Station Review #40: West Ardmore (Amtrak/SEPTA)



West Ardmore is a temporary station on Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, which takes service from the Keystone Service and SEPTA's Paoli - Thorndale Line. Despite this, the station is more like a SEPTA station that some Amtrak trains stop at than an Amtrak station. West Ardmore station is located on the Montgomery County side of Ardmore, PA. This station, normally a part of Ardmore Station itself, is treated as a stand-alone station while Ardmore is being rebuilt. 

Tour

I am legitimately proud of this photo

There is very little at West Ardmore station. It's basically two platforms, a few bus stops, and an AmShack. Also, there is no entrance there. Have fun getting to the station, it's very hard to do.

Wayfinding that leads to a construction site

The original station building, as it's being demolished 

Through a stroke of luck, walking through a random street in Ardmore, you do eventually get to the station, and its hilariously large parking lot. Staring at you are the stairs to the station itself. Something seems horribly wrong. 

Stairs

Not long after going up, you're already having your doubts. You turn around, contemplating going backward and maybe taking the bus to another station, staring at the large parking lot, before deciding to press on. I already got this far, and it can't be that bad, right? you think to yourself as you contemplate your next decision. You decide to turn back around, to continue to the station.

Going up the stairs, you see something that piques your curiosity. The Paoli-Thorndale line schedule and SEPTA system map are laminated and stapled to the wooden boards behind the stair railing. Unsurprisingly, this seems incredibly tacky to you. Yet despite this, you still press on, hoping things are better at the platforms.

Paoli - Thorndale Line schedule

The map

The northbound platform

Another view of the platforms

Things are not better at the platforms. If anything, they're worse. The northbound platform has nothing at all on it. Not only that, but you want to go southbound anyways. 

Wait, how do you get to the southbound platform, even? There's no obvious entrance to it at all, and anywhere you look that seems like it'd lead to it either does not or is barricaded off. Feeling dejected, you decide to go back to take the bus to Wynnewood station. That's when you spot this: 

Benches

This isn't any obscure alleyway, this alleyway leads to the southbound platform of West Ardmore station, which is the exact location you were trying to get to. 

Station "house" 

It's not as if the southbound platform is very good either, though. The southbound platform does have the AmShack you saw on the other platform, though. Waiting behind the guy in line before you, you eventually are able to go inside the station house. 

Seriously?

The station house is no Tardis, and in fact is incredibly cramped. There are three chairs and a desk. Behind this is a very small area with an attendant and an Amtrak ticket machine. There's nothing for you there, so you go back outside. 

Bench

There's a small bus shelter along the tracks that you are meant to sit in as you wait for your train. And so, you sit for as long as you need to, which ends up being a long time due to the poor frequency of SEPTA's Regional Rail system as a whole. 

Accessibility
Unfinished ramp

West Ardmore station is not accessible. There is an unfinished ramp on both ends, and that's about it. If you are able-bodied, now is the time for you to count your blessings. At least they are attempting to remedy the situation, though. This also leads to the unfinished Ardmore station, which seems to have full high platforms being manufactured at the moment. 

Transit Connections

West Ardmore station has a few SEPTA bus connections in different spots, similar to the main Ardmore station: 

• 44 - Ardmore to 5th and Market (Center City) via Narberth, Bala Cynwyd, and Wynnefield Heights. This is one of the express buses that go onto I-76 as an express service 

• 103 - Ardmore to 69th Street Transportation Center via Havertown and Overbrook Park. Only bus route to use the Ardmore Busway

• 105 - Rosemont to 69th Street Transportation Center via Wynnewood, Ardmore, and Bryn Mawr

• 106 - Paoli to 69th Street Transportation Center via Radnor, Ardmore, and Overbrook Park

• Norristown High-Speed Line - Service between 69th Street Transportation Center and Norristown Transportation Center via Haverford and Bridgeport, among other places. 

Ardmore as a town

The town of Ardmore itself is beautiful. There are so many trees and so many different stores. Everything is walkable and fancy. However, you are also quick to realize something negative about Ardmore: everything in Ardmore is incredibly expensive. Keep this in mind if you ever decide to visit again. 

Statistics


Name: West Ardmore
Agencies:  Amtrak and SEPTA
Line(s): Keystone Service, Paoli - Thorndale Line 
Locality: Ardmore (Montgomery County side)
City/Township: Lower Merion 
County: Montgomery 
Ridership: Amtrak: 105 riders per average day (FY 2022). SEPTA: 821 Boardings, 729 Departures per average day. Total: 1655 per day. 

Amenities Checklist 


Some vestige of accessibility: ×
Clean: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage to either side: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks: × (Amtrak only, and unusable after 11 am)
Good Wayfinding: ×
Lighting: ✓
Maps: ✓
Adequate Parking: × (too much)
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: n/a (being rebuilt)
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ×

Final Verdict: 2/10

And before you say "Hey wait, isn't Ardmore station under construction?", I honestly doubt it would have gotten a much higher score before this. 

Directory


--------Pennsylvania--------

--------Dauphin County--------

Harrisburg (HAR)

Middletown (MID)

--------Lancaster County--------

Elizabethtown (ELT)

Mount Joy (MJY)

Lancaster (LNC)

--------Chester County--------

Parkesburg (PAR)

Coatesville (COT)

Thorndale

Downingtown (DOW)

Whitford

Exton (EXT)

Malvern

Paoli (PAO)

Daylesford

Berwyn

Devon

Strafford

--------Delaware County--------

Wayne

St. Davids

Radnor

Villanova

--------Montgomery County--------

Rosemont

Bryn Mawr

Haverford

West Ardmore (Temporary) (ARD)

Ardmore (ARD)

Wynnewood

Narberth

Merion

--------Philadelphia County--------

Overbrook

30th Street (PHL)


Paoli - Thorndale Line trains continue to Center City and Temple University


North Philadelphia (PHN)

--------Bucks County--------

Cornwell's Heights (CWH)

--------New Jersey--------

--------Mercer County--------

Trenton Transit Center (TRE)

Princeton Junction (PJC)

--------Middlesex County--------

New Brunswick (NBK)

MetroPark (MET)

--------Union County--------

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Newark Pennsylvania (NWK)

--------New York--------

--------New York City--------

--------Manhattan--------

New York Penn (NYP)



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