Station Review #27: Fortuna (SEPTA)


Fortuna is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale - Doylestown line, one of three stations located in Hatfield Township (along with Colmar and Link Belt). This specific station is for the small village of Fortuna, located at the intersection of Cowpath road and Broad Street within Hatfield township, and named after the station. Fortuna Station often trades places with Angora for least used station on SEPTA's Regional Rail system.

History
Fortuna Station before it was rebuilt

According to an old newspaper article from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fortuna station was named after Fortuna, a cow that was named after Fortuna, the Roman god of fortune. The road it was on, Cowpath road, used to be an actual cowpath.

 Sometime around the late 1880s, a Reading Railroad train struck and killed Fortuna, who was using the cow path. Fortuna had no chance to get away from the train. Cows of the time were unsurprisingly much slower than trains.

The owner of Fortuna understood this and most likely ended up threatening to sue the Reading Railroad. The Reading Railroad ended up settling out of court by making Fortuna Station exist as compensation, and naming the station Fortuna. The station is essentially a monument to a dead cow. 

Many years later, they elevated the train tracks, and made Cowpath a road for cars, and developed all the farmland around it, making the entire point of the station moot.

May you rest in peace, Fortuna the cow. 

And on that somber note, let's explore the station! 

Station Tour
Ma, look! Actual accessibility! 

There isn't much at this station, but that's okay. Here, let's look around. 

The shelter

Fortuna Station has a small shelter, and doesn't really need much else. There are also other basic amenities: benches, accessibility, a SEPTA Key Card reader, trashbins, lamps, the whole 37 yards. 

Bench

More Bench

Stairs and the ramp


Bike parking

The bike parking was a surprise for me, and it has newspaper stands too! 

Parking

I don't know if the station needs this much parking, though. 

Land Use

Parking

The land use in Fortuna is horrible. It's all just parking lots and plazas. There probably aren't many who use the station for local use, and it probably doesn't get much usage as a park and ride either, despite being next to PA-463. 

Things to do in Fortuna
• There's a butcher place nearby called Lansdale meats and Deli
• Next to that, there's another place called Bangla Bazar Halal meats and deli, another grocery store. 

There's nothing else in Fortuna. Hatfield borough is about 2 miles north of the station, so if you're willing to walk 2 miles to an actually walkable place with more to do, then just wait for the next train and twiddle your thumbs, or read a newspaper. 

Amenity Checklist

Some vestige of accessibility: ✓
Clean: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓ 
Easy passage to either side: ✓ (One side, this portion is single tracked
Fare Payment Kiosks: ✓
Lighting: ✓
Maps: ✓ 
Adequate Parking: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: ✓ 
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ✓ 
Updated Signage: ✓ 

Final Verdict: 7/10

While the actual station itself is a clear 9/10 (I wish it had a transit connection), the land use in the area is so bad that I can't in any way give this anything above a 7. 

--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
30th Street
Suburban
Jefferson (Market East)
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
Wayne Junction
--------Montgomery County--------
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Melrose Park
Elkins Park
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Jenkintown - Wyncote
Glenside
North Hills
Oreland
Fort Washington
Ambler
Pennlyn
Gwynedd Valley 
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
North Wales
Pennbrook
Lansdale
9th Street
Fortuna
--------Bucks County--------
Chalfont
New Britain

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