Information AboutR8 (septa) |
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The R8 is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail Commuter Rail system. The Pennsylvania Railroad end of the route terminates in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia , while the Reading Company end terminates in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia. The R8 number was applied after the original plan was cancelled due to problems including the Swampoodle Connection never being built. As Of 2005 , the majority of R8 trains run through, with some on either side ending downtown. R8 CHESTNUT HILL WEST The Chestnut Hill West Line branches off from Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor at North Philadelphia and runs entirely within the City of Philadelphia. Its terminal is named Chestnut Hill West to distinguish it from the end of the R7 Chestnut Hill East (a competing line of the Reading Company until 1976 ). Some stations are less than half a mile apart, a characteristic more likely seen in an urban Rapid Transit system rather than a Commuter Rail line. The line runs roughly parallel to the R7 Chestnut Hill East , and the two terminals are rather close. The line was originally opened June 11 , 1884 by the Philadelphia, Germantown And Chestnut Hill Railroad , and was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad until 1968 . Penn Central operated it until 1976 , turning operations over to Conrail until 1983 , when SEPTA took over. The Chestnut Hill West Line was originally numbered the R3 due to the proposed Swampoodle Connection bringing it into the Reading Company side of the Center City Commuter Connection . Electrified service was opened on March 30 , 1918 . The R8 Chestnut Hill makes the following station stops, after leaving 30th Street Station : Boardings are for fiscal year 2004. The total average weekday passenger count for this branch is 4,965, and the annual passenger count is 1,393,701, according to SEPTA's Annual Service Plan. (Mileposts and interlockings from SEPTA track charts.) R8 FOX CHASE The Fox Chase Line branches from the SEPTA Main Line at Newtown Junction , north of the Wayne Junction station. It runs entirely within the city of Philadelphia except for a section between Olney and Cheltenham which runs along the city border. The line beyond Newtown Junction was originally opened February 2 , 1878 to Newtown as the Philadelphia, Newtown And New York Railroad . The line was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to block the building of the parallel National Railway (later the Reading Company 's main line to New York City ). After that failed, it was taken over by the North Pennsylvania Railroad (which had built the National Railway) on November 22 , 1879 . By then the Philadelphia And Reading Railway , later the Reading Company , had leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1976 the Reading was merged into Conrail , and in 1983 SEPTA took over commuter rail operations. The line was electrified between Newtown Junction and Fox Chase in 1967 . The Fox Chase Line was originally intended to be the R4 , which would have continued as the Bryn Mawr local, while the R5 would have ran express to Bryn Mawr and local to points west. The R8 Fox Chase makes the following station stops, after leaving Market East Station : Boardings are for fiscal year 2004. The total average weekday passenger count for this branch is 4,130, and the annual passenger count is 1,159,397, according to SEPTA's Annual Service Plan. Until 1983 , Fox Chase trains continued to Newtown along non-electrified track, crossing the R3 West Trenton near Bethayres . EXTERNAL LINKS
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