Station Review #25: Parkview (SEPTA)


Parkview is a station on SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line, located in the Parkview neighborhood of Upper Darby. I ended up here by accident. I was trying to get to Township Line Road station, one stop north of this, but a weird predicament led to me having to get off here instead. 

What's Even Here? 

Very little, actually. 

Path

To get to the station itsef, you have to take a really long path from Parkview Road, which is very easy to miss, even with the small sign for it. 

More Path

Path but not accessible

Alas, you eventually reach the station, and it's a mess. 

Sign near the walkway, graffitied 

The platforms are not very good either, as shown below: 

Southbound platform

They didn't even put a bench there! 

Northbound Platform

At least the southbound platform has somewhere to stand and be sheltered from the rain. 

Bus Connections

Bus stop that's over a mile away. 

There are numerous nearby indirect bus connections to two different bus corridors. The closer one is West Chester Pike, of which the nearest bus stop has connections to these bus routes:

• 104: West Chester University (West Chester) to 69th St Transportation Center

• 112: Delaware County Community College (Marple) to 69th St Transportation Center

• 120: Cheyney University (Cheyney) to 69th Street Transportation Center

• 123: EXPRESS: King of Prussia to 69th Street Transportation Center

• 126: Lawrence Park to 69th Street Transportation Center

If you go and take the trail, this is the connections for the nearest bus stop:

• 30: 30th Street Station (University City) to 69th Street Transportation Center via Haddington

• 65: Germantown - Chelten (Germantown) to 69th Street Transportation Center 

• 103: Ardmore to 69th Street Transportation Center via Brookline (not shown in photo, it uses a different stop immediately across the street) 

• 105: Rosemont to 69th Street Transportation Center

• 106: Paoli to 69th Street Transportation Center

Notice a common denominator among all of these routes? That's right, all of them go to 69th Street Transportation Center. Parkview is not a good place to try to transfer to a bus at if you are a visitor. You would be better off going one stop further south to 69th street, where you can transfer to all of those routes and more.

This station is made to link people to a park, and Parkview residents to higher order transit than buses. 

Points of Interest Near Parkview Station
Houses

There is one singular point of interest near Parkview station: The Old Cobbs Creek Golf Course. This Golf course is historic, being the first inclusive Golf Course in the US, and being over 100 years old. Currently, it's unplayable and in a state of disrepair. Here are some photos of it, and the Cobbs Creek Park trails that go through it: 

The sketchy step ladder that leads you to it

Cant go down that path, its covered in water! 

There was a log that i used to cross this, I had to balance on it and am surprised I didn't fall in

Amenities Checklist

Some vestige of accessibility: ×
Clean: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ~
Easy passage to either side: ✓
Fare Payment Kiosks: ×
Lighting: ×
Maps: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓ (has no parking but is made more for those in walking distance than those who are outside walking distance, does not need parking) 
Shelters: ~ (one side only)
Seating: ×
Station in Good Condition: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ×
Updated/Noticable Signage: ~ (You can barely tell this is a station, its easy to miss both from the train and the road.)

Final Verdict: 1/10. This is easily one of the worst NHSL stations. 

Station Directory

--------Delaware County--------
69th Street Transportation Center
Parkview
Township Line Road
Penfield
Beechwood - Brookline
Wynnewood Road
Ardmore Junction
Ardmore Avenue
Haverford
Bryn Mawr (NHSL)
Roberts Road
Garrett Hill
Stadium
Villanova
Radnor (NHSL)
County Line
--------Montgomery County--------
Matsonford
Gulph Mills
Hughes Park
Dekalb Street
Bridgeport
Norristown Transportation Center 



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