7:30AM
101 and 102 to get stimulus-funded fixes
Michael
Retired journalist and Delaware County resident, Edward Havens, writes in with a SEPTA stimulus update for the 101 and 102:
Of the $191 million that SEPTA received for federal stimulus-funded projects, $34 million is earmarked for upgrades to the Media (101) and Sharon Hill (102) light rail lines. The dollar figure is disclosed in an article on SEPTA's website discussing bus substitution starting Sept. 8.
The federal money covers six projects:
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program, SEPTA is investing $34 million in stimulus funding to complete six projects to improve service reliability and safety on the Route 101 (Media) and Route 102 (Sharon Hill) Trolley Lines.
But that won't be the only work:
Non-stimulus funded improvements will also be made including station upgrades, rail replacement at selected highway crossings, and tie and wood pole replacement.
Bus replacement of the double-ended Kawasaki LRVs will occur over parts or all of the two routes through August 2010.
The schedule is listed here.
The six projects are:
- Fiber optic cable for power control, passenger information
- Media Line warning device replacement (10 crossings)
- Overhead traction power sectionalization for flexibility
- Painting of steel catenary line poles
- Improvement of trunk line grade crossings
- Continuous welded rail for Routes 101/102
The Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers (DVARP) in its latest newsletter reports that one controversial aspect o this project will be the implementation of trouble-plagued Communication-based Train Control (CBTC) to the two broad-gauge routes. DVARP hopes that SEPTA learned its lessons from CBTC slowdowns in the five-route trolley subway and will not duplicate the mistakes.
DVARP also notes that the Media Line warning device replacement at 10 crossings is not necessarily an improvement but a response to a political complaint [as reported on SEPTA Watch, earlier.] A Delaware County lawmaker took up the cause of Springfield area motorists who objected to waiting at gated crossings.
SEPTA's upgrade projects assure the future of the Media-Sharon Hill Lines, inherited from Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. ("Red Arrow Lines") in January 1970. SEPTA erected steel line poles for the pantograph-equipped Kawasaki cars but catenary never was installed. Instead, current collection is from simple trolley wire.
The two lines radiate from 69th Street Terminal, Upper Darby, where connections are made to the Norristown High Speed Line (former Philadelphia & Western) and the Market-Frankford subway-elevated.
The Media route was opened in 1913. The Sharon Hill route opened to Clifton in 1906 but did not reach Sharon Hill until 1917. Today, the two routes carry an average of about 8,000 weekday passengers with the Media line having the larger passenger volume.
