Station Review #30: Link Belt (SEPTA)

Sign

Link Belt is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale - Doylestown line, located in the southern portion of the small village of Line Lexington, PA, near county line road. 

History


Link Belt Factory and Station

Link Belt is a company that started in 1880 in Belle Mead, Iowa. Link Belt primarily makes machinery, such as cranes, among other things. In 1952, Link Belt opened a factory aling County Line Road, in Hatfield Township, Pennsylvania, just south of the villeg of Line Lexington. Not long after, the Reading Railroad made a rail spur that went to the factory, and then a platform for a station, aptly titled "Link Belt" after the factory. The Link Belt station was made for workers at the factory to get to and from their houses and the factory.

 The Link Belt factory closed in 1983, after 31 years of operation, and was replaced with other factories. Sometime later, SEPTA not only took control of operations, but they also completely remodeled the station as well.

 Sometime around 2009 or so, specific runs of Lansdale - Doylestown line trains that would terminate at Lansdale got extended to Link Belt. This was done to promote the usage of the station immediately preceding it, Colmar, as a park and ride station. These runs were successful, and Colmar has since increased in ridership due to this. 

On December 28th, 2011, SEPTA discontinued weekend service to Link Belt and New Britain stations, citing low ridership. Weekend service has returned to New Britain, albeit as a flag stop. The same cannot be said about Link Belt, however. 

Tour


Silverliner V at Link Belt

There is not much at Link Belt at all. The station has a platform, ramps, shelters, not much else. In all honesty, does it need much else? 

Station from the sidewalk 

Shelters and the small platform, not that you need much of a platform in the first place

Inside a shelter

Schedule

Sales Hours

Bus or Other Transit Connections 


Train nearby, October 2017

Link Belt has no transit connections whatsoever. 

Things to do in Line Lexington


An area near the station

• There is a park named Whistle Stop Park, which is very popular

The problem with finding things to do in Line Lexington is that most of the village that doesn't look like the image above looks like this one below: 
 
Literally just a road at this point

Link Belt has some of the worst land use of any SEPTA Regional Rail station I've ever seen. The station is in the absolute middle of nowhere, about a mile south of the town (Line Lexington) it's technically supposed to serve. It's surrounded by nothing in every single direction. 

If not for the fact that my parents were driving home with me from somewhere else, I doubt that I would have been able to review this station at all, as it is so far away from anything and has no weekend service. No wonder this station has such low ridership. 

Amenity Checklist:


Some vestige of accessibility: ✓
Clean: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ×
Easy passage to either side: n/a
Fare Payment Kiosks: ✓
Lighting: ✓
Maps: ✓
Adequate Parking: ×
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ×
Updated Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 2/10

Link Belt is accessible, but who is going to go and access a station that's near nothing?


Station Directory


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

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