West Chester.

At present, West Chester University is served by SEPTA Bus #104 from the 69th Street terminal. However, the addition of passenger rail service would be a significant enhancement to public transportation in the region. The train connection from Philadelphia to West Chester via Media would provide a faster and more reliable link, and also would connect West Chester with Media and points in between, where many faculty, staff and students reside.

Rail transportation has significant advantages over commuting by automobile. Sky-rocketing gas prices, the cost of parking and its limited availability, insurance expenses, and traffic congestion are all good reasons to choose rail service over the automobile. In addition, passengers are able to study and/or prepare for classes while commuting. Just as important, however, the restoration fo rail service to West Chester would provide valuable long-term benefits for the environment.

West Chester University is committed to assessing the impact of the University on the environment, and is working to lighten that impact wherever possible. To that end, we are monitoring the commuter population at the University, and are implementing various practices meant to reduce the amount of traffic to and from West Chester and to raise the environmental consciousness of our students, faculty and staff. The University’s committment to work towards a more environmentally-sustainable future compels us to pursue even the most long-term goals in the hopes that our community will be enhanced by our efforts.

On behalf of West Chester University, we are willing to join with county officials and neighbors in support of SEPTA R3 service returning to our area. Please let me know how we can assist in bringing this issue to public consciousness and reality.

Sincerely,

Madeleine Wing Adler

President

Dr. Adler will resign from her post as President effective June 30, 2008. Please make sure to thank her and the university for their support.

Our own John McKinstry gets a shout-out in a short piece in today’s Delco Times:

SWARTHMORE – Council approved a resolution supporting the extension of the SEPTA R3 regional rail service to West Chester.

The resolution will now go to local and state-level officials.

The Chester County and Delaware Valley Regional planning commissions are spearheading the effort.

Borough resident John McKinstry has been providing council with information on the efforts.

As a staff member at Westtown School, he is also positioned to speak to the potential advantages for service beyond the Elwyn station where the R3 now terminates. Extension would serve his educational institution and Williamson Trade School, as well as Cheyney and West Chester universities.

McKinstry said the multimillion-dollar project would be expected to take about three years. Although tracks still exist between Elwyn and West Chester, upgrades to meet current standards and maintenance would be necessary.

To optimize use, parking at stations would like have to be greatly increased.

An online petition states that Chester County is the only one in southeastern Pennsylvania without rail service to the county seat (West Chester).

It can be viewed and signed at www.petitiononline.com/railtowcetition.html.

Welcome aboard, Swarthmore! Our project continues to build up a good head of steam.

We’ve mentioned the theft of the copper catenary along the abandoned West Chester Line before, but this morning we found some decent photos of the SEPTA cleanup job that followed in 2006. Check out this link from the Philly chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. (Bonus cool points for the shot of the old Wawa turntable near Rt. 1.)

When gas prices reach new record levels, apparently the trendy thing to do is to write articles that remind your readers about exactly how high those prices are. Every day. Throwing in a bunch of anecdotes about how folks are dealing with those prices - that’s the new black.

Today, Joseph Gambardello rehashes last week’s statistical snooze-fest with the tales of some folks that are having difficulty finding places to sit down on their trains now that ridership is up 11%:

Although Spanier, 25, a social worker, had to park in an outer lot yesterday, his 8:30 a.m. trip from Westmont to 10th and Locust Streets was not as crowded as it has been on some other mornings.

One factor was that the train before his was an express between Woodcrest and Ferry Avenue. Then there was the possibility the stifling heat prompted some rail riders to forget the cost and drive to work in air-conditoned vehicles.

Still, Spanier said, there have been days when he has had to stand.

“The trains are definitely filling up,” he said. “But it hasn’t gotten to the point where people are on top of each other.”

“It has to be the cost of gas,” he said.

As annoying as these repetitive examinations of the cost of transportation are getting, they are good for SEPTA passengers. There is something to be said about the news media going on and on about this, and essentially taking SEPTA to task each week about how to serve their customers. The stories are different, but the message is always the same: the cost of driving isn’t going down anytime soon, so get ready for a continuing boom in ridership.

Hey gang,

We just changed the default feed for the site. We’re now using Feedburner, which is an excellent service, in lieu of the Wordpress-generated feed. If you’re getting these posts in your email inbox, you’re using the new feed already. Otherwise, please check and switch if you need to.

Thanks,

TJ

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Nussbaum reports on the local trend that’s following the national trend: drivers are fleeing rising gas prices by taking mass transit.

So far this fiscal year, SEPTA ridership is up 5 percent, or 13 million trips, from last fiscal year. The increase on Regional Rail trains is even greater proportionately - 2.8 million more trips, an 11 percent increase.

…

The increases in the Philadelphia region are part of a national trend.

Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the most in 50 years and a 2 percent increase over 2006, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Another interesting factoid from yesterday on CNN, which reported motorists curtailing their driving miles in “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in Federal Highway Administration history.“