Station Review #20: Torresdale (SEPTA)


Torresdale Station is a station on SEPTA's Trenton line, located in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia, very close to the Poquessing Creek, the northeastern border of the city. 

Station Tour

Station building seen from Trenton side

Torresdale station is a very insubstantial station. On the Center City side you have a station building, and on the Trenton side, you have a shelter or two. 

The shelter on the Trenton side

Inside, the building is exactly how you'd expect it to look. There are green benches arranged in rows, bathrooms to the side, an area where you can grab timestables, boards for notices and schedules, a bathroom, and a sales office area. 

Bench

Timestable

Notices and schedule boards

There is not much else there. Torresdale Station has two parking lots, but neither are that big in terms of parking lots (you could probably fit the entire plot of land that this station is on within the parking lot for nearby Cornwell Heights, though that doesn't mean much. 

This station needs more seating, and more shelters. It gets a lot of demand, but doesn't have quite enough infrastructure for this. 

Gallery

The Station building

Closer look at the outside of the station building

Door

View over the edge, part of the parking lot

Other portion of the view over the edge

Tracks

Steps to get onto the train

Accessibility

Trenton bound train

Torresdale Station, like many other stations on the Trenton Line, is inaccessible. This is easy to fix, all that would be needed are two mini highs and a ramp from the outbound end's parking lot. Torresdale Station has an accessible entrance on the inbound side. 

With this in mind, it's almost outrageous that nobody has attempted to make Torresdale Station accessible despite how easy it would be to do so. This subject legitimately infuriates me.

Bus Connections
Route 19 bus at Torresdale Station

There are two immediate, easily reached bus connections at Torresdale station: the 19, which links areas such as Burholme, Krewstown, Bustleton, Academy Gardens, etc to the station, and the 84, which links the station to industrial areas around the Trenton line, Morrell Park, neighborhoods in the 19154 zip code (a fair amount of people take the 84 from places like Parkwood to the station for this exact reason), and Somerton. The 84 ends up linking to the West Trenton line at Forest Hills and Somerton stations. Both of these routes act as feeder buses for the station. 

With the bus revolution, more bus routes will be terminating at or going to Torresdale station than the amount that already do so now. 

Points of Interest in Torresdale

There are a couple of things to do in Torresdale. A few of the most notable are: 

• Glen Foerd on the Delaware: Possibly one of the only public access mansions in Northeast Philadelphia, and on this section of the Delaware river as a whole. 

• Pleasant Hill Park: A park on the Delaware river. Has a pond. Is pretty popular. There is also a nesrby restaurant named Maggie's, that is also pretty popular. 

• Fluehr Park: A park that has the old Eden Hall in it, and is steeped in history

• Holy Family University: Do I really need to explain this?

• The Poquessing Creek trail is also nearby, across Grant avenue. 

• If you want to go golfing for whatever reason, there is also the John F. Byrne golf course in Torresdale. 

• Torresdale station is in walking distance from a wawa, with acceptable sidewalks, which is more to say than Wawa station itself. 

• There's also a fairly well known restaurant across the street from the station, Three Monkey's Café. 

• Unfortunately, there is a Knight's of Columbus branch right nearby thatz on the same block. 

• And finally, if you want to get to s lot of local bus service, City Line Loop is also nearby.

Checklist

Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ✓
Fare Payment Validators (if applicable): ✓
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated Signage: ✓

Verdict: 4/10

I'm sorry, I just cannot in my right mind give a station more than a 5/10 if it's inaccessible. Even with all of the pros, I cannot do it. This is a shame, as Torresdale has the bones to easily be a station that could earn double the score that it is now. I also deducted a point for the lack of seating and infrastructure needed for the demand currently experienced. 

Station Directory


--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''CCCC Zone''''''''
Jefferson (Market East)
Suburban
30th Street
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Torresdale 
--------Bucks County--------
Cornwell Heights
Croydon
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
Bristol
Levittown
--------New Jersey--------
--------Mercer County--------
''''''''NJ Zone''''''''
Trenton Transit Center

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