Information AboutR8 (septa) |
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As Of 2005 , the majority of R8 trains run through; although some trains from either side, terminate in Center City. R8 CHESTNUT HILL WEST The Chestnut Hill West Line branches off from Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor at North Philadelphia Station 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 commonly 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 to be 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 West makes the following station stops, after leaving 30th Street Station : Boardings are for fiscal year 2004. Ridership on the Chestnut Hill West line has increased 36% between 1995 and 2005, possibly reflecting a change in commuting patterns for Chestnut Hill residents towards jobs on the west side of Market Street in Center City Philadelphia from the jobs on the east, and therefore more riders are using the Chestnut Hill West line instead of the Chestnut Hill East line. From SEPTA Annual Service Plans: 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, Pennsylvania 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. Electrified service between Newtown Junction and Fox Chase was opened on 25 September 1966 . 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 run 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. Until 1983 , Fox Chase trains continued to Newtown along non-electrified track, crossing the R3 West Trenton near Bethayres . Ridership on the Fox Chase line increased 13% from 1995 to 2005. From SEPTA Annual Service Plans: EXTERNAL LINKS
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