Station Review #62: Ivy Ridge (SEPTA)


Ivy Ridge is a station along the Manayunk-Norristown line, located along Umbria street in the Ivy Ridge neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. 

History


Ivy Ridge station has had a very storied history, albeit one that has not been very long. It all starts with the Pennsylvania Railroad, who created the Schuylkill Branch. The Schuylkill Branch was a railway that went from Philadelphia to Pottsville via Reading. This is not to be confused with the Reading Railroad's Main Line, which did the exact same thing. In fact, both lines were so close to eachother that when much of the PRR Schuylkill Branch was abandoned and later turned into a rail trail, it was lauded as one of the least destructive rail trails in the area. 

By the 1970s, the Schuylkill Branch lost any revenue service north of Manayunk West station, and began being referred to as the Ivy Ridge Branch, named after a nearby hill within walking distance of the end of the non abandoned portion of the line. At Ivy Ridge, there was about a mile and a half of track used for turnback. In the late 1970s SEPTA decided to build a new station at the end of this turn-back that would be used both as a transfer point between the Ivy Ridge line and the Pottsville branch, and as a park and ride, naming this station Ivy Ridge. This station opened in 1980.

In 1981, the Pottsville line had service cut north of Norristown. Still, the station was still useful as a transfer point. This arrangement lasted until May 17th, 1986, when Ivy Ridge line service was truncated to Cynwyd, and it became the Cynwyd line, due to fears of the Manayunk bridge being unstable. While the bridge was verified to be stable, service never returned. 

The old abandoned platform

The Ivy Ridge Line platform stayed at the station until 2012, when it was demolished and turned into more parking. That same year, the station as a whole was rebuilt. Today, Ivy Ridge station is merely a park and ride for residents in Roxborough and Shawmont.

Tour

Parking

Upon entering Ivy Ridge station, the first thing that probably greets you is a lot of parking. Much of that parking is for cars. 

Bike parking

There is a little bit of bike parking, as the station is oftentimes used for people who want to bike along the Schuylkill River trail. 

Past the parking lot, there is a large staircase to the platforms themselves. No, this station is not at all accessible. 

Once at the platforms, reality quickly sets in. These platforms are awful. 

The majority of the fare validators are all next to each other for some reason. They let you pay for your train here at least. 

SEPTA rebuilt the shelters but really didnt make the station accessible despite that...

The worst part is, these are pretty decent shelters too! But they're only usable if you are able bodied, which is something I heavily dislike. 

In order to get between either platform, there is a crossing, but this crossing doesn't even have any form of safety equipment. 
The crossing from another angle

One of the other three shelters

I would show you a picture of a train at this station, but I was unable to procure one because well... this happened. 

By the way, this was 16 minutes before the train was supposed to arrive. The next train was in two hours.  


Bus Connections

Ivy Ridge has a couple of bus connections, these include:




 

Route 35: This is a bus that does a loop around Roxbourough and Manayunk. The 35 is incredibly infrequent and also connects to the Manayunk-Norristown line at Manayunk station. 



Route 62: This is a peak-only express bus that links Center City to the Lower Northwest, especially Manayunk, Ivy Ridge, Upper Roxborugh, Shawmont, and Andorra. 

Note that both of these buses will be getting discontinued after the Bus Revolution, and replaced by a 61 that has been extended to Andorra. 

Points of Interest near Ivy Ridge station

There is a little bit near the station, about what one would expect from an average SEPTA regional rail station. Umbria Street acts as the main street for the neighborhood, and it has some TOD near the station, along with the apartments on the other side of the station. 

For things to do, there are a couple of stores and bakeries, Germany Hill Park, and a few ghost signs if those interest you, though not nearly as many as in Manayunk (and most of these ones are for factories). Besides that, there is also the Fountain Street bridge, a bridge over the Manayunk canal that leads to an empty and secluded part of Venice Island, or in other words a bridge to nowhere. 

Statistics:

Name: Ivy Ridge
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Manayunk-Norristown Line
Locality: Ivy Ridge
City/Township: Philadelphia 
County: Philadelphia 
State: Pennsylvania 
Ridership: 1485 per average weekday

Station Amenities

Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ×
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ×
Maps: ×
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 3/10. This station is not a fun place to wait, but it's not supposed to be. This station acts more as a park and ride for the neighborhoods north and west of it, and not much should be expected from it for this reason. 

Station Directory


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

''''''''Center City Zone''''''''

Penn Medicine

30th Street

Suburban

Jefferson (Market East)

Temple University 

''''''''Zone 1''''''''

North Broad

Allegheny (MNL) 

East Falls

''''''''Zone 2''''''''

Wissahickon

Manayunk

Ivy Ridge

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

Miquon

''''''''Zone 3''''''''

Spring Mill

Conshohocken

Norristown Transportation Center

Norristown Main Street

Norristown Elm Street

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