Station Review #36: Delaware Valley University (SEPTA)


Delaware Valley University is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale - Doylestown line, located in Farm School, Doylestown Township, PA, immediately outside Doylestown Borough. 

History

Old station shack wasn't much different

This station was built by the Reading Railroad at some point in the late 1890s for National Farm School, and agricultural school. Unsurprisingly, this caused the station to be named Farm School, which caused the town itself to be named Farm School. 

National Farm School ended up changing its name a few times, shown in the timeline below

1896: National Farm School - first name
1948: National Agricultural College
1960: Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture
1989: Delaware Valley College 
2014: Delaware Valley University - Current Name

Naturally, the train station changed names a few times as well to reflect this. While the university was changing names a few times, the train station ended up getting rebuilt some time around 2012 or so. Im 2014, the station was renamed to Delaware Valley University, to reflect the university itself being renamed.

Tour

The entire station

There is not much at this station at all. This picture shows basically everything at the station. 

The shelter 

Inside the shelter itself, there are two benches and two key card readers, and a trash bin.

Are those wasp nests?

As one can tell, the entire station shelter is made of wood and is unique compared to many of the other stations due to its design. 

The platforms are wide enough to fit one train car and are full high platforms. 

There is a crossing at the station, one that also says "Caution: a train is approaching the crossing. please do not cross the tracks." 

Land Usage

No, this is not a park and ride

Delaware Valley University's land use is awful, despite the station not being made to even need good land use. This station is a college station, it's made to bring people to and from the university. Even with that in mind, this station needs better land usage

Outside the parking lot

Not a fun time, I would say. 

Bus Connections

DART West bus, note that the DART West bus always stops at the sign near the beige one-floor building that looks like a house that advertises the SEPTA bus connection. 

There are actually bus connections here, both from BTC's Doylestown DART service. 

Doylestown DART: Bus that loops around Doylestown and also goes to the university next to the station

DART West: Bus route that goes between Delaware Valley University and Brittany Farms - Highlands via Chalfont and New Britain. 

Note that there are no marked bus stops for either bus, so you must guess where the buses will stop.

Statistics


Name: Delaware Valley University 
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Lansdale - Doylestown 
Locality: Farm School
City/Township: Doylestown Township 
County: Bucks
Ridership: 77 Boardings and 83 Alightings per average weekday


Amenities 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: 3/10


I want to give this station a higher score but just can't get myself to. It's unfortunate that the land use had to be as bad as it is. 

 --------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
--------Bucks County--------
Chalfont
New Britain
Delaware Valley University



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Station Review #50: Baltimore Pennsylvania (Amtrak/MARC)

Image
Baltimore-Pennsylvania Station (aka Baltimore-Penn or just Penn) is the main train station of Baltimore, Maryland. This station is used both for MARC trains and Amtrak trains, most notably for the MARC PENN line and Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Acela trains, as well as other Amtrak trains. Baltimore-Penn Station is currently the 8th most used train station in the US. History Baltimore Penn Station is the third iteration of the train station in that exact location, and trains stopping here go back to 1873. The first station was a wooden station built by the North Central Railroad, a subsidiary of the PRR. This was demolished, and replaced by the Charles Street Union Station, pictured above. This was then also demolished and replaced by a new Baltimore Penn station in 1910, which is the station that is currently there.  Historically, all service was run by the PRR, which not only included service up and down the Northeast Corridor but also included service
Read more

Station Review #73: Glenside (SEPTA)

Image
Glenside is a station serving multiple SEPTA Regional Rail lines, located at Easton Road and Glenside Avenue in Glenside, PA.  History Glenside station was built in 1873 by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the few original NPRR station houses to remain to this day. Just six years later, the NPRR was bought by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, the predecessor to the Reading Railroad. Glenside station was originally named Abington station, and was renamed sometime later to Glenside.  In 2000, a café opened in the station building called Elcy's Café.  Routes that Serve Glenside Station  There are four Regional Rail routes that go to Glenside station, these are:  Airport Line: These trains go to Center City via the SEPTA Main line, before then going to Philadelphia International Airport. Oftentimes, these are combined with Warminister Line trains.  Glenside Combined Line: These trains usually just go from 30th Street station to Glenside vi
Read more

Station Review #54: Gwynedd Valley (SEPTA)

Image
Gwynedd Valley is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale - Doylestown line at its intersection with Plymouth Avenue in the small village of Gwynedd Valley, PA.  History Information about the history of Gwynedd Valley station is scarce. This station dates back to the 1850s. It's unknown if the station building is that old, or if it's actually a newer station built by the Reading Railroad after the acquisition of the North Penn Railroad main line. Not long after Gwynedd Valley station was built, wealthy people started moving to that area in droves. Today, many very wealthy people still live in the area.  Gwynedd Valley station is well known for an illustration of it being on the October 7th, 1961 cover of the Saturday Evening Post . This is illustrated by well-known illustrator John Falter, at the time a resident of Whitpain Township, PA.   Tour Much as you'd expect, this station really has not changed all that much in the last centu
Read more