The West Chester Branch is a railway line 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, ...

. At its fullest extent, it connected with the Philadelphia–Washington Main Line (Northeast Corridor) at Arsenal Junction near the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and the Philadelphia-Chicago Main Line near

Frazer, Pennsylvania Frazer is a census-designated place (CDP) in East Whiteland Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along US 30 between Exton and Malvern, and is the northern terminus for Pennsylvania Route 352. The Philadelphia ...

. It was part of 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 ...

(PRR) system (and later

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

) up until the formation of

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 1976. Today, SEPTA operates the

Media/Wawa Line The Media/Wawa Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail service that runs from Center City Philadelphia west to Wawa in Delaware County. It uses the West Chester Branch, which connects with the SEPTA Main Line at 30th Street Station. Under the Pennsylva ...

commuter service as far west as , while the

West Chester Railroad The West Chester Railroad is a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that runs between Market Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, and the village of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, in Delaware County. It operates on of ...

heritage railway operates between West Chester station and .

History

The branch was composed of rail lines built by two companies in the 19th century. One portion, a line from West Chester to

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, was built after 1831 by the

.Jones, James A
"A Brief History of Transportation in West Chester".
Accessed 2010-01-02. The PRR leased the line in 1859, and moved the Malvern end to a

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

at Frazer in 1880. The PRR acquired the West Chester Railroad in 1903. The other portion, a line from

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 ...

to West Chester, was 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 ...

(WC&P) between 1852 and 1858. In 1880, the WC&P was purchased by the PRR-controlled

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

(PWB), which merged it the following year into the

Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port Dep ...

. As the PRR's West Chester Branch, the line offered

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 ...

service between

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

, and West Chester, the county seat of

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire or the County Palatine of Chester, a ceremonial county in the North Wes ...

. In the 1920s, the PRR

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

the Paoli and Chestnut Hill lines, then its Philadelphia-Washington Main Line to Wilmington and the West Chester Branch out to West Chester. The PRR ended passenger service from West Chester to Frazer in 1932 and removed those tracks in the early 1960s. In 1971 and 1972, there were washouts on the nearby

Chester Creek Branch The Chester Creek Branch was a railroad line that operated in southern Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pe ...

and

Octoraro Branch The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port Dep ...

, due to heavy storms and

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

. Subsequently, the Penn Central (PC) ended service north of West Chester and parts of the nearby branches and removed some of the tracks. Today, the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

can still be seen in places.

Later years

The branch passed to

in 1976, following the Penn Central's bankruptcy. SEPTA acquired it in 1979; Conrail continued to run commuter services under contract until 1983, when SEPTA took full control. SEPTA operated the line as its R3-Media/West Chester service until 1986, when service was truncated to

Elwyn Elwyn is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community located in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA. Elwyn has a latitude of 39.907N, longitude of -75.41W and an elevation of 253 feet above sea level. Elwyn is home to Elwy ...

. Eighteen West Chester-Center City trains had operated on weekdays along with eleven West Chester-Media shuttle trains. SEPTA restored rail service west of Elwyn to a new

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

station in Wawa in 2022. As of 2022, SEPTA operates commuter rail operations on the line between Philadelphia and Wawa, while the

operates a scenic excursion train on weekends between West Chester and

Glen Mills Glen Mills OD (born 14 August 1949) is a sprinting athletics coach from Jamaica. He was the head coach of the Jamaican Olympic athletics team between 1987 and 2009. He is currently head coach of the Racers Track Club which includes world and Oly ...

. Occasional nocturnal freight service occurs via

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 ...

to obtain

track ballast Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water, and also to keep down vegetat ...

from a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

Restoration of service study

In 2016 the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that it plans to study how much it would cost to restore SEPTA regional rail service to West Chester.

References

External links

{{Attached KML
West Chester Railroad Restoration Committee
, Borough of West Chester, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad lines West Chester, Pennsylvania SEPTA Regional Rail lines

History

Later years

Restoration of service study

See also

References

Further reading

External links