Darlington station is a defunct

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

station on the

SEPTA Regional Rail The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelp ...

R3 West Chester Line, located at 612 Darlington Road in

Chester Heights, Pennsylvania Chester Heights is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,531 at the 2010 census. Most of the borough lies south of U.S. 1, about a mile southwest of Wawa. History The history of Chester Heights predat ...

. Originally built by the

West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad The West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad (WC&P) operated in the greater Philadelphia area from 1848 to 1881. It became the West Chester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). It has been operated as the Media/Wawa Line on the SEPTA system sinc ...

, it later served the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

West Chester Branch The West Chester Branch is a railway line in southeastern Pennsylvania. At its fullest extent, it connected with the Philadelphia–Washington Main Line (Northeast Corridor) at Arsenal Junction near the University of Pennsylvania and the Philade ...

, which finally became

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

's R3 line. The station, and all of those west of Elwyn station, was closed in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions and Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton station on SEPTA's

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, or R5 commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far eas ...

. Service was "temporarily suspended" at that time, with substitute bus service provided. Darlington station still appears in publicly posted

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

. Darlington station was named after the dairy located at that place. For years it was a flag stop, but was abandoned and then re-established. However, Darlington Station was demolished shortly after service ended. The concrete curb for the platform edge and the access road are all that remain. File:Looking up the access road to the former Darlington station in 2017.jpg, Looking up the access road to the former Darlington station in 2017

Darling, Pennsylvania

A post office was established at the station in 1879, which led to the place name Darling being officially recognized. The

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

classifies it as a populated place with "Darlington" recognized as a variant. The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

remained in operation until 1964. "Darling" was used to prevent confusion with the town of Darlington located in

Beaver County, Pennsylvania Beaver County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,215. Its county seat is Beaver. The county was created on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny and Washington counties. It took ...

. File:Decision Card 04293 Darling, PA.pdf, 1896 Decision Card

References

External links

Existing Railroad Stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
{{SEPTA Regional Rail stations Railway stations closed in 1981 Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations Stations on the West Chester Line Demolished railway stations in the United States Former railway stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania