The Greenline was a proposed $138 million mass transit line for the Upper Schuylkill Valley region in southeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The line was advocated by the group Citizens for the Train. Grant money needed to fund a feasibility study was not successfully obtained. Since 2014, there have been no plans to move forward with the project.

Planning

Citizens for the Train spearheaded the Greenline's planning stages, and concluded a preliminary study (performed by engineering firm Gannett Fleming Inc.) to determine the feasibility of the project. The group compiled $250,000 for an alternative analysis to see if a different transportation project, such as widening roads or adding bus routes, would work better. The study was slated for completion by the end of 2009.philadelphia.bizjournals.com; Retrieved March 2, 2009
/ref> Citizens for the Train pursued an estimated $1.5 million for an environmental and engineering study. Funding for the project was sought from both public and private sources. Due to the ill-fated $2 billion

Schuylkill Valley Metro Schuylkill River Passenger Rail is a proposed passenger train service along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading, Pennsylvania, with intermediate stops in Norristown, King of Prussia, Phoenixville, and Pottstown. Passenger trains ...

(SVM) project, the Greenline proposal received support from regional politicians and businesses. The Greenline remains part of the Chester County Transportation Improvements Inventory (TII) document for 2009-2010. No funding has been allocated for design or construction.

Route

The proposed route was to originate in

Oaks, Pennsylvania Oaks is an unincorporated community located in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The community is 18 miles (30 km) northwest of Philadelphia and its boundaries are defined in large part by the village's position at ...

, with the Oaks terminal situated at the new Greater Philadelphia Expo Center At Oaks. The route would utilize

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

's (NS) out of service 11-mile Phoenixville Industrial Track (former

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 ...

Frazer Branch), with an additional seven miles of new railway construction built between end-of-track in Devault and the current

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

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 coun ...

Paoli Station Paoli station is a passenger rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at 13 Lancaster Avenue (US 30), Paoli, Pennsylvania. It is served by Amtrak's ''Keystone Service'' and '' Pennsylvanian'' trains, and most SEPTA Paoli/Thorn ...

. The bulk of the route is the Phoenixville Industrial Track. Never a prominent line, the route gained momentum in its later years. With aid from

PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...

, the single-track line received a substantial infrastructure upgrade via

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

in the late 1980s. New wooden ties were laid, new ballast was added and drainage was significantly improved. In addition, grade crossings received additional protective hardware, including flashers, bells, and gates. However over time industries along the line either closed or switched to trucks. Freight service continued through 2004, when the last customer American Sweetener Corporation, whose plant was located at the end of the line in Devault, closed its doors. NS applied to officially discontinue rail service on the line in October 2007, which became effective that December. The route transverses the Pickering Valley region, terminating at

's heavily used

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 ...

of commuter rail. Paoli Station also hosts Amtrak's ''

Keystone Service Amtrak's ''Keystone Service'' provides frequent regional rail, regional passenger train service between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to ...

'' and '' Pennsylvanian'', serving trains en route to

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Equipment

Diesel-electric DMUs

Several options for train equipment were being considered. One is the

Stadler GTW The Stadler GTW is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen (articulated railcar). History The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a lighter ...

-built diesel-electric DMU (

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

) cars used on

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

's River LINE.

RDCs

Another less expensive option was refurbished Budd Rail Diesel Cars, which last carried passengers through Phoenixville in July 1981 when

terminated all diesel trains between Pottsville and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

List of proposed stations

* Oaks Park-Ride / Route 422 Marketplace / Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks * Longford Road * Port Providence * Mont Clare *

Phoenixville Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...

: ** Phoenixville Transportation Center ** Franklin Street ** Ironsides ** Wilmer (Pothouse Road) * Pickering * Commons at Great Valley * Atwater * Great Valley: ** Great Valley Parkway ** Valley Stream West ** Valley Stream East * Swedesford Road * Worthington/

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

Wyeth Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

* Paoli Transportation Center

References

External links

Citizens for the Train
(archived link)
Greenline Rail Corridor
(archived link)
"New rail line proposed in Chester County" - 6 ABC news report
{{Delaware Valley transit, state=collapsed Light rail in Pennsylvania Proposed railway lines in Pennsylvania